Has anybody had a look at the new Farish 08 chassis and compared it to the previous?
The new one is pictured here:
https://www.ngaugenews.com/post/class-769-flex-bi-mode-bmu-sound-fitted-class-08-lead-graham-farish-n-gauge-spring-announcements (https://www.ngaugenews.com/post/class-769-flex-bi-mode-bmu-sound-fitted-class-08-lead-graham-farish-n-gauge-spring-announcements)
Looking at those photos (first time I've seen them) and comparing it to one of my 'naked' 08 chassis it looks like the motor on the new one is lower, to accommodate the DCC circuit boards and the gear tower is more 'upright' to move the motor 'back' on the chassis to make space for the speaker at the at the front (radiator) end of the chassis.
It looks like Bachmann have managed to match the envelope of the older chassis - which would make sense to avoid retooling the body - but without having a new one to hand it's impossible to say for sure.
Interesting development though if one can get an 08 sound chip (do we know what type the socket is?) with steam loco noises on it...
Julien, regarding the steam loco noises, I gather that the 'sound fitted' version of the new Farish 08 shunter comes with a Zimo MX659N18 DCC decoder which can be loaded with alternate sound 'project' files which would include all sorts of steam options. (Actually I also understand that all sound decoders allow this, but I've never seen or heard one yet. I've also heard that unless they come with a 'stay-alive' capacitor, everything gets reset if there's even a momentary power interruption.)
What I've also just discovered is that while the 'sound fitted' version has a 'Next18' decoder socket, the sound-less version has an 8-pin decoder socket and no decoder. I imagine that the idea is to put the decoder where the speaker isn't - as you say, at the front (radiator) end of the chassis.