Athearn's soon to be released 2-8-2 Steam Genesis loco will have another surprise! The loco will be DCC ready , but will not use the NMRA standard, 2X4 socket DCC socket. Instead, Athearn has wisely decided to use the 9 pin header connector (mass termination) used on some NCE Corporation, Lenz, Digitrax and System I decoders. Changing the standard to this format would be best for all.