Advice needed on a set/steam locomotive (newbie)

[Neo Fender]

My father bought a Bachmann set for my son as a Christmas gift.  I believe it's the Digital Commander set (HO, DCC set with two diesel engines).  My son wants smoke, whistle, lights, motion, etc. Pardon the pun but all the bells and whistles.  Are there any Bachmann sets or steam engines that fit these criteria?  I'm guessing I'm outside of my league with the whistle and motion unless I go with a Lionel set.  Bachmann has a Chattanooga set but it's not a DCC.  Didn't know if that was a big issue or not.

Thanks.

[THB-DAVE]

If you check under the product secton of this web site you will find that
Bachmann offers 52 sound equiped HO steam engines and I am sure they all move. As for smoke, you really should avoid it as it is unrealistic burns out easily and not worth the effort and a feature not found on higher end HO steam.

David

[Neo Fender]

Thanks for your reply.  I'm sure they all move as well.  My "motion" requirement was in regard to something that moves on one or more of the cars, a feature that Lionel gets into a little and (I assume) Bachmann does not.  Smoke? Understood.  I know there are opposing camps on the subject.  My Bachmann G scale never has smoked well but my kid sees the engines on train set videos smoking like crazy and he loves it. 

If you check under the product secton of this web site you will find that
Bachmann offers 52 sound equiped HO steam engines and I am sure they all move. As for smoke, you really should avoid it as it is unrealistic burns out easily and not worth the effort and a feature not found on higher end HO steam.

David

[jayl1]

Check the radius (curves) of the track.  You might be better off getting a smaller steam engine like a 2-8-0 if it is 18" radius.  Also consider the Bachmann Spectrum models - a bit more expensive, but better quality in the long run.

[ta152h0]

You can get decoders for sound for diesel locomotives. Smoke is a more challenging thiung and reserved for metal body machines, although i recently saw an ad for a SEUTHE smoke machine that is designed for use with plastic. i don't know you get black smoke for a diesel but who knows, some enterprising company might be reading this....have fun with your set and buy more track.......

[ajp3751]

There are many beautiful spectrum models that are small (4-4-0, 4-6-0, 2-8-0) that come DCC equiped with sound. There are the standard (0-6-0, 2-6-0, 2-6-2) that run decent that come DCC equiped but don't have sound. I would highly disregard smoke as it is a pain to clean up after (dirty rails and thus poor operation), unrealistic, and can overheat and melt and bend the plastic. The sound is a nice feature that is controllable by your DCC controller. Smoke isn't wise for these smaller engines and isn't probably good for an unsupervized child (not that he would be). I would maybe recomend some more cars as well because the starter set only comes with a few.

[Paul M.]

Thanks for your reply.  I'm sure they all move as well.  My "motion" requirement was in regard to something that moves on one or more of the cars, a feature that Lionel gets into a little and (I assume) Bachmann does not.  Smoke? Understood.  I know there are opposing camps on the subject.  My Bachmann G scale never has smoked well but my kid sees the engines on train set videos smoking like crazy and he loves it. 

None of Bachmann's freight cars have motion as you described, but they do offer a handcar with two people pumping up and down on a bar . It's called a "Gandy Dancer" . However, you can't use it with DCC. If your E-Z Command DCC has a functioning DC outlet on address 10 as most do, you should be able to run it. I don't have E-Z Command ( DC for myself), so I don't know the specifics.