06-11-2010, 03:20 PM
I believe the pioneer in "universal" use of decoders on this board is Jeffrey. If I remember right, he has taken a decoder out of just about every manufacturer of locomotive and used it in just about any other, with fine results. It's really a product of the market. Any decoder will work, but will it work "plug and play"? Ready to run seems to be the focus of the industry. Jeffrey doesn't mind rewiring a loco or decoder to suit his needs so he has no need for the "special" or manufacturer specific decoders, while others don't want to modify their new lokeys, they just want to plug and play.
-Dave