I agree that Athearn should have done the vehicles that they are doing in 1/48th scale. The reason that they picked 1/50th scale is that it is a "collector" scale. Unfortunately there is just not enough market drive for them to do them in 1/48th scale. They at least look better next to the trains then the 1/43rd scale vehicles. Wiseman Model Services has some true 1/48th scale Model T’s available but these are kits and while not difficult they do take some time.

Andre Anderson

Quote from: rich19 on December 11, 2007, 03:15:54 AM
maybe I can motivate you to try (and then elaborately explain it on your website) a stub turnout. Want to make then for my own 1880's layout but am desparately awaiting a simple to understand article like yours....

richard

Richard,



There are two major problems with the stub turnout and they both have to do with the portion of the rail that is bent from one route to the other.

The first has to do with alignment, keeping the bending rails stopping at the same place left to right requires some sort of stop unlike a point switch where the point bears up against the stock rail there is nothing on a stub switch to stop the bending rails at the right point. The next part of the this problem is that the bending rail need to be kept down at the right height, in the scales that we work in the rails tend to float and then we have a derailment issue. On a point switch the throw bar usually slides under the stock rails and has the points soldered to it again solving the problem.

The next major problem is the bridles that hold the bending rails in the proper gauge, not only do they have to keep the rails in gauge, they also have to keep the rails separated electrically. Ideally they should also have just the tiniest amount of flex where they attach to the rail, I have built stub switches but the head aches to keep them operating always seemed to be more that they were worth. I used N scale PC ties to act as bridles but eventually the copper foil broke of the tie from the flexing and I had to remove the bending rails and rebuild them and then reinstall the rails in a railroad that was mostly built, in another words working around scenery.

I hope this explains some of the problems, if not let me know.

Andre Anderson

Wowww,

I was not to excited at first but now I will get a couple of the 28302, that is one nice looking locomotive.

Andre

Harold,

Another good "How I did it"

What scale are we in this week, are you back to On30? or are you kind of doing what I am laying the track to good HO standards and then you are able to run anything from HO, OO, Sn42 and On30? What ever I always enjoy your web site and the good information that you provide.

I notice that you say that you have moved past the India Ink and alcohol for staining ties, just curious why?

Andre Anderson

Thanks

Amdaylight

Has Emily been released yet? My LHS has both her coach and brake cars but not her. Just wondering.

Amdaylight

Quote from: az2rail on December 01, 2007, 08:54:11 PM
I had a chance to buy a Manitua Unitah mallet a couple of weeks back. I was thinking  about converting it to on30, but I am still new to this scale,  and I thought it might be to small , being HO. bruce

Bruce

I have two of these locomotives converted to On30, the first is is the old V&T Car Shops conversion kit and the second is the Backwoods Miniatures version.
While neither is even a close representation of the either the Unitah or Sumpter Valley's two locomotives they both look great and run well. And to my way of thinking they look great. Using on of the Mantua's 2-6-6-2 of any other mechanism in On30 to build a unique locomotive is one of the fun things about this scale. So go ahead. If it pleases your eye than DO IT! And don't worry about if it is close to some prototype or not, it is your railroad!

Andre

If you want to go the HOn30 route, consider using the Atlas N scale shay, this way you will end up with a smaller shay rather than one  that looks oversize like the MDC shay on narrow gauge. Change a few details, put on a new cab and maybe make the tender a little bigger and you will have a nice HOn30 locomotive. I have two in the closet for just this kind of conversion. Atlas and Athearn/MDC both make a nice 2-6-0. Athearn/MDC also makes a nice 2-8-0. Model power makes a nice 4-4-0 and all of these locomotives would make good HOn30 Locomotives. For log cars I would Micro Trains log cars, either their HOn3 with their N Scale Trucks under it or their N scale log cars just as they come form the box. MTL 50' flat car with a wood deck and some fake framing would make a good flat car. Grandt Line and some else make Gilpin Tram hoppers, use MTL arch bar trucks under them and you will have good ore cars.

Hope these thoughts are of some help,

Andre Anderson

I will throw my hat into the ring, I have a friend that uses Digatrax and I use NCE/System One. There are several reasons that I went with NCE over Digatrax.

