Mr Bachmann - thank you for making the N scale 2-8-4 Berkshire with DCC and sound.

I fully expect MRC to come out with a DCC-equipped and sound-equipped 4-6-2 before Bachmann does.

$200?! Are you serious? DO IT! That is an incredibly detailed layout for that amount of money. Do it before someone else recognizes the value and wants it.

I have four of them available. $10 + $3 shipping for two trucks.

The shell is not bad. It would be a great start to a super-detailing project.

Yes. It will have a dual-mode decoder.

Great choice!

I am MEGA excited about this. I know it'll be 2015 before we see this, but this is very exciting.

I want an N scale 2-8-4 Berkshire that has traction tires and can actually pull more than 15 cars out of the box.

Locomotive or tender?

On the tender, there are two screws to remove to remove the shell: one just forward of the rear coupler, and one just forward of the speaker hole. Then slide a flat-bladed screwdriver or knife and gently lift off.

I would buy, in a heartbeat, an N scale 2-8-4 Berkshire.

Forget Digitrax and go with ESU LokSound Select or Soundtraxx Heavy Steam Decoder TSU-750. Add a 10mm speaker and you're good to go!

You can get one now.

Remove the pin that holds the connecting rod to the wheel and then install the tire. You also might have to remove the entire axle.

I have a TSU-750 in my EM-1. I love it.

Desolder the old decoder. Don't cut off the leads as you will eventually have to solder the new decoder leads to the PCB in the tender anyways. Label the wires each time you desolder a wire from the old decoder so you can reuse that decoder.