Well, after a great trip at York, I found the 3 SD40-2's I was looking for. Not MTH ones, but Weaver ones, owned by Bob Feneran. They're not cream puffs, two are missing a small part on top, and the other is with a PS1 board that won't step out of neutral, but considering what I paid, they're still steals. Also off the checklist is the man to custom paint these, which is Harry Hieke.
Two things down, one to go: upgrading two of them to Command mode. One's going to be a dummy, BTW.
Anyways, I would figure PS2/3 kits would be less expensive, but are much more sensitive and are far less easy to obtain compared to the pieces by ERR.
Since both engines in question have dual DC can motors and are strictly conventional, I do know I need the DC motor Commander, Cruise Commander, and a RailSounds board for each. However, the one that does not have the PS1 board has no volume control knob. Do I need one to work?
Also, I'll likely need an ElectroCoupler kit as well, but do I need another kit for ditch lights at either end? I don't really need lighted number boards or marker lights, but ditch lights I will. Any help is well appreciated.