Not speaking out of school, I hope, but if you can't get a master list by number... which I'm guessing would be difficult.... you can ask here about a particular set by name, and there's a large probability that someone will recognize it and speak up!

Matthew (OV)

I assumed that's why he was asking ... he has a geared loco he wants to keep the truck mounted couplers on, or a porter ... or, I suppose a 4-6-0. 

If that isn't the reason, what else did you have in mind?

Matthew (OV)

Not to rain on the parade... but many LED's are directional... usually with like a 60 degree viewing angle.  You want something omnidirectional from the side with a marker lamp ... make sure before you buy an LED that all the light doesn't come out the end (and therefore would be going straight up into the top of the lamp!)

Matthew (OV)

Sounds good Tom. 

But you know... it's not so much the card.  You can make a very nice shay out of just about any card, so long as you trigger it right.

The only real difference on the phoenix "3 cylinder" chuff is that it puts the "heavy downbeat" every three instead of every four, as they do with a rod type.... CHUFF chuff chuff as opposed to CHUFF chuff chuff chuff .... and then adds a doubler so you get CHUFF-A-chuff-a-chuff-a-chuff-a ... basically your engine rolls along in 6/8 instead of 4/4 time.

The big deal is, you don't REALLY need the heavy downbeat... and without it there's no way to tell except to count how many beats per turn of the crank.

The programming booster's a new one on me.... I thought the DCC folks could just stick this thing on the program track and set it .... which is why I suggested you turn the rate up a hair.  With that problem, and no manual trigger, I'm not sure what you'd do.

Still looks and sounds great on your railroad.... particularly when used for Kitty Control!

Matthew (OV)

PS.  So you gonna put a whistle on your live steam shay, or what?

Tom,

As I'm sure you know, normal rod engines produce four "beats" of stack exhaust per turn of the wheel.  That's because in one 360 degree revolution, both pistons exhaust both sides having travelled all the way to both ends and back to start.

On a Shay, with three cylinders, there are actually six beats per turn of the crank.... meaning the driveline.... which is then geared down even further to wheel roatations depending on what the customer ordered, and the size locomotive.  The six beats per crank turn is going to be constant for any three cylinder shay, however, as just on the rod engine, each cylinder cycles one complete end to end and back to start travel per turn of the crank.

I wonder if yours could be adjusted upwards a bit, so that instead of a four beat "Chuff-Chuf-Chuff-Chuff" for each turn (yours is actually a bit faster than this,  I think, but it's close, you'd have a "Chuff-a-chuff-a-chuff-a" beat pattern.

Here are a couple of examples... the first one is hard to see the motion, but has pretty clear stack vs speed comparison, while the second you can see the motion (runby toward the end) but the audio isn't as pronounced:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kv_25uYfLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak-Wbg_JeXs

And please understand ... between your live steamer and your DCC driven locos you have a FANTASTIC railroad, Tom ... I'm not being the least bit critical of anything you've done!

Matthew (OV)

PS.  Now I have to figure out how to apply this to my pair of two truck shays, which currently have exactly half the prototype chuff rate.

Mac ...

After the awesome job you did on my Bachmann 2-8-0, maybe after you've had one to beat to death, I can talk you into being gentle to mine ....

Rich ....

Mine's going to sound suspiciously like a K-36,  I think ... and hopefully with a slightly raspier whistle...

All:

Let me brag on Mac a bit....



(he takes pretty good pictures of his work too, as you can see!)

Matthew (OV)

Just placed the order for mine .... still available with free shipping, and as long as you don't want the one with the doghouse, you can get one from the first batch.  Those who do are out of luck this round, at least from where I ordered.

