Bachmann does make some for your era but as far as I know they don't catalog them. If you go to the store and go to n scale: passenger cars,  the only two that come up are 85' budd cars and Jackson Sharp excursion cars. The cars your looking for come in train sets. The "durango and silverton" "royal blue" and "spirit of christmas" sets have them. If you could manage to find a parts list for any of these sets you might be able to go to ebay or any other online retailer and look for the car itself.

Alright thanks. It just looked really complicated because of the split frame chassis. I know its already insulated between the two halves to protect from shorts but trying to work in that small are might be hard. Do you know what kind of micro decoder I should use? I know people use them for light control and switch control in larger scales...

That last line in the qoute was a question I was asking. Don't know how it got there though???

Isolating the motor isn't a problem for me as I've seen it done on many models from many manufacturers as well as some individual endeavors. I will definitely look into trainboard.com for some reference. I've thought about also putting sound in the tender but that means doing some modifications for an electrical supply but I'll look into that later on.

Quote from: gatrhumpy on February 07, 2014, 12:43:43 PM

"I'm about to do one next weekend. I believe there is enough space near the cab in the locomotive to install a decoder. You just have to isolate the motor."

If you wouldn't mind posting some pics of your project for some reference and also what decoder are you going to use?

So I have been wondering about the 4-8-4 northern in at&sf. I've seen them around and I like them, but I've been thinking if it is possible to dcc them. If it is I could use any tips and what chips I should use. I've been looking at the empire builder set with this loco and just wanted to know if dcc was possible. Any help?

Since I brought up the topic, has anyone dcc'd this locomotive or know how to? What chip should I use if you know?

I haven't looked at the kato locos yet but I've been weary because back when I did ho they had good quality but the price was just a little high. I just chcked them out and they are considerably more in my range now. Thanks for mentioning that. The only thing was dcc. Most low but not cheap cost locos weren't dcc, and the bachmann ones I liked but had no idea how to dcc it with the split frame chassis. I've seen videos on how to dcc them and it  looks pretty easy. I think ill use the decoder install video by Mike Fifer of Fifer hobbies. He has a youtube channel with some really helpful videos and he models n scale. Thanks for the help you all.

Mine has the white worm and black drive gears. No dcc. I do have the ez command begginers and it handles pretty welln just the light gets hot after time but that's normal. I was just mainly suprised at the minor details you get. Even my 120.00 ho f7 doesn't have that detail.

Ok so when I first decided to dive into n scale (about year and a half ago) I wanted to start out with what I knew worked. I.E get a train set and some track and go from there. I purchased the bachmann super chief train set (santa fe f7, rio grande box car, bn gondola,  sf caboose). I was amazed with the loco's detail and was  surprised when it was a spectrum. I liked it enough that now I want more of themn but I can't seem to find them on bachmann's site or anywhere else (ebay, local shops, online retailers). I wanted to know why you can't find them or if I'm doing something wrong to not be able to find them. Any help?

 i am planning on trying to model the ATSF 3751. I have seen models of the loco but they are brass and cost a good bit. I have been wondering if it is possible to use a bachmann atsf 4-8-4 to model the 3751. i just need to know is if anybdy has tried to do this, and what modifications or detail procedures they used and about how much did it cost. I know places and have been to train shows where i can get the 4-8-4 for about 100$ and i would like to if possible keep it under 250$

one more thing every body, i have seen a few videos of how important resistors are with this loco. if i use the factory light bulb, will a resistor be necessary, or will i just have to use an led, and if so what size and kind.

Yes what Limey said is correct. Most large locos that have decoders in the tender have a 2 wire plug and a 4 wire plug. tenders that are aftermarket reproductions (like the ones you can order from the section in model railroader magazine) also have a 2 wire plug and a 4 wire plug. this is a known standard among this area. just like how ho knuckle couplers are made by many diff manufacturers, but they all are compatible with another.

Thanks. i checked with mrc, the decoder is $72.98 not including tax or shipping. i found the online manual for the decoder, it say that an 18 to 28 mm speaker is recommended. it also says that an 18mm speaker can fit on the decoder. It aslo gave me the specs for the decoder on the first page. 73mm x 17.8mm x 7.7mm. Thank you for the reference and the location of the cheaper decoder.

ive got 2 bachmann gp-40 dc locomotives. on is AT&SF and the other is Western Maryland. they are standard dc. i would like to add sound and dcc and i am currently thinking about MRC's decoder for 645E prime mover locomotives. is any one aware of a decoder or manufacturer that makes decoders w/ gp40 sounds and how is the decoder from mrc. i am working on a budget so a 100+ dollar chip is a little to much.

yeah, i see. i tried switching the decoder around, thinking it might be backwards, but nothing. none of my wires were loose either. im just stumped that one day it works like a charm and the next, it goes kaput.