Thanks for the input. It's nice to know that there is almost always somebody around here that has accomplished what I may be struggling with or totally ignorant about.
Do you know of anywhere that i might be able to locate a replacement rear truck assembly (apart from the junk box)? The current truck is broken in a spot where I doubt it will stay fixed.
There are two options I can think of.
I worked on a couple Bachmann 4-8-4s a little while ago, so I know how these steam engines are built. All you have to do to isolate the motor from the frame is either cut the little pins contacting the frame, or just stick some plastic or electrical tape in there. The headlight should be just as easy. I don't think the smoke unit can be hooked up to a DCC decoder, and having it work constantly could possibly make it hot enough to melt the smoke stack, so as neat as it is, you may want to remove it. Based on the exploded diagram for this engine (http://hoseeker.net/assemblyexplosionbachmann/bachmann282mikadodiagram1990.jpg), it looks like there should be enough room in the middle of the engine for a decoder. The motors used in these don't draw much more than 0.5 amps stalled, so you don't need a big decoder to run it.
The other option is a Bowser repower kit for the Bachmann 2-8-0. The 2-8-2 is the 2-8-0 with a rear truck added, so it shouldn't be hard to stick the rear truck on there. Bowser's current mechanisms are DCC friendly, as long as you have a 2-amp decoder. The only problem is, the kits are about $75 each.
So if it runs as well as you say it does, I'd go with option 1, which should be pretty easy since these engines have pretty simple construction.
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Having installed a decoder into an old Bachmann 4-8-4 Northern for a member of our HO scale club, my advice would be to forget it. The motor is mounted between two frame halves with wipers that press on those frame halves for electrical pickup. The running gear must be totally disassembled in order to get the frame halves apart and access the motor, and then you run into a problem of where to put the decoder without milling out the frame.
I told the owner that he had to perform the required disassembly and reassembly, because I didn't want to be blamed for something getting broken. It's been two years now, and he still hasn't gotten it back together because he has forgotten how it came apart or small parts have gotten lost.
If you really want to install a decoder, you first need to determine the stall current of the locomotive. The only function output you will need is the headlight, so any cheap decoder with at least one function and adequate Amperage rating for the motor should be sufficient. I think I put a TCS T-1 decoder into the 4-8-4.
My dad bought a HUGE box lot of HO "parts" (mostly junk)
At the bottom of the box he found a treasure - a 1980's vintage Bachmann 2-8-2 Mikado. He wasn't expecting much from it considering the quality of the other contents of the box. He was pleasantly surprised when he put it on the track and fired it up. It stuttered a bit at first, but after a bit of cleaning it now runs like a charm. (and smokes too - the kids love it!) My question is this - Has anyone undertaken installing a decoder in a Bachmann steam engine of similar configuration and vintage? What (wallet friendly - no sound just yet) decoder would you recommend/avoid. Was it straightforward enough that a novice could pull it off? Any tips or hints would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.