I have a Soundtraxx DCC Sound decoder in mine. It sounds awesome.

No one makes a specific decoder for this engine. You'll have to hard wire one in yourself.

I've never done it before, but it's not that hard. Just gently remove the side rods from the wheel where the traction tires (TT) go, put them on gently using a micro screw driver to put them around the wheel, and then put them back.

Richmond controls makes pickups for this engine.

I might do that because the Econami and Soundtraxx 2 are the same size.

He meant whistle.

Mark had it right.

24" radius? You will fine!

My EM-1 has powered axles on all 16 driver wheels. There is something wrong with yours, so return it to Bachmann with a contact phone number and ask that they fix it instead of offering a different replacement.

Try this before you return it to Bachmann: Take the engine off the track with the tender on the track. Advance the throttle to ensure that all eight engine axles are moving and engaged. If not, return it. If they are moving, not sure what's going on.

Mine can easily pull 50 box cars around N scale T-track layouts.

The EM-1 is a 2-8-8-4.

The stock Bachmann circuit board has a lot of RF suppression (capacitors) that are required for minimal wireless frequency interruption in Europe. Once you remove the capacitors, you're good to go. Glad it worked.

Try an 8mmX12mm sugar cube speaker with enclosure. You won't be disappointed.

I think this is a great decision by Bachmann.

When you open up the tender (you'll have to take out the middle wheel in each tender truck), you'll see the DCC connection points numbered 1,2,4,5,6,7, and 8. Follow the instructions in the link above.

You can order a replacement set of trucks from Bachmann.