good point.  i am comparing it to others of the same thickness (mrc, radio shack, digitrax and the like).  these are flat as they get.  putting these into the bachmann ft-a and b and there is under 1/2 inch of height without demolishing the chassis . . . the high bass is great, but too big.  regarding the baffle . . . . the short poland spring bottle caps, with the speaker upside down (cone in).

ok.  i have tested 5 1" speakers from a variety of makers and the one sold here by bachmann is superior.  i have bought 7.  just curious . . . .who makes them ?

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_89&products_id=1622

yes.  it is in the product list, but there is no mention of it in the parts department.  perhaps still blind . . .

looking on the bachmann site, in the parts department, for the HO DD40AX.  not seeing it . . . .  have i gone blind ?

ahh, yes i do. 

regarding the purchase of an fa2 and an s4 . . . i just checked out with an s4 in the cart . . . fa2 next week.  i have to be careful . . . i can afford the trains, but every time a new one comes, my wife runs to the coach store . . .

there is the answer . . . thanks.  and you're right . . . it won't look scale.  i won't be doing that. 

i'll keep tooling the fta/b as is for more volume. 

ordering one of these sound equipped diesels now . . . just to have it  . . .

oh, i have done that . . . and this . . .(nyc fta/b passenger with huge sound)

http://themagiccloud.com/nycp.jpg

ha . . . you are being nice and logical . . . here is my issue, there is no room in the belly of the ft-a beast to put a speaker big enough to hear (without demolishing the chassis).  its easy to change the sound chip though . . . .

so . . . does anyone know if the body shell on the Bachmann HO Alco FA2 Diesel Loco DCC SoundTraxx Equipped is interchangable with the Bachmann HO Diesel FT-A with DCC.

PROBLEM SOLVED 

It was . . . . the plastic cap that goes on the worm shaft, that connects to the driveshaft.  . .  not enough friction.  ya know, i was in there before,  and re-sat all that linkage . . . it seemed tight at the time . . . . i guess not tight enough

anyway . . . to fix it . . what i did not attempt was to glue it on.  what i did was remove it, clean it and apply a few thin coats of ultra thin ca to the inside, popped it with a little accellerator for an instant cure.  that gave it a little more meat to get a great bite on the shaft.

thanks for your help.

wow, great forum.  thanks guys.  i am traveling this week.  i should have brought the train with me . . . . set it up in the hotel . . .ya know 

i will try all these things next week.

Ya know, I got in there to clean out gobs of grease, didn't try looking for a wormless bind. Will do.

Hi.  Just got into this a month ago. Bought the digital commander, got addicted and then bought a mile of track, 5 locos 20 rolling stock, bla bla bla  all exclusively bachmann and all HO. . .  almost all from my lhs.  i try to keep him in business . . . loving this therapy while i wait for warmer weather to fly my rc plane/heli collection.  question:

the emd ft-a dcc that came with the digital commander doesn't appear to operate at full power, its as if it gets to 75% and that's it . . .and it exhibits unusual behavior, as if it spontaneously loses grip of the track (like its bottoming out, though its not . . . motor pitch remains constant 75%).  this will happen for a few seconds, and then its fine. . . .and it happens under all imaginable circumstances . . .dcc, dc, straight, curved, forward backward, body on/off, trucks adjusted/re-adjusted, trucks removed/reinstalled, drive shafts uninstalled/re-seated re-installed, truck bottom housing on/off . . . . . (i have 2 other new ft-a's and 1 b from you, all perfect, and i have ripped them apart to see why ther work so well . . . no conclusions)

i am new to trains, but not new to the hobby world . . . so i have no fear of noodling around with things . . . . in fact i bought your silverton/durango and out of the box the 2-8-0 failed to run smoothly . . . i diagnosed it with messed up wheel linkage, and i could have sent it back, but didn't want to wait, so i ordered the entire chassis from your parts site, installed is (like doing surgery on a grasshopper).  had to swap out the little circuit board in the wheel housing for the original, for some reason the part that came in the new chassis was not happy with the fact that i had installed the 8-pin dcc chip, or just wasn't happy . . . i then soldered in a sound decoder, found a lovely home for the speaker in the tender, and wow, this is 1 smooth running happy train . . . . .
anyway, back to the emd-ft-a . . .please advise