Thanks to all who responded to my posting. Bachmann have gone up in my estimations with (1) a quick reply to my query and (2) an easy solution to the problem.
The reply from their Service Dept. said
"Thank you for your enquiry. The space for the decoder is in the cradle just ahead of the motor. Remove the block of metal that's in it when the loco is shipped.There's a channel beneath the motor bracket to run the decoder wires round to the decoder socket."
Lo and behold there is plenty of room to fit even the big E-Z Command 36-551 decoder and the wiring. It was a simple job to instal the decoder. (By the way, the loco runs well.)
Why on earth Bachmann cannot include these simple instructions with the loco defeats me! Why get your customers offside and also give their own technical people extra queries to answer??
The reply from their Service Dept. said
"Thank you for your enquiry. The space for the decoder is in the cradle just ahead of the motor. Remove the block of metal that's in it when the loco is shipped.There's a channel beneath the motor bracket to run the decoder wires round to the decoder socket."
Lo and behold there is plenty of room to fit even the big E-Z Command 36-551 decoder and the wiring. It was a simple job to instal the decoder. (By the way, the loco runs well.)
Why on earth Bachmann cannot include these simple instructions with the loco defeats me! Why get your customers offside and also give their own technical people extra queries to answer??