Trying to install Virtual HC on my computer and when I hit the install button I get a message that says " Error Could not create directories ". Be forewarned that when it comes to computers I am absolutely crap. I do very well with pictures and being shown what to do and am very good at following direction ( when I read ). Any assistance would be deeply appreciated. Also note that RPA is installed on the computer and it is V.4.01.

...Do I need to splice into decoder loom wires to connect the RPM?

No, depending. The LM-3 and LM-3S you just connect the PBM to the relevant wires on the 6 pin harness (solder wires together) . The LM-3S-21 the PBM will connect to the relevant traces on the mother board in the locomotive (solder wires to motherboard). The old LM-2 and LM -1 series are not designed for the PBM. Ring made a mention about a board to allow use with the LM-2 back when the PBM was released but nothing yet.

The LM and PBM manuals will cover all that you need to know.

- Tim
 

Start with an easy "plug and play" version with one of the existing boards to gain confidence. There are lots of installation posts to follow on the group, and if you run into issues, there are many who will help!

I agree with this. If you've got the 9 pin plug, the LM3(s) is plug & play. Same for the 21 pin now with the new module.
Adapters can get tricky and annoying and take up unnessasry space. If your locos with the 8 pin plugs need an adapter and space is limited, I might consider hard wiring.

I have a couple locos with the 21 pin plug that I adapted to the 9 pin LM3. The extra wires from the conversion plug make things tight. I've considered buying a couple of the new 21 in modules and converting them over. Not only would it save room, it would give me back the extra light functions I lost with the 9 pin.

Tim, thank you for the reply and the links to mrhmag. I will note that there is not two screws holding the middle of the frame but just one. I removed the shell again to make comparisons with the photos on mrhmag and decided to take the light board out of the top of the shell to see how much room I would have to shave off the frame so I put in an unused LM3 I had and to my surprise I could get the shell back on the frame without taking any material off the frame. This will work. While I don't like Bachmann's design on their locomotives this is certainly doable.  I am not sure if Ring has a sound for a Fairbanks Morse Trainmaster, but it would be ashamed to not put a speaker in this model too. I like the Scale Sound Systems, but they do not have one for this particular model yet, simple measurements will get the right fit though. I still will have to grind out some of the frame in order to get the depth I need for a sizeable speaker baffle to sit in there but it would not need to interfere with that middle screw, thus keeping the frame integrity. It may be some months before I get to this one as there are several locomotives in line ahead of this FM H16-44 for Railpro conversions, I will document this and post the photos here.

In reading the PBM manual, it says that it can only be used with HO scale locomotives. I model in S scale. I guess this means the PBM is out.