Matthew (OV)

This scene on my railroad:



is only really possible because Bachmann's one diesel in 1:20.3 was not especially popular.  (and there's one on the railroad that didn't make the picture!)  That means they can often be had at "fire sale" prices.  This particular style 45 Tonner wasn't built by GE until the 1960's, and while it follows their then as now policy of one size carbody and different sized trucks, the model doesn't fit in with the timeframe on a lot of 1:20.3 folks model railroads.  Mine happens to include more modern things, so for me they're great.  I plan to combine a couple of them to produce something like the US Gypsum 1303 and 1403 (later GLW 130 and 140, now at CRM) or maybe something like the SP Narrow Gauge #1. 

I personally would love to see a White Pass and Yukon ALCO ... particularly the wide cab version ... but I'd probably be one of about twelve people who'd be excited about it, as opposed to the throngs of folks who like Alamosa or Orbisonia flavored steam locomotives .... and as such you're unlikely to see it.

Bachmann has focused on narrow gauge equipment, while USA and Aristo have focused more on standard gauge.... asking one for the other is quite a bit like walking into a Jaguar dealer and demanding they explain why they don't build 4x4 pickup trucks, because if they did "Everyone" would buy one.  In the case of the models, it becomes even further entrenched, because even if there was a crossover model released (say, for example, Bachmann decided to build a 1:29 F40PH ... it wouldn't run with anything else the company made and look right to anyone who knew anything about the equipment the models represent.

Matthew (OV)

Isn't that the now infamous "Buddy L" revisited?

Matthew (OV)

Also see www.ghostdepot.com .... they have a CD of all things DRGW ...

For maps, take particular note of:

http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/maps/maps.htm

Matthew (OV)

Soundtraxx and Phoenix both allow you to audition sounds.

If you want to compare to the real thing, try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN9kiL6b1xQ

ET&WNC #12, the prototype.

Matthew (OV)

Well, if it's the only locomotive on the track, and you don't mind which way your "forward/reverse" switch is pointed, no, not really. 

Most large scale locomotives before the Bachmann 2-6-0 (Spectrum, Centennial) were wired so that they went forward if the positive (+) voltage lead was connected to the left rail.  With the arrival of the 4-4-0 American (Spectrum, Centennial) Bachmann chose to wire them with the RIGHT rail positive for forward, in keeping with the standards set by the NMRA for smaller scales.  Several people had difficulty with this because now their 4-4-0 would run in the opposite direction from all their other locomotives on the same track . . . which at the very least made it difficult to run them on the same circuit as any other locomotive at the time.  Many people found it necessary to rewire their locomotives to match the others on their railroad.

Subsequent models have been equipped with an NMRA/Large Scale switch to allow the user to select which way they want their locomotive to run without rewiring them.  If you have another locomotive on the track and it also has one of these, make sure both switches are set the same way.  If you have any older locomotives, or locomotives not made by Bachmann that you want to run it with, you may need to make sure all the ones with switches are set to "Large Scale."

Matthew (OV)

Oh, and additionally, if you've got a sound system in your locomotive, depending on how you've wired it, you may find that your forward and back up whistle signals become reversed if you wire it up in one position and then flip the switch to the other.

I know I will be signing up for first available delivery of a 455 Post Wreck.  It'll be modified somewhat to run on the SCRY, but not so much that folks won't recognize how it started. 

I'm planning to add a new whistle, rear headlight, cylinder cladding, a round number plate, graphite on the smokebox, and Slate Creek graphics .... and of course a crew, as well as sound and Radio Control. 

Only another month or two to go!

Matthew (OV)

Just remember, if you go a bit larger than 10' you can put in a 10' diameter (5' radius) curve to turn around, allowing some of the more modern equipment to fit.....   

You could always get a carport for the tractor.... 

Seriously, you also might consider "Trackage Rights" in the "working" side of the garage, where your trains run along a narrow shelf on the wall, thereby allowing a wye or other extention for turning around or looping back.  Won't interfere with parked loaders (if you park carefully) and will make things a great deal more functional.



Matthew (OV)

Welcome to the world of mouse mazes for people!



Matthew (OV)