Bob

There are two strobe lights that flash and are connected to the board by a harness. If I bypass the board, these lights won't work,    or will they? I have a feeling that once the board is eliminated they won't. There is a harness at both ends for the front and rear lights as well as the strobe  harness in the middle. I know it would be easier to buy new, but my 7 year old may not understand that. he asks me every day how can we make these DCC. He has already drawn a layout. I just don't want to add a controller and lose some of the functions.
We live in western NY state and he wants to incorperate a replica of the Letchworth park trestle and Horseshoe curve in Altoona. That should be fun!!

Keith

by the way, I did read your post earlier. Do you write installation manuals for a living?? Very simple english, easy to follow step by step instructions. I have printed it out and I will save it. Thank You

Keith

Thank you very much for your help guys. Its nice to know there are people out there willing to share thier knowledge with us newbies.

My son is really into this and I pulled out my old set from 1975 two years ago to get him started. We know have 7 new locos (3 DCC) over 30 freight and passenger cars and a large amount of EZ Track. My how things have changed since 1975.

I have removed the shells from all three of the locos and one doesn't have any visible wires. The pickups are springs that run right to the frame. I don't think that one will be converted.

Another is a Bachmann Spectrum F40PH Amtrack Phase II diesel that was a christmas gift this year. It has a circuit board on top of the frame. In reading some other posts, someone said the board will need to be cut. That doesn't sound good to me. I might have that unit done professionally.

The closest hobby shop is 50 miles away. Is it worth sending out to some of the people that advertise on some of these websites? Is that what the hobby shop will likely do?

We have a Bachman NY Central FT-A that I am sure I could do myself but the amtrack, withe the flashing strobes, I would rather have someone who knows what they are doing.

 :)Thanks guys. I did watch the DVD and I was able to set the addresses correctly.  ;)You were right, the manual was wrong and the DVD was correct.
I know that it would be easier to buy new loco's but they are only 2-4 years old and he just got one for christmas. I am an electrician and I love tinkering with stuff . Are their any better instruction manuals other than the Bachman PDF file that shows the decoders? What is the difference between the standard Bachman decoder and the 8-pin. My 8 year old has 3 DCC locos and three standard locos, all are diesels. I have been doing some research on the forum and some people  seem to think that deisels are easier than steamers. I hope! I have the essential tools, multimeters and sodering pencil etc and I am familiar with AC control circuits so i am not intimidated by the wiring aspect. I just hate to not be able for him to use these diesels. Any way any help would be greatly appreciated.

Keith

I just purchased the HO digital commander with the Santa Fe GP-40 and FT-A for my 8 year old on his birthday. We were able to program the GP-40 to an address but the FT-A unit would not change from # 3. We also have another DCC equiped locomotive and we tried to set an address for that one as well. . neither loco seemed to change from three. The instructions are a little vague and we cannot change either  address from the preprogrammed setting. Any ideas?

We also have 3 newer Bachmann diesels that I would lice to convert to DCC. I have seen 2 types of decoders that can be added. Which one do I need?

Thanks

Keith & Tommy