I'd like to see the Indy come back 

JD,
By watching the videos on your website, looks like the Mallet is not only a good looking engine, but is a good puller too

Thanks for sharing with us

Mr. Train,
the internet and sites like this one are a wealth of knowledge. To decide what time frame to model, ask yourself, do you like steam or diesel, this can narrow down the time period (unless you have mostly diesels and steam as excursions).
Available space that you have for your layout can also be a deciding factor in what kind of layout to do. If space is not an issue, you can do whatever you can imagine, but if space is limited, you may want to do an industrial switching yard or something like that.

Ultimately it's your RR and the only one who has to be happy with it, is you

Welcome to this great hobby

The Climax would be nice, but I've been wanting a large scale T boiler since it was released in On30.   

If you mean, can you make one of the cars a transition car, yes. On my HO Shay, it has knuckle couplers, the log buggies on the other hand have horn-hook. I don't want to swap over all the cars, so the car directly behind the engine has been switched over to a knuckle on the one end.

JD,
Looks great! Can I assume you'll have it at York next Spring???

JD,
That's great news! Can't wait to see the pics. Guess we know which of Santa's lists you are on this year 

The clips also show up on ebay and can be picked up cheap. The rubber bands will work. When I put my train under the tree for the holidays, I use the clips on all but the two sections where I put them together, there I just use nylon zip ties then cut them so the couplers don't catch them.

Billy,
Not to burst your hopes, there is not much collectors value in these early sets. You can run even modern day equipment and rolling stock with it. These early sets don't have the modern drive trains, so my suggestion is, if you want to run the train, do it 

If your plan is to sell, that's fine too, but don't expect to get rich.

As for your question about the numbers, these are just the builders plate numbers, and you will find the same number on all the same engines. Bachmann still makes starter kits, but the mechanics are much better now.

Your absolute best bet is to get a copy of Garden Railways magazine, and visit some open houses or sit in on a local large scale club. Bachmann trains are a great way to get into the hobby. This board is also a good way to get info, but sounds to me like you need to visit some operating railroads to get some ideas of what you like, standard guage, narrow guage, steam, diesel, etc.

As for your question, do live steam models actually run on steam, yes. They are actual minatures of full size steam engines.

I'm sure whatever area you are in, there are currently some Christmas layouts running close to you.

Kevin,
Thanks for the comparison. You really don't notice how much difference there is until they are side by side (or on top each other.... )

Your video is great as well, it's always fun to see your work

OTB,
It's your power pack. It has internal protection which will trip if it overheats, once it cools down, it resets itself and allows you to continue running. Glad to hear you are up and running!

OTB,
Sometimes it's best to just walk away for awhile. It's actually really easy. The clips that came with it are two different ones. I may be slightly off as it's been awhile since I used them, but some are for straight to straight, and others are for curved (or something like that), but they are slightly different.
As for your engine falling off, what are you trying to set it on? I use nothing but curves around our Christmas tree each year with no problems.
Lets see if we can get you running

The clip goes over the outer edge, then you pull it slightly and it will then snap onto the inner flange.

Any hobby shop will have it. You can also do a search for different companies that sell smoke fluid. It even comes in scents if you'd like.
Smoke use is a topic that gets alot of comments, but if you like it, use it. I'm not saying you won't get residue on things, but it would have to take alot of use. When my niece and nephew come over, they don't care about real looking smoke, they just like to see them smoke.

Hi Howard,
Your Santa can be put and used anywhere you see fit. I've got one on the back of a caboose on one train, and riding on an observation car on another.
Just let your imagination run wild