decoder installation for overland limited

[T34]

Is it possible to upgrade the overland limited engine to dcc? If so do I only need to buy the decoder and do I need the one with the plug or the wire harness?
                 Thanks

[Yampa Bob]

Hi T34, welcome to the board.

Please compare your locomotive with the one featured on this page. It may not be appropriate for your model, but it's the closest reference I could find.

http://www.tcsdcc.com/decoderpics/Bachman%20Niagara%204-8-4/bachman_niagra_4-8-4.htm

Regards.

[the Bach-man]

Dear T34,
There are many versions of locos in the Overland set; some easier than others in which to install a decoder, and some, frankly, not worth the effort.  Do you know how old the set is?
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Eryalen]

I purchased an "Overland" set from Costco before I knew any better. The 4-8-4 loco (I think it's based on the "Northern" but not DCC ready) was super easy to convert. I took off the front truck and with three further screws the shell came off. Everything was already isolated so it was a matter of unhooking the motor and pickup wires and soldering to the decoder wires, removing the suppression capacitors (not the resistors) and soldering to the decoder. I'm not big on smoke so I left that disconected but you could use one function or direct to the track. The LED resistor and cap are on a small connector board. If you don't like to solder you could cut the traces to isolate the functions and use the solderless connectors as supplied on the board. I don't have a DCC setup yet, or even a permanent layout but I took the chassis to my hobby shop and it ran fine under DCC. I have pictures but I don't know how to share them here.