I note the new 2-8-2, some to be produced with "Sound Value", and some just DCC Ready, including Frisco and Rock Island. I am sure I recall you announcing a new policy a couple of years ago that, starting with the EM-1, for new locos there would be a separately available plug-in sound module so that anyone could upgrade to sound, whatever their road, instead of the old 'some roads get sound and others don't' approach.

Are these 'plug-and-play' sound modules in the pipeline for new locos like the 2-8-2, or has that idea been scrapped?

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, I was browsing the Bachmann Webstore when I came across a loco I did not know about:

Bachmann #51317 DCC-Equipped Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation - Rock Island #2123

The Bachmann Webstore shows it as "Sold Out", and "No Picture Available", which seems a bit odd if it has been around long enough to sell out.

I checked Walthers, who do not list it at all in their present or past products, and MB Klein who do not show it.

I checked Bachmann Europe, who show it as "New" and "On Order".

Does anyone know, is this been and gone or yet to arrive? And when was it announced?

TIA,
Bill.

Dear Mr B,

Thanks for recognizing the Rock Island with your recent GP7 and RS-3, and in the best RI paint scheme too!

Unfortunately almost all the photos I can find of locos in this scheme show silver trucks - dirty, but definitely silver! The GP7s also have silver fuel tanks and everything else 'down below'. The one GP7 exception is a photo of #1204 newly delivered from EMD on June 30 1951 in "Rock Island In Color" Vol.1 by Loyd E Stagner, which has black lower parts. The RS-3s have silver trucks, but some have gained black(ish) fuel and air tanks by 1959.

I am guessing that Bachmann produce each loco in a single batch, so there is no prospect of them putting this error right for "the rest of the run".

So my first question is, can dirty aluminium be simulated with a thinned wash of silver / aluminium paint over the black, or will it all settle in the wrong places? I don't want to ruin otherwise good models finding out the hard way.

An alternative, for the RS-3 at least, is a chassis swap with the sound-equipped B&M RS-3, which does have silver trucks. That also solves the problem of the GP7 having sound and the RS-3 not.

So my second question is, do the RS-3 body shells from non-sound locos fit the sound chassis? (I believe this is not the case with the ALCo switcher models).

TIA,
Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, the Bachmann online shop lists "Western Pacific #35 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation", Bachmann #51316.  It is shown as "sold out", but online retailers show it variously as "due 3rd quarter 2013" or "due 3/31/2014", so I guess the B-Man does not have an "Awaited" logo and has to use "Sold Out".

Does anyone know anything about this model?  The WP's Baldwin 2-8-0s were #1-20, built 1906, and #21-65 were ALCos, built 1909, so #35 was an ALCo, not a Baldwin. 

The WP Baldwins had short, boxy tenders (body length 23-ft 5-inches, overall length over couplings 28-ft 5 13/16 inches), and whatever they were delivered as, in later life some were coal and others oil. (The book "Western Pacific Locomotives and Cars" by Patrick C Dorin shows #1 in 1938 with a coal tender and #19 in 1947 with an oil tender).

The body length of the WP Baldwin 2-8-0 tenders scales out at 3.23 inches, which is a bit shorter than the Bachmann Decapod tender body (3.25 inches), and a lot shorter than the USRA Medium Coal (body 4 inches), which Bachmann usually hang on the 2-8-0.

There are several photos of the WP ALCo 2-8-0s on the Don Ross website, and they seem to have tenders similar to the Baldwins.

I am hoping that Bachmann have attached the Decapod tender to their WP 2-8-0, but.....

I am also puzzled why Bachmann USA are not more specific with their models.  If the castings were metal like the 4-4-0 and 4-6-0 loco bodies that might be too expensive, but the connie body and tender are plastic. 

I was looking at the Bachmann UK website,  http://www.bachmann.co.uk/prod1.php?prod_selected=branchline&prod=3  you will see that all their steamers are precise, company specific models, and there are lots of them.  They have three completely different 2-8-0s, 31-004 Robinson Class O4, 31-013 Fowler Class 7F, and 32-261 Riddles WD Austerity 8F.

The population of the US is 5X that of Britain, so how is it that Bachmann can make so many more different steamers for the British market, and each precise to prototype?

Just Wondering.....
Bill.

I assume the Baldwin 4-6-0 will be re-released at some point in the next couple of years? 

May I suggest that you include a high boiler coupled to your medium Vanderbilt tender?  They look rather good together, and the combination is prototypical on RRs such as the Southern Pacific (see these photos of T31 class Baldwins:
#2353 in preserved condition, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southern_Pacific_Lines_4-6-0_No._2353.JPG,
#2354, operational in 1952, http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/steam-01/2354_sp-steam-t31-byron_bostwick.jpg, and
#2356, also operational in the 1950s,   http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/steam-01/2356_sp-steam-t31-gene_deimling.jpg).

This would also allow you the opportunity of fitting sound into the Medium Vanderbilt, which I think many of us would appreciate!

The SP engines were oil burners, but I expect that there were coal burners too on other RRs.

May I also suggest some different road names and regions? 

There were both high and low boiler Baldwin 4-6-0s on the SAL, including many inherited from absorbed lines, and these could partner your SAL Baldwin and Richmond 4-4-0s. 

How about a high-boiler 4-6-0 for the Western Maryland to partner your 2-8-0 and Decapod?

How about New England?  For example the BAR operated 4-6-0s into the early 1950s, including #66, which was an ALCo but looks very like your Baldwin high-boiler and had a tender very similar to that with your ALCo 2-6-0.

And how about the mid-west, south-west, Gulf coast and RRs operating across the Rockies or Appalachians, in the sort of landscapes modellers like to model? (I know you did produce a low-boiler for the Union Pacific, but that has been your only western livery).

Just some thoughts,
Regards,
Bill.

I recently bought two P2K FM H10-44 switchers with QSI Quantum sound.  The manual says that "Operation of the functions of keys can be different in Neutral state (locomotive stopped) and the Motive states (locomotive moving in forward and reverse)"

Specifically, the F9 key gives:
Very heavy Load on/off in Motive state, and
Disconnect/Standby/Shutdown in Neutral state.

I have been testing my two locos on my test track and neither gives shutdown when the