Finding My Way With DCC

I like Bachmann diesels, since they're reasonably priced with very good paint jobs and acceptable layout-quality detail -- higher end models have details that tend to drop off or break off in handling, for instance. On the other hand, as I proceed with DCC, some of the Bachmann diesels have problems.

The most recent non-sound GP7s and GP9s, for instance, no longer have 8-pin NMRA sockets but have a factory-installed motherboard that includes the DCC decoder. The problem is that Bachmann DCC decoders are poorly documented, and they appear not to support CVs that most other makes of decoder do support. It used to be easy to swap out a Bachmann decoder for a better-quality one. Now you have to pull the factory board and hardwire a decoder, and you also have to add resistors for the LEDs:

This has the additional problem that hardwiring leads to errors. In this case, apparently some heat shrink tubing slipped while I was putting the final wires into place as I replaced the shell, and bare wires touched and shorted, blowing the first decoder. But redoing it, I finally got a decent loco:

Bachmann did a good jpob with the BAR paint. I touched up the trucks and fuel tank with prototype silver and weathered the grills on the hood.