Model Railway Forum

Could anyone advise if there is sufficient space within the Bachmann LMS crab to fit a Bachmann 36-553 decoder? I have read comments that it is necessary to remove the front weight, which in light of the gradients I have on Neptune Street am not particularly keen to do.

Further suggestion has been to fit the smaller Hornby R8249 decoder, which it is suggested fits in the front of the smoke box with the wire loop.

Any comments would be welcome please.

A TCS DP2X-UK fits directly in the socket and consequently has no effect on the fitted weights.

I suspect the Crab is very similar to the Standard 4 2-6-0 as regards decoder fitting. Bachmann also recommend removing the loco weight in this model to fit the decoder. However, I have fitted Lenz Standard+ decoders to my ones and it was not necessary to remove the weight. All you need to do is slide the decoder into the boiler space so that it is facing upwards. It's a single-sided decoder so having the neutral side next to the metal weight is essential.

I would strongly recommend using the Lenz decoder in this model rather than the Bachmann one, as the latter caused me problems. You need to set various CVs to get smooth performance with it, whereas with the Lenz the normal default CVs work fine.

You might find it easier to get the body back on if you remove some of the lighting wires on the decoder as these won't be used on this model, and this reduces the bulk of the harness.

No idea about the Crab but it sounds like a similar problem I encountered (and solved) on this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=13

Helpful replies as always, many thanks.

Carl