A box of oldies but goodies arrived today and one of them turned out to be a Bachmann Plus consolidation from the 90's.  It's in excellent condition and I would like to add a decoder.  Will the original motor work well with a decoder or does it need a new motor?  Has anyone here done such a conversion?

Anyone know if I could use one of the DC71s to replace the open frame motor on an old Mantua Pacific?  Without major modifications, that is.

If you are interested, it is available again in the Bachmann Webstore.  You need to purchase the connector panel separately.

Not sure if this is mentioned elsewhere -- the "Walk Around Companion" is listed in Bachmann's webstore.  The interface panel is sold separately.

http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=264_274&products_id=1821

Interestingly the Smart Interface is not listed.  Hmmmm.....

Do all DC controllers work with EZ Command or only ones made after a certain period?  I have one that has the right connector cable but it doesn't run my DC engines when I turn up the speed control.  Am I missing a step?

Mine (also 70 tonner) burned out when it short circuited the first time.  Easy replacement though with another OEM decoder, and it has been running fine for a while.

How Does it perform with the the Digitrax relative to the Bachmann decoder?

No one makes a decoder that is specific to the 70 Tonner (Cooper Bessemer engine), but I believe the SoundTraxx Tsunami TSU-750 for the GE Cummins engines is recommended.  Somewhere on the web someone documented their own install.  There is also a thread on the Bachmann forum:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,18887.0.html

The author demonstrates with photos but I can't get them to load on my computer.

If you go for it, best of luck and please post instructions with lots of photos!

Elastic bands for orthodontics (dental braces) come in various small sizes and you get lots of them for very little $$.  Measure the approximate diameter and width of the wheels where the traction tire (the name used here in the US) goes and get something slightly smaller.  For a vintage Mantua locomotive I bought 1/4" bands (sorry, I don't know the metric equivalent) that work great.

Thank you for the suggestions.  I am hoping to put together something more casual.

Not many railroad clubs in my area, wondering if anyone here is from the western Essex / eastern Morris county area (near NYC) that would be interested in showing off their layouts.

All true, I don't expect to find anything there that's a bargain.  Even at the big shows I rarely find anything worth buying; by far the best deals are the tools that sell for $4 including tax when I'd have to pay twice that plus tax and shipping from an online retailer.  I'm more interested in whether there's even enough to entertain me for an hour or two or if there will just be a few old guys with old layouts running old trains....

Has anyone attended any of the "National Collector's Association" train shows listed on railserve.com?  They're run out of local club halls (e.g. P.A.L.).  Are they worth driving 45 minutes to get to and the $6 they charge to get in?  Do they get a decent turnout amongst dealers and attendees?

Know of any other good train shows in the New Jersey area (other than the Greenburg shows that show up here quarterly)?

If anyone is curious (probably not):

-  I ordered the knobs from Bachmann, $0.75 per knob plus shipping (still cheaper than buying a junker on ebay);

-  I cut the bottom off of a suitably size pill bottle, cut a hole in the center, painted it black and glued it onto the chassis to use as the turntable.  Works pretty good too.

Emailed Bachmann, no such luck.  Only parts available are the knobs that raise and lower the boom/hook.  Guess it's time to exercise some creativity and get out the styrene...

Hi Rich, I'm asking about the Bachmann model.  Thanks!