I've had two Bachmann Prairies gathering dust on my workbench for many months. The main reason for this is I DCC'd three of the things for a friend initially, and couldn't face tackling mine after the hassle I had with his. As well as having one dodgy runner, he'd also suffered from locked-solid-screw-syndrome (glad it's not just me!) and couldn't find a decoder he was happy with. I foolishly volunteered to help, and in the end we ditched his TCS M1 decoders in favour of Lenz Gold Minis - pushing it a bit in terms of current rating but they're running quite happily in service, so who am I to criticise?
I didn't fancy fitting Gold Minis in mine, and the limited space in the boiler precludes any of my normal favourites such as the regular Lenz Gold. In the end I liberated some Zimo MX61s (no longer in production) from some US models by replacing them with Golds. The Zimos fit in the boiler quite easily, unlike the Golds, and give similar top-end performance. In fact, with one 'sticky' Prairie, the Zimo ended up giving the best performance of any decoder I could lay my hands on. You have to watch carefully to notice any hesitation now - comprehensive fine-tuning being a Zimo selling-point.
Bachmann have given no thought to DCC conversion with the Prairie. Although experienced hands will take it in their stride, it's a bit fiddly for beginners as my friend found to his cost. Soldering wires to the small circuit board is one of those jobs where you need three hands if you don't want an existing wire to come unsoldered as you add a new one. The wiring will be running dangerously close to the worm as well, and some care is required if everything is to happily co-exist. You get there in the end, of course, but there are more pleasurable things to do - which is why I put this job off for so long.
Another kettle in the electrical shops is a Hornby King being fitted with a Lenz Gold. I've done some minor wiring mods, despite it being DCC-Ready, and will fit a scrap of plastikard in the boiler to stop the decoder flapping about. In the fullness of time the decoder will go in the tender (possibly with a Lenz Power 1) along with a full rewire to get rid of Hornby's electrified drawbar. But for now this gets things rolling.
Time for a nice cup of tea, Gromit...
Currently On My Stereo: Francis Dunnery - Welcome To The Wild Country