New to model railroading

[croppers]

q1: I was given an Nscale model railroad set, Iron duke with locomotive 3283 , had run it a few times and a friends child knocked the locomotive from the table , under the front part of the back tender there is silver connection which should attach to the locomotive to a post which has some copper connections underneath however the silver connection looks it has broken, can I get the get silver connection as a seperate part which i assume is why the locomotive is no longer running.  Q2 I have just the basic speed controller which has come with the set however know i want to expand the basic oval track and buy new trains, i have been told most modern model trains use dcc ready and need a decoder, what is the benefit of dcc ready? and is the locomotive i have iron duke dcc ready as it doesn't mention it on the box. I can provide a photo

[Trainman203]

1.  Call the service department and arrange to send the engine  back for repair .  Or .....
2.   Buy a new locomotive.  It may be easier than the aggravation in trying to repair it yourself.  In today's model railroad world that is very often a better choice.

SO.....

If you decide to get a new engine, one that would include factory installed decoder and sound, DCC becomes a viable option. You should read about via many, many web sites but in a nutshell it allows independent control of multiple locomotives and affords astounding control over locomotive performance AND sounds.

Bachmann offers an EZ control system that is a great entry level DCC system.  I started with it and eventually upgraded to something else.  It's your choice to make but DCC opens up entire new worlds of realism in model railroad operation.