I am delighted with my new Bachman Mikado (2-8-2)steam locomotive. It is HO, C&EI Railroad #1925, DCC Sound-Equipped. It is Item Number 54308.But I need to know the identification number of the decoder so I can do some CV programming. Can you find out what it is? Thank you.

Sorry, Folks. I forgot that I had posted this. Someone suggested that I flip the direction switch back and forth several time--no effect. But then I turned on the power (with the speed set to zero) and flipped it several times, and now it works fine.

I cannot find anything in the instructions about being DCC ready. Of course, most of the instructions are on a VHS tape that I cannot run on my DVD player.

Quote from: bbmiroku on May 25, 2018, 08:33:38 PM
Did Bachmann offer DCC-ready engines 15 years ago?

I cannot find anything in this set that mentions DCC, so I doubt that this one is DCC ready.

My brand new, 2003 Bachman train that I bought yesterday is now running great, but there's another problem.

The power unit will only let me run the train in one direction. The loco runs backwards on other tracks, and my other locos will only run in one direction on the 2003 track. Everything is connected correctly. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all the replies!

It turns out that the tender picks up the electricity from the track. I carefully cleaned the tender wheels and axles with rubbing alcohol, and it now runs great.

Yesterday I bought an unused, still in the unopened box, Bachman "The Frontiersman" Rock Island HO set. It has a 2-8-0 loco with working headlight, and is attached to the tender with two sets of wires. It includes three other cars. Inside is an order form for the 2003 Bachman catalog.

Knowing that the oil in unused locos turns to wax, I spent over an hour "helping" it around another track  until it could run on its own. It runs without help, even when pulling all its cars. But it hesitates at certain spots, even though I have cleaned those spots and other locos go over them with no problems.


I set up its own track and power unit today and it runs well, but still hesitates at certain spots. My other locos go over those same spots with no problems, but I cleaned those spots, anyway. There are no Bachman supplies here in Mexico. Should I lubricate the loco? If so, is light sewing machine oil okay?

It will not run unless connected to the tender. Since there is no horn or whistle, what do the two sets of connecting wires do?

It's a great train and well worth what I paid for it. All suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks to all of you for answering my question.

When you talk about a 22" curve, do you mean that it takes 22 " to make a 90 degree turn?