More P&LE

More than two years ago I posted on my then-new Bachmann P&LE GP7. After I worked with it for a while, I realized the Bachmann factory decoder had very limited features and a compulsory speed curve. (Some earlier Bachmann GP7s and 9s had factory decoders with NMRA plugs, but newer ones like the P&LE have boards with integral decoders). I gradually replaced the factory boards in several, but then I discovered the NCE BACH-DSL decoder that is specifically meant to replace Bachmann boards with integral decoders. This makes the job much easier and includes replacement LEDs.

After that post, I renumbered it from 5676 to 5682. As far as I can tell, P&LE freight units had Pacemaker green bodies with, in the 1950s, gray lightning stripes. Passenger units like 5682 had black bodies, so by renumbering to 5682 I solved two problems, avoiding the conflict with my Atlas 5676 and making the black body more prototypical:

Here's the new BACH-DSL board for 5682 in place:

With the new board in place, I speed matched Bachmann 5682 to Atlas 5676. I had to fiddle with the vMid CV6 to get it to run fast enough to match the Atlas, as well as increase the momentum values CV3 and 4 to match the freer-running Atlas unit. Now they run pretty well together -- wouldn't have happened without DCC:

Here's a Howard Fogg postcard of P&LE GP7s:

Here's a P&LE boxcar I found at the Simi Valley swap last Saturday: