I will suggest that anyone out there with a Digitrax, SE8C, PM42, and a BDL168 to get breakout boards for those devices from http://www.lwh3.com I have a breakout board from LWH3 and they make installation a whole lot easier. These breakout boards are so wonderful! They eliminate the need of soldering. I no longer had to pay any attention to the complicated Digitrax manuals regarding soldering and connecting wires to those tiny pins that come with those boards I mentioned above.
Glad those are working for you, alloboard. Even so - keep honing your soldering skills until your comfortable doing it. It's a good skill to acquire but it does take some practice.
Aids that will help:
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.