44 ton diesel re-release

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know if re-release of Bachmanns GE 44 ton switcher is a better running engine than the first, or did they just make it DCC ready? I rebuilt a MDC boxcab shell to fit the 44 ton frame but mine just doesn't run that well. I now use DCC contols so it being ready to plug & play is worth something to me but not if it is a poor rinner.
Thanks for any input,
John

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine just bought a 44 tonner. He said it now uses only one motor with univerals to power the trucks and as for the DCC ready, just a soldering pad. I guess "DCC ready" means alot of different things.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak as to the DCC aspects (I don't use
DCC), but the new engine is nice, and both looks
and runs a lot better than either the original
44-tonner or the SPectrum 70 tonner (I think
both used the same twin-motor frame).
Juan

[MRRSparky]

I have one and have installed a Digitrax DZ123, with transponding and BEMF. I hard wired it and removed the OEM circuit board. It's a quirk of mine to do so. It runs fine at the lower speeds you would expect of such a switcher. It gets noisy if you try to run it at open track speeds.

It is very quiet at switching speeds. An interesting feature of the DZ123 is "switching mode" which if F-6 activated It drastically limits the loco speed, making for very nice control a low switching speed.