# Bachmann 0-6-0 switcher



## adaboy (Apr 24, 2014)

Has anyone converted the 0-6-0 to dcc?


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Should be fairly straightforward, be more interesting to know if anyone's installed sound. Soundtraxx offer a decoder.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

If you bought it new you should have the Bachmann line
drawing breakaway showing parts. Is it marked 'DCC READY'?
If so, you would buy decoder with appropriate plug. If
not you would need 'wired' decoder.

I am HO, but so many DCC decoder installations
go in the tender on steamers. I assume that would
be the case in this little dude. If so, you'll have a cable
of 4 wires from the tender to the loco motor and light.

Don


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## DavefromMD (Jul 25, 2013)

The 0-6-0 tender does not pick up the power. The drive wheels pick up the power. I had one of those and gave up on trying how to figure out where to fit the decoder. There is very little room in the locomotive. I found a good price on a new DCC version and bought it and sold the DC version. Actually got the DCC version for what I originally paid for the DC version.


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

I just completed a DCC decoder(DH126D) install on a Bachmann 0-6-0 loco from the Chattanooga train set. It was a real bear compared to a Diesel I did a few weeks ago!

I put the decoder in the tender, I also removed the smoke generator as it got very hot during loco operation. I removed the rear light on the tender and installed an LED and wired it to the rear light function on the decoder.

The hardest part of the whole deal is disassembling the loco! I removed the three screws on the very bottom of the loco, only the one on the rear actually attaches to the body. There are two screws, one on either side underneath the front of the loco. The trick here is to carefully "force" the body off of the chassis. The rear lifts off relatively easy, but the front is held in by two small tabs. 

There is a circuit board on top of the chassis. Note the two screws holding it on, they are also the electrical connection to the wheel pickups. I removed the board completely from the chassis. Make note of what the four wires do, two are for the motor, and two are for the front light. I would imagine it might be possible to mount a decoder in the circuit boards place since I bet that is where a factory one might go, but I still opted to put the decoder in the tender, and run the wires underneath the coupler. I drilled holes in the bottom of the bottom cover of the loco for the wires.

I used the two screws that held the circuit board on to attach the pickup wires on the decoder. Another note, the chassis is split into two halves separated by plastic washers, this is important since if they touch, the whole deal will be short circuited.

Be very careful with the motor wires, the connections are weak and there is not much room to resolder the connection without created a short with the chassis. This were I caused myself much pain and suffering! I ended up doing a complete disassembly to fix the motor wires!

I also read at the Bachmann forums, of others who had done this very install, and one suggested adding weight wherever possible, which I did, but only in the tender. I used some fishing weights and just shaped them with a hammer!

Like I said, it was a bear but well worth it! The loco is a very smooth runner now, of course the extra weight probably helped!

Good luck! hope this helps!


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

The OP doesn't say which model, it could be the Porter which doesn't have a tender. hence his question.


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