I have been trying to find an HO power truck with a 5' to 6' wheel base (distance between axle centers) without any luck, so I am wondering if the Bachman or anyone on here can tell me if any of the Bachmann trolley trucks are in this range (like the Peter Witt for example). Thanks.
Richard in Vermont

Yes you are correct. The first Reading 2-8-0 had the pancake or slotcar motor but the "Plus" version drivetrain was updated to a can style motor that ran ten times better. The thing to check for, if you are intending to purchase one, is that the platic axles and gears are in good shape and not cracked.

Does anyone know if the Norfolk & Western "J" is still in production? I have one that clunks going forward and I'd like to return it to the factory but I don't want something else if the "J" isn't being made anymore. Thanks.
Richard in Vermont

In case anyone else has this problem, I finally found what was causing the "short".
When I removed the engine shell it ran perfectly but when I put the shell back on, it shorted and would not run. By loosening the rear screw that holds the shell in place it ran OK but when I tightened the screw, I got the short. Off came the shell again and I began looking at the small circuit board where the fire box light is situated. There are two tiny screws that hold the board to the chassis so I removed these screws to have a look underneath this circuit board and found the problem. The components that are soldered to this board protrude through the bottom of the board and where touching the chassis. To fix it, I removed some of the soldered material and then placed two layers of ultra thin plumber's tape between the board and the chassis for insulation, then put everything back together and no more short. It runs fine now.

By short I mean that when this loco is placed on the track (it is DCC ready but has no decoder) and power is turned on, nothing happens except that the power pack short light indicator comes on. No headlight, no movement, nothing. To me, that means a dead short. As I said previously, I tried another tender from a known good engine and got the same results. My feeling is that the motor has calved or the belt has jammed causing the motor to short out. I don't smell any burning, however, but I don't want to leave power on long enough for that to happen either.

Thanks to all that replied. Rich, your explanation about replacing the OEM decoder with a better one makes sense to me now. Just to prove the point, suppose I disconnected the decoder and wired it up to run on straight DC. Wouldn't this prove whether or not the decoder is causing the mechanism to give off so much noise? If the noise level drops substantially, I can then invest in a better "silent run" type of decoder.

How would a new decoder get rid of the noise? The decoder is working OK.

My new 70 Tonner is a real noise box. From what I have heard, they are all that way. Has anyone figured out how to quiet them down?

Bob,
That was the first thing I checked. I have another one of these engines and I tried the tender from the good one and still got the short.

I have a light Mountain loco that is shorted and I would like to return it to the factory for repair or replacement. Since this engine is most likely out of production now, what are my chances of getting a replacement?

I recently purchased a new Bachmann GP9 and I wish to renumber it. What is the best way to remove numbers without taking off the base paint as well? I know that brake fluid usually works well to take off all the paint but I'm reluctant to try brake fluid on the numbers for fear it will take the paint with it. The base color is yellow so it will probably not take as much rubbing like darker colors would. I hope someone that has found a way that works well will share their successful method.
Richard in Vermont

Anyone know if the WM ever had a caboose with the fireball logo on it? Thanks.

Anyone know if the Western Maryland RR ever had a caboose with the fireball logo on it? Now that I have a good running WM 2-8-0 with the fireball on the tender it would be nice to have a matching caboose, if it was prototypical.
Richard in Vermont

Thanks to all that replied but the jokes on me. Something I left out before was that the factory headlight was way too dim and small so I did away with the original and installed a 3mm golden white LED in the headlight itself (where it belongs). (I hate light tubes). What I found out was that I had reversed the LED leads. After swapping them, guess what, it works! Sorry to have bothered you. Gotta go and wipe the egg off my face. Maybe this will help someone if they run into the same problem.
Richard

I have a new DCC Spectrum 2-8-0 with factory decoder that runs fine but I can't get the headlight to work. The headlight LED is OK (I have tested it). What am I missing?
Richard in Vermont