I have a northern #58161 that I am converting to a Gt. Northern S-2.  Part of the conversion involved changing
the tender to a bachmann #89453.  This tender has pickups on all wheels, so it was easy to add some decoder
wire to join the engine and tender together electricly.  I used 2 00-90 screws in holes drilled and tapped in the
split frames in the backhead aeria.  Once this was complete,  no more stalling.  There was some jerking and close
check revealed that the rear driver was slightly out of time.  I have re timed it twice, and if necessary, will add
a drop of super glue on the end of the axle, which should cure that problem.

I'm useing 2 new mrc railpower 1320 s.  Was in n model rail 35 years ago, and got back into it 5 years ago
when I retired from the construction industry. DCC is new to me as would be on someone just entering
the hobby.  I have learned quite a bit since my return to the hobby,  but there are still some grey aerias
that I am not sure of.  That is one reason I am still DC only.

Has anyone had trouble with backwards compatable decoders?  I'm currently dc only, and have had 2 burn up (athearn)
and one just simply quit (bachmann).  The ones that burned up actually softened the tender shells slightly in the
location where the component was located.  The other the lights worked, but engine wouldn't move.  In all cases,
the decoders were removed and wireing patched to allow the locomotives to operate on dc only.  The locos are a
Big Boy, Challenger, and a DD40.  I'm running on atlas track and customline turnouts.

I got one of these about a month ago, and thought I would give a critique on it.  To me, this the best steam loco that
Bachmann has put out.  The detail is really top notch, and it looks really good.  What impressed me the most, is it's
running characteristics.  All of the wheels are in gauge, (a definite improvement), and the gearing is prototipicly low,
makeing for a very realistic speed.  The pulling power is really great,(I've pulled 22 cars on level track) so it looks good
pulling a train.  The on-board decoder is truly backwards compatible, as I'm dc only, and have had no trouble with it.
The biggest drawback is the couplers.  They are too big, and mounted too high.  High enough that they had to be lowered just so it could pull a train.  Once that was done, no complaints.  All in all, great job to Bachmann, you have
a true winner in this one.  By all means keep it up.