Try it out first. Some run fairly decent, if noisy(all brass gears I believe). Outer's "Gunslick" is a fantastic lube for all brass gears. It will quickly quiet things down. If I remember correctly, these are geared at "slot-car" speed, so the Atlas "slow speed" motor (if it will fit) would be helpful. If the Atlas motor won't fit, a Faulhaber gear-head motor is an exspensive, but good solution. Once you find a workable drive-train set-up, you can add lots of weight inside that brass shell, which will help many things, like electrical pick-up and pulling power, and still have room for several of the new "micro" DCC decoders, if you want to go that way. As I recall, these are fairly nice models overall, so think of it as an "enginnerring project" for a good drive-train. Best of luck to you.
