In my experience, more goes wrong when a decoder is bad than lights -- other functions here work OK. I hope someone from Bachmann can confirm or deny the board wiring.

I notice that Bachmann has been upgrading paint, chassis, and DCC options on its HO GP40, 50, 30, and 35. However, exactly which loco has a one-piece frame and which has an 8 pin plug on the DCC board is very difficult to determine. The latest version of the GP30, for instance, is not described in standard product descriptions as DCC ready, although it has an 8 pin socket.

In an earlier post, someone noted that although the GP40 is described as DCC ready, it does not have an 8 pin socket.

Would it be possible to make it clearer which locos have which features? Among other things, it would affect what type of decoder -- hard wire or 8 pin plug -- I would order when I order a particular loco.

Bachmann has been making very worthwhile improvements to its product line, but in some ways it isn't making these improvements as well known as it could.

Yes, that's double checked.

I have a new 62308 EMD GP30. I'm very happy with the paint, the one-piece frame, and the AAR Type B trucks on the GM&O prototype. However, when I install a TCS DP2X decoder in the 8-pin plug on the stock PC board, the front and rear LEDs go on with track power, and F0 won't turn them off. By the same token, there is no change in headlight with change in direction. I checked the CVs in the DP2X, and they are set to the default, headlight on bright forward, off reverse, and the other way around in reverse.

It looks like the 8-pin is not wired to control the white and yellow wire functions at all, although motor control does work. Is this the case, or is there anything that can be done to change this to get headlight control?