I don't think any of them are plug and play.  They need to wired. 

I think it is possible to convert  any locomotive to DCC If you really want to do it.

I have seen posts that said to call Bridget for help with parts.  Does Bridget have an extension.  If yes, what is it.

covered hoppers go back a long way.  They were regular hoppers with a cover on them.  They used covered hoppers in cement service for years.  I moved to Okla. in 1944.   We had a ready mix plant that received cement in covered hoppers, sand and stone in gons.  What they haul it in today depends on what kind of sand and how they want to unload it.  There is a railroad in arkansas that uses old ore cars for sand.

After more checking i found the problem with the 2-8-0.  It has a cracked sprocket.  This is just a guess.  It is one of those dollar parts that they don't sell.  You must buy the whole power unit.  I may be wrong , but they only list a parts number for the hole unit.  Now i need to find the phone number and give them a call.

I found what the problem is.  The sprocket is loose.  Can this be glued to the flywheel.  The
flywheel is not loose.

He said it looked like no or little wear.  I really should have ask some questions.

well it happened to me.  I seldom buy anything on ebay.  I bid on a spectrum 2-8-0 used and my low bid won.  Well I found out why.  I have seen this before.  Runs slow making noise and the motor sounds like it is racing.  I guess I will take it apart and see what I find.

I have found that Talgo and body mounted couplers don't work well together.   The longer the car the greater the problem.

The Santa Fe early 3100's would be a nice locomotive for a small layout.  I think they had 57 inch drivers.  The first group had high headlight. The next group had the center headlight.

Mantua steam locomotive were great 40 years ago.  How ever Tyco turned most of those into poor locomotives.  I never cared for mantua f units. I do have a few cars that I reworked.  They were given to me. 

Since we are talking about the IHC 0-8-0, What is the size of the drivers. 

The NMRA has templates. 

I was just reading another post and found the answer.  ) Very Important: The loco will run backwards. To correct this program CV 29 to a value of 7.

I have the same problem with one of my locomotives with an tlas system.