Hank,
I was in a similar situation last summer. I had purchased a Spectrum K4 Pacific Pennsy #1361, a DC version. I enlisted the help from my LHS to rewire the locomotive to make it DCC ready. I would install the decoder in the tender. So, he was to wire the locomotive and make the connection wiring between the loco and tender. Well, he had over 5 hours trying to make it work, with no success. Something about the wheels and the wiring. I ended up making it into a static display. Long story short, I ended up buying a DCC On Board unit for a little over $125, new. All the wiring has been done, all I had to do was install the sound decoder in the tender. Having all the wiring ready to go makes the installation of the sound decoder very easy. And with the DCC unit, the speaker area is ready to go in the tender. I installed a SoundTraxx TSU-100 decoder. Less than an hour and you have a terrific sounding engine. Love my K4!
My advice, save some time and frustration and try to find a DCC ready, which would be a newer version of the Spectrum K4 Pacific.
If I can help further, please let me know.
Ted