So guys do you plug and play or rip out the DCC friendly boards and hardwire ?. Personally the light board type of DCC friendly boards i rip out and put in a NCE DA-SR with resistors on board for LEDS. Really its quite often just as easy to pull the guts out and start fresh on many installs. Seems to me the boards in locos are not too perfect quite often!
I would say the same thing, plug and play is easier, what it was meant to be!!
In HO scale tought, I have used a lot more soldering type DCC installation. I could also install proper LEDs where I wanted them for maximum lighting effects.
Especially with CP and CN engines with lights in the nose instead of having them over the windshield, like many american railroads.