I could order the throttles with a 5 pin dip plug rather than the plug similar to the one that is used on a phone which I felt to be vulnerable to breakage being that it really was designed to be plugged in once and left there for a while, not plugged in and out all the time. And all of my friends
Digatrax throttles have had the little plastic tab that holds them in the socket broken off over the years.

Second, I found the throttle easier to use and people that have not used the NCE system usually can figure it out how to use it with out any help from me. I don't know about the new Digatrax throttles but the earlier ones did not have the F buttons labeled where the NCE ones had a bell, light, whistle on the f button that controlled that function. I realize that by not putting these symbols on the button made it easier to assign these button to something else, but I never have had any reason to.

Third it has true wireless system in that you do not need to plug in to acquire a train, the throttle is a transceiver, not just a transmitter.

Now most systems will connect to your PC and with the free software that I got off of the internet I find that to be much easier and preferred method for programing CV's rather than trying to go through all of them using the throttle.

This really the Ford versus Chevy debate, guy's that have one think it is the best and guy's that have the other think that it is the best and the other guy has to be a nut case.

My beast advise is to go to your local hobby shop and look at them all and see which one they like and why do they like it!

Andre Anderson

And any one that uses Digatrax is a nut case and Dodge is better than either a Ford or a Chevy! 

Camper07,

What I would suggest you do is try it with one less car and see if it makes it up the grade, and if that does not work take one more car of the train. I saw the over under set that you bought and I wondered if the 2-6-0 would go up that hauling a train knowing how light the 2-6-0 was. Now other than the over under part the rest should run for years, I know mine has.

Andre Anderson

Jake,

Thanks I got it to work, I some how missed the Code part in the middle.

Andre

I am not sure how small the Bachmann Decoder is but the two Porters that I have done took a "Z" Scale decoder due to the small size and lack of room for them to fit. This by the way is not an easy conversion due to the size of the locomotive and getting to the motor and wiring. As to the Shay any small decoder with a  pine plug should fit. Remember that you don't have to use Bachmann's decoders with the Bachmann EZ Command System, you can use any DCC decoder that will fit. I used a Digatrax N scale decoder in my shays.

Andre

Jake,

You might want to try and put this some where else, I could not get the file to down load, all I kept getting was a page to buy the service, even when I clicked on the free button  it still came up with a page wanting you to pay for something.    As I hand lay my own track and work with AutoCad this was something that looked interesting.

Andre 

I used an N scale (Idon't remember the number) Digatraxx decoder with the 8 pin plug on it and jsut plugged it in and it worked great. 

Andre

Quote from: PARAWULF on October 13, 2007, 02:18:18 PM
I am fairly worried about this merger. I buy williams for the fact that I don't need or want the DCS or TMCC in my trains. I also liked the fact the Williams left the catalog mostly unchanged from year to year so I didn't have to go nuts trying to fill out my fleet with the worry of "It won't be in the catalog next year!"

Also, what about the orders that are on backorder? Williams owes me a complete UP heritage set.

I found this on the Williams Web site today:

"Due to the pending sale of the company to Bachmann Industries, we are no longer accepting orders. Many of our dealers have an ample supply of product and you may be able to find what you are looking for through one of them. Click here to locate a dealer.

    Frequently asked questions:

    Q: I have several items items on backorder (either direct or with a   dealer). Will I still get my train?
    A: YES! All backorders will be filled by Bachmann when the production of the item is complete.

    Q: I need parts or service for my train. What do I do?
    A: Warranty and repair issues will be handled by Bachmann, however it will take a few weeks to get the parts and service equipment in place. Please visit this site for updated information.

    Q: I am a Platinum Club member. Is my membership still valid?
    A: Yes, you receive updated information regarding the Platinum Club by mail.

    Q: I have a billing question, what do I do?
    A: Please call 410-997-7766 and leave your name and daytime telephone number, your call will be returned.
"

I think this answers you question about you back order, as to the DCS and the TMCC question I don't think you will have any thing to worry about there for a while as it will take Bachmann a little while to get things straightened out and by then there may a whole different direction that they might go in, namely a DCC system rather that a proprietary system from a Competitor.

Regards,
Andre