Berkshire boiler swapping

[dougar]

I have two complete stock NKP 765 (no Mars light) Berkshires and want to make one into a different roadnumber without repainting/renumbering.  I recently acquired from Bachmann Parts a NKP 759 Boiler and boiler front (parts only, but with Mars light).  Also a 759 tender shell.  Basically, can I just swap the boilers?

Also, I want to make the 759's Mars light work.  I am new to the Bachmann Berkshires and have not disassembled one yet.  Are the 765 (no Mars light) and 759 (with Mars) electronics boards the same?  Can the stock Bachmann LED for the 759's Mars light just be plugged into the electronics board on a 765?

I am OK with the stock Bachmann appearance of the Mars light for now.

Thanks,
Doug

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

As far as the boiler swap and tender body swap goes, it can be done with no problem because the 2-8-4's all use a common chassis thus swapping the boiler (body shell) out for any one of the three boilers made for the engine in question is as easy as putting the stock boiler back on the engine after regular maintenance. The tender is a different story because the NKP/PM style tender is shorter in length than the C&O style tender but you have the 765 and ordered the 759 tender shell so since they are the same style tender, you can swap the tender shell just as easily as the boilers. The electronics boards between the two are the same so no need to worry there. I myself have been considering getting the American Freedom Train boiler and tender shell for my Bachmann SP GS-4 #4449 for around the 4th of July or whenever I feel like running that version of the 4449 and it is just as easy as what you want to do.

Hope this info helps you with your project.

[dougar]

Yes, thanks.  Its quite easy to pull the boiler/cab (body shell) off.  I am unsure about hooking up the second LED for the Mars light on the new boiler front, though.  (sorry -- I'm electronically challenged)  The circuit board under the cab has just one pair of connections for wires to the headlight LED.  Do I hook the Mars light LED up to the same connection?  I know LEDs don't require much current, but would having two in parallel draw too much?

Thanks, Doug

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

The 2-8-4 I have which is the C&O style one, doesn't have the mars light so I wouldn't know what to do there. But yeah to swap engine body shells, it is just a matter of removing some screw and puling the boiler off.