December 15, 2001

The Russians are Coming!
Spectrum Russian Decapods Arrive. Buy them here.

We are always eager to test new releases.

Just minutes after our first shipment we installed a decoder and ran this little 2-10-0 through the ups and downs of our testing layout that has been designed as an obstacle course for loco testing. No derailments, generally good smooth speed control and about 12 freight cars up a 4% grade.The starting voltage is releatively high due to the same belt drive that the Decapod shares with the 2-8-0 and the 4-8-2. The loco is DCC ready and the NMRA plug in the tender can accsessed by removing a screw located near the front tender truck.

There is minimal vertical clearance in the tender due to stack up of weight and loco circuit bd. After examining the options we determined that a wired decoder with a NMRA plug would work but would not fit as easily as a direct plug in like the NCE, D14srp or the TCS, TH150dp.We used the D14SRp.

We had one problem when the loco transitioned some of our Peco Code 100, Small Radius, Insul-Frog turnouts! A short sometimes occurred that was attributed to the loco drivers bridging the converging rails at the frog. A small amount of insulating material at the convergence solved the problem.

We also looked at the possibilities for Sound installation and the easiest approach is to use a SOUNDTRAXX PnP designed for the Heritage 0-8-0, 820080. Loco circuit bd has to be lowered and moved aft for PnP installation, simple enough! A Tony's 1' speaker will mount below coal load.

The detail is excellent and what we have come to expect from Bachmann.