Yeah, that's a pretty neat program. However, I just dumped my DirecTV service because I got tired of getting ripped-off. I will miss the RFD channel though. I liked the old tractors shows too. Maybe it's just me, but I can't see paying $80.00 a month for 300+ channels, and I only watch perhaps a dozen of them... The rest is CRAP!  I just put up an antenna, and I get 28 channels free. 10 of them are in HD! once again.... FREE!!!!

Still waiting to find out how to post photos here... I'd like to share. Keep in mind, I'm no computer genious.. Simple idiot-proof please....

Todd

Mission accomplished! Thanks for your inspiration Roger. I'd like to share a photo or two, but I know next to nothing about computers. Can I get some tips on posting photos here?   

Thanks,
Todd

Well, after putting the tender back together after shortening it, the backup light now works! Go figure...

Thanks for the reply Bob, I certainly do have a basic concept of 12v. DC control, but I do get confused by these newer PC board setups.  Seems like overkill to me. Oh well, that's the price we pay for these newer models that are, in my opinion, much better than what we had in the 1970's.(and that's what I'm used to working on). I am tempted to just tear out all that PC stuff and straight wire it if I run into any problems. I guess having a back up light on the tender isn't that big of a deal anyway. I don't have any plans for DCC in the near future. But I will take a look at your P&D thread before I get the pliers and hacksaw out.

Todd

You guys are correct, I don't know why I typed in 5 wires, it does indeed have 6. I have the tender totally torn apart right now to shorten it by about 10 scale feet. I guess this would be a good opportunity to test the LED. I do have a multimeter, Is the red wire off the LED the positive? Also, are there any wiring schematics for Spectrum locos available for download?
Thanks guys,
Todd

I have a brand new long vanderbuilt tender that I have paired with a 4-8-2 that I bought used. I noticed that someone had removed the light in the firebox, and spliced the wires to bypass that. Could that have anything to do with the tender rear light not working? I'd rather not have the firebox light, but I would like to have a working backup light. Any ideas?  Also, I am modifying the new tender, need to shorten it by about 10 HO scale feet and reconfigure the front of the tender. Without DCC, how critical is that circut board in the tender? I'm not sure about removing it just yet, but it would make the kitbash easier if it wasn't a factor. Why did they but half of the "brains" in the tender? 5 wires to the tender, is that really nesessary?  As I said, this is on a straight DC layout. I'm no electrician, but that seems like overkill to me.

OK Roger, I have decided to shorten my long Vandy tender for my GTW 4-8-2. I just tore it apart today. Past the point of no return now. I think I can do it thanks to your advice/pictures. A bit different than your Hicken conversion, but close. I cut a piece of tape 8 scale feet wide and wrapped it around the tender body to give me an even cutting guide, and did the same for the underframe. I need to do the cuts in different areas though, it quickly turned into a more complicated project than I had first thought. Given the location of the water hatch, and the placement of the truck bolsters, this has to be done in 2 seperate sectionings. It still won't be a "perfect" GTW U-1-c tender, but it will be a lot closer than the C&O prototype stock Bachmann tender. Thanks for your info. and inspiration.  P.S. If I totally screw this up, would you be willing to do one for me? For a fee of course...

Todd

That looks great Roger. How difficult was it to shorten the length?

Todd

Thanks for the input fellas' my long vandy tender measures about 44 HO scale feet long, so I guess I'll just live with that.. It just looked much shorter in pictures. ( the Hicken tender).  Check out GTW/CN 4-8-4 and 4-8-2 photos to see what I'm trying to do here.

Todd

The reason I'm asking about the Hicken tender is it looks pretty close to a CN/GTW 4-8-2 tender. The long Vandy tender I have looks to be about 10 scale feet too long, and it looks like a nightmare to try to shorten it. If the Hicken is about 5" to 5.5" long, I can make it work. Unfortunatly, the info. in this catalog doesn't list dimensions. If someone could just hold a ruler up to a Hicken tender if they have one, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Todd

I have a Spectrum "Long Vanderbuilt" tender that is about 6 1/2" long. How long is a "Hicken" tender? Are they available with coal bunker, or just oil?

Thanks.
Todd

I posed a question about this about a month ago and everybody said "good luck". Well, I called Bachmann and explained what I was doing and they sent me a truck that fits perfectly. This is the second time that I've contacted Bachmann, and both times, I gotta' say, they have a great service dept.!
So, what's the big "mystique" about not being able to get Bachmann parts? Was I just lucky, or are you guys not doing your homework?
I'm not modeling the steam era on my layout, this is just a "One-off" project for my excursion steamer, but well worth it. The Bachmann heavy 4-8-2 is, with some extensive modification, a spitting image of the GTW U-1-c 4-8-2's  This will be the 6039, the one currently rotting away at Steamtown. My scenario is that GTW reclaimed her in the mid-1970's and shopped her for company excursion service much the same as N&W did in the late 1980's.

So it looks like Bachmann used a 2 wheel delta trailing truck on at least their K-4, and light 2-10-2. Are these one and the same? Can someone tell me what part numbers to order?
Thanks,

I have a Spectrum heavy 4-8-2 that I'm trying to modify to GTW prototype. Is there a Delta type 2 wheel trailing truck that I could swap out easily?

Thanks.