Well, the locomotive arrived today and I had to open it up right from the start because the chuffing sounds weren't working. Fortunately it was just a loose connector on a board.
There's definitely a lot more packed into the LC version of this engine compared to my older conventional one, so I'm not going to attempt my modification idea. It'll be a good runner as is for the theater when I'm present and also on the club layout for holiday events.
I did purchase a Lionel Hudson Jr locomotive from the Ballyhoo circus set and it seems to be a gem of a basic locomotive, so I think that'll be my main runner this year if it behaves ok in my testing runs.