I've got a dummy locomotive I'm trying to identify the model of: http://cid-811d1df10b2b3e61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Rebuild%20Projects/IMG%7C_1123.jpg

I'm guessing it is an Alco but don't having my train spotting techniques down.

My dad recenlty found some of the locomotives and rolling stock that I played with as a kid (and some where my dad's before that).

The rolling stock only needs minor work and new couplers and should prove to be a fun task to keep me busy for a while.

There are a couple of locomotives that should prove to be a bit more tricky. If I had bought these at a garage sale or something I'd probably have moved on and not put a whole lot of effort into but these have quite a bit of sentimental value. If I can get them working my son will be a third generation operator of these locomotives.

None of them work, I think at least one (of three) the light turns on but doesn't move. We put it on the DC "Thomas" track and while the light would turn on it wouldn't move. While it was on the track Thomas wouldn't move either.

Does anyone have any ideas on what might be the trouble? Theoretically they all ran when boxed up 15+ years ago and I know I'll need to clean them up a lot but that one kind of stumped me.

I was at hobby lobby today looking around and found a pair of older Bachmann switchers hidden behind a newer 2-8-4 DCC locomotive. I'm guessing they have been sitting back there a long time based on the amount they are marked down for clearance.*

I found an chessie version on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-in-box-Bachmann-HO-scale-Chessie-System-Switcher_W0QQitemZ130317085538QQcmdZViewItemQQptZModel_RR_Trains?hash=item1e5780eb62&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 from what I can tell its the same switcher just the Santa Fe version.

I got to thinking they might be a fun challenge to convert to DCC and modify into something unique. My only problem is they have the old style couplers (not sure what they are called, not the hoop and hook kind). How difficult is it to upgrade these to knuckle coupler, how much difference is there between the mounting for these couplers and the knuckle couplers.

I'm also curious what the prototype is, from what I could see on the box there was no mention of what is.

*If they were really trying to clear them out they wouldn't have hidden them back there.

I found this picture on RailPictures.net last night: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=289394

I guess it adds a new level of potential prototypical operation

I was having some funny running trains today when my FT-A turned F9 tipped over. I was coming out of a siding onto the mainline and looked a way for a second and all of a sudden the loco was on its side on top of a passing siding (and of course flipped the gondola full of loose rail ties).

What boggles my mind is that it wasn't at a high speed and was beyond the switch and on straight track, I guess I'll have to spend some time tinkering with it to figure out what made it so tipsy.

My 3 year old son has been running around with my wife's camera taking pictures of my layout, as he is only three there are a ton of pictures of the carpet, wall, and ceiling.

But he has taken some pretty good pictures, I've uploaded them here:

http://cid-811d1df10b2b3e61.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Luke%7C4s%20Train%20Pictures

As a note the pictures in this album are all taken by him, all I have done is straighten pictures (thats why the datestamp from the camera is sometimes crooked) and remove artifacts like fingers. Also the guy at the computer is me sorting through his first batch of photos.

I got my Zephyr in the mail today (after a funny mailing mixup) and I'm trying to compile a default value profile so I can better understand what values do and finding it extremely tedius work reading the values one by one.

Does Bachmann publish the default values anywhere? I've found information on sound locomotives, but I'm looking for information on non-sound GP40s, FT-As, and my 2-8-4 Berkshire.

I found an interesting resource for anyone doing DM&IR modelers (or anyone interested in the railroad): http://www.missabe.com/

What blew me away was the detail they have on the Ore Cars used by the railroad: http://www.missabe.com/orecar.html

I found a railroad to model some rolling stock/locomotives after: http://www.progressiverail.com

One of the business my company has is printing law books (we are even listed in the credits for Law & Order), and we even print them at the location I work (Eagan, MN). I knew that we recieved a train load of paper several times per week but hadn't thought much about it. I got a little curious about it because I didn't recognize the color scheme so I did some researching and found Progressive Rail. Based on the photos it looks like their paint scheme is something even I could reproduce on unpainted models.

Today I learned that you shouldn't put Woodland Scenics Smooth-It down until you are sure its exactly where you wanted it. I had used some quite a bit a lot of Smooth-It as a foundation for my coal plant area (basically to bring the buildings up to the adjusted height to compensate for the roadbed.

I decided to rework my coal plant in attempt to free up some dead space (and rework some track I wasn't happy with) and lets just say most of the time spent was getting the smooth it off. Patience pays!

I just recently finished a model that will become Luke's Diner (based on Woodland Scenics Carol's Corener Cafe http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/items.cfm/HOScaleKits#11300).

I have to say its the best model building I have done so far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93301102@N00/3571285390/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93301102@N00/3571288446/

That last picture shows the roof, which I am particularly proud of but unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice. All I had for black paint was some Testors black which is pretty gloss so I sprinkled on some black ballast while it was still wet. It gives it a dull flat look.

Last night on a whim I picked up some accessory lights to light up my passenger platform with these: http://store.modelpower.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2744

It came as a pack of three and all it says for powering it is 30 MA, 14V and wires to AC power pack. Now the AC output of the powerpack (bachmann dc pack) I am using is 16V. I'm a little clueless when it gets to this type of wiring, does anyone have any advice on wiring up these lights?

Thanks,

I've been using the feature to connect a bachmann dc pack to EZ-Command to free up #10 for DCC and use the dc pack to power a DC engine.

Today the EZ command controller fell off my table and the mini-jack connector that goes into the EZ command broke off leaving half of it in the ez-command. Now I have two problems, first I have no idea how I'm going to get whats left of the mini-jack out. Does anyone have any ideas that I can try? I'm guessing I might just have to call customer service and see if they can do anything.

My second problem is a bit more trivial, I had my 44 Ton switcher set to #10. Since I can no longer use 10 for DCC how do I assign a new address to it or trick the ez command into giving me 10 back long enough to change address?

I have some passenger cars (hogwarts express) that I would like to convert to knuckle coupler as the engine  that is meant to pull it is in the shop for a while and I would like to be able to resume passenger service with one of my other engines.

It is using truck mounted couplers and there is a small screw that holds it onto the truck (not the greatest picture as the lighting I have to work with is terrible right now http://www.flickr.com/photos/93301102@N00/3450817843/in/set-72157616219386607/).

I found this: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=474 but I'm entirely sure how it would mount on these trucks and at $20 I don't want to order one of these on a whim without knowing for sure it would work.

I also looked around the kadee sight but didn't know what I was looking for. I would certainly appreciate any advice any of you could share with me.


Also I only really need one replacement coupler (as the passenger cars can connect to each other via hook and loop)

I got my first steam* today (A Berkshire 2-8-4 http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1953) and I have to say its quite a different experience compared to diesel model trains. The detail and intricasy of a good steam engine is far beyond that of a diesel but boy are they picky about track.

I kept getting shorts on the turnout that provided access to the siding for my passenger station while at low speeds that was caused by one of the inner rails was just a tiny bit out of guage. When a diesel or piece of rolling stock derails its not much of an incident but boy when this 2-8-4 leaves the rails (only happened once so far) it is quite an ordeal.


*Strictly speaking, second. Yesterday the Hogwarts Express arrived that i found online for my wife and it didn't run the greatest (but not really too bad) and things went downhill quickly when I tried installing a 1-amp digital decoder. To make up for "disabling" the Hogwarts 4-6-0 I got her the 2-8-4 as a replacement steam engine (as it is the only DCC steam engine I could find locally).

I'm a little frustrated with online hobby shops, I've been trying to get a couple of these: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1256 for my layout. I first tried the online store Bachmann links to but after a week of waiting I recieved an email that they had been discontinued and my order cancelled but it is still to this day (over two weeks later) still listed as available (http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=BAC18644/211.0).

After I was informed it was not in stock there I did some searching online and found a hobby store that had them in stock! A week and a half later I come home from work with a box waiting for me. It has two Union Pacific cars in it (I ordered four Duluth, Misabe & Iron Range cars) with a note explaining the Duluth cars had been discontinued.

Why list an item is in stock if its not? Has anyone else had this frustration? Do any of you have suggestions for hobby stores I can order from online for stuff that I can't get locally?


In the mean time I have to figure out why half my order was cancelled but was still charged full price.

Could someone confirm whether or not the Bachmann hogwarts express comes with a tender car? I ordered one off of ebay and upon delivery I discovered there was no way to coupler on the back of the engine. Is there supposed to be a tender (would explain the lack of coupler)?

I just got my train table put up, I had my brother build one as I don't have the tools are vehicle for transporting 4x8 sheets of wood, and have noticed there is a lot of noise as the train speeds up. This is especially bad when my son (who is only 3) runs a train because he only knows one speed, full speed.

I thought I saw something on this forum about using a foam based roadbed underneath the EZ-Track. If I remember it was Woodland Scenics N-Scale roadbed. Am I remembering correctly and did anyone try it with any success? I'm going to pick some up the next time I'm at hobby lobby but I'm not sure how long it will be until I get a chance to go in. If that doesn't work are there any solutions that others have used to quite down ez-track?

I've uploaded a picture to flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93301102@N00/3397571926/
I'm not sure where my wife's camera is so I had to use my cell phone and its still cluttered with tools. I had just run a couple test runs with all of my engines and rolling stock. I'll try to upload a better photo when I get everything cleared off.

I've finally convinced my wife to let me upgrade to DCC with the Bachmann Diesel Commander set (Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon helped quite a bit) I'll be getting at the end of the week.

I already have a DC EMD F9 from a Bachmann Challenger set, I was wondering how much work it would be to install a DCC decoder. Would it make sense for me to install one or should I put it aside for a DC track for my son to start out his own layout in a couple years?

I'm a little bit new to model railroading, the last time I had a set I was significantly younger and my dad did my wiring (ahh memories). I'm wordering if it is neccesary to run power to different sections of the track by soldering wire to rail joiners. I'm running a slightly modified version of the layout used in this kit: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1175 with a bachmann dc power pack. I just have it hooked up to a rerailer.

I haven't noticed any slow spots with my EMD F9 (from a bachmann challenger set) but am wondering if I should still wire it up. I'm planning on eventually upgrading to DCC (probably the Bachmann EZ-DCC) if I can convince my wife when we get our tax refund. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to wiring it up this way when I upgrade to DCC?