This will be the 3rd time I tried to post a photo. Thanks to Loco Bill for the instructions that he posted, "How to post a photo on the Bachmann Froum using Photobucket". Here goes.....







Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, it worked. Thanks Loco Bill
GovB

Thanks for the help and advice. I guess model railroading is like art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, I did some beholding and took some photo to share. All 3 trucks are 1:43. The blue on is an ERTL and the other two are K-line. "Bob" in the back of the Coca-Cola truck is from K-line / RMT / O-line / and who knows what next. I compared the ERTL and K-line trucks to real-life dimensions from an online source and surprisingly they were pretty close as to wheel base, height to top of cab and width. The coke bottles are from my G gauge stuff but they didn't jump out at me. I think if I were to use 1:43 with BEEPeople and kept them far enough apart it would look ok, to me.

I have photos (that are too large) but don't know how to share them! Help! 

Thanks, JohnB

I'm starting my very first O gauge layout, after many plans, and would like some guidance as to which scale cars/trucks look good with which scale people.    In real life you see various size vehicles with various size people. But some 1:48 trains don't look right with 1:43 vehicles or 1:48/50 people.

What has been your experiences with size and scale?

All help welcome. 

Thanks, JohnB

village streetcar motor block? Where can I find that?

Thanks, John

I have a Corgi Birney Safety Car in 1:48 scale (fits on O & O-27 gauge track really well) and would like to know if would be possible to motorize it using an "E-Z Street Chassis with Motor (O Scale) E-Z Street Car" (model #O427X-AA42728CC). The motor w/chassis is found on the E-Z Streets parts page under Williams. The Birney has a distance of 2" between the axles. Can the E-Z Street chassis be adjusted to this distance after loosening the adjustment screw? Is this possible? Has anyone tried? I would have attached photos but were too big.

Thanks, John Blanton 

Thanks Chuch & Bill.

You just can't drink and type too. Yes, It should be WP&Y RR. The eyes go first then... I can't remember the other.
Bill your ideas are great. Never made a layout before unless you count Christmas.  The web site gave me problems registering. Just kept going round & round. But, Success! I'm in. 

Thanks Bunches, GovB
"Happy Rails to You"

Dear Bach Man,

I have a collection of Williams catalogs that go back to the Williams ad from the May 1972 issue of the TTOS bulletin. I would like to share my collection with others (for a reasonable price) by scanning each catalog I have to CD (or DVD) along with the Williams/Bachmann catalogs from 2008 forward that are not presently available in PDF format online. Would Williams/Bachmann have any objections to this? I would rather know now than later.

Thanks, GovB
"Happy Rails to You"

Not sure if I'm in the right Board but, I want to make a folding 8X8 layout in the garage out of two 4X8 sheets of plywood. For my large scale trains, the heaviest being a BACH YP&U #81296 2-8-0. What would be the min. spec. for board thickness and framing assuming it will be hinged in the middle for upright storage? If you know of a "www" where I could find help that would be good too.

Thanks, GovB, "Happy Rails to You"

This Christmas I'm running my under-the-tree large scale layout with Bachmann, LGB and Kalamazoo locos , that's right, Kalamazoo. None of which are DCC. Swapping out locos & cars is becoming a drag. So, I'm considering expanding my indoor Christmas layout next year to include multiple locos (3-4) with DCC using Bachmann indoor track & manual switches (given the high cost of brass) and their DCC system w/5amp booster. I have no experience beyond the Christmas tree so I am a complete layout novice. Several questions have come to mind;

1) Has anyone had experience with this type setup?
2) Which would give me the lowest start-up cost, track power or batteries?
3) What would be the best control system to use?
4) How big of a layout could I expect to have using this idea?
5) Is there a large scale "Layouts for Dummies" manual out there? (No garden societies anywhere near me.)
6) Can Bachmann manual switches be made to work on DCC or other system??
7) Some locos aren't "happy" with Bachmann indoor curved track which would limit the number of locos I could run. Is their an economical alternative to brass track & switches or should I stick with the locos that are "happy" with it?
Loco conversion will waite untill this is nailed down.

ANY help with this would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure that there are other considerations I might have overlooked so let me know.

Merry Christmas & Thanks, GovB

Dear "Santa" Man,

Is there any possibility that Bachmann will ever produce a series of shorty Christmas passenger cars some day? They would look great with a Porter or Indy under my tree along with my Christmas freight train. The only "American" ones available are 1/29 and not sure how they would look. But, with O27, On30 and G scales already under the tree, what's one more.

Thanks, GovB

New to "O" scale and would like to know what the difference is between items described as "Scale", "Semi Scale" and others with no scale reference and why?

Thanks, GovB

Great info!

I have a Big Hauler Christmas loco that is showing signs of this same thing about to happen. Since she is already packed away I'll have to print this out and take care of this next time.

Thanks to every one. It really pays to watch this board.

Happy Railroading! GovB

I'm fairly new to G scale and have a few transformer questions. I have a MRC Power G and some track (as recommended by local hobby shop) but not sure if it has a voltage filter(?). I also have several locos (non DCC) but can only run one at a time. Am I missing something here? Can you run more than one loco at a time with one transformer? (told you I was new at this.) Or, do I have to go to DCC? And while we're at it, I've been told to stay away from transformers with pulse power. What is pulse power and why/how will it damage my engines?

Thanks GovB (stumbling in the dark) 

BTW,

Thanks for that synopsis of MDC's rise & fall. I'm trying to piece together a picture of the origins of G scale railroading and the different manufacturers involved. Do you have a suggestion as to where I might find more info? I found Phil Jensen's involvement with Delton, Kalamazoo, Lewis Polk & HLW a very interesting story.

Thanks, GovB

Dear All,

Does anyone know the history of MDC (Model Die Casting) trains? I've seen a small number of their G scale cars on eBay but can't find much at all about them anywhere. What scale was their large scale items? What kind of quality were they? Were they much of a player in the market? How long were they around? Etc....

The only catalog I have doesn't mention scale. All it says is, "MDC PRODUCTS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER MANUFACTURERS "G" SCALE & NO. 1 TRACK" and "Your New Source for LGB Compatible Products".