I recently bought a Spectrum Diesel (GN 400 - SD45) and while waiting for it to be delivered I was starting to wonder what the difference was between Bachmann's Spectrum and standard line diesels.
All the Spectrums have DCC or are DCC ready, many newer ones make it easier to install sound. The newer spectrum locos have 8-pin sockets. The spectrum locos have figures inside. The standard locos if they have DCC, it is in the board, harder to remove/replace the decoder and add sound. The spectrums usually have flywhels, whereas some standards don't.
Thanks for the information ACY!
not all spectrum locos are dcc ready. many of the older ones are not dcc ready, but they are not hard to convert using the following link (thanks to jim banner)
http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/dcc/tmaster/tmaster.html
while this is a h16-44 (which i have yet to see in a dcc ready version) this will work for any bachmann or spectrum locomotive with a split frame. this would include your sd45, i have done one using this web page as a guide.
Quote from: jward on January 27, 2011, 07:17:53 PM
not all spectrum locos are dcc ready. many of the older ones are not dcc ready, but they are not hard to convert using the following link (thanks to jim banner)
http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/dcc/tmaster/tmaster.html
while this is a h16-44 (which i have yet to see in a dcc ready version) this will work for any bachmann or spectrum locomotive with a split frame. this would include your sd45, i have done one using this web page as a guide.
When I said they were all DCC or DCC ready, I was referring to only the current product line. I have an H-16-44 that is a split frame which obviously is not DCC ready, correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that all of Bachmann's HO Spectrum diesels and electrics are at least DCC ready if not DCC.
I'm not sure how old of a spectrum it is but the only version of the GN 400/Hustle Muscle I could find reference to was DCC Ready. It's not listed on the Bachmann products page (that I can find) so it's probably not the latest, hopefully it's new enough to be DCC Ready.
I'll keep that link handy jward, even if I don't need it for this locomotive it'll probably come in handy on a future project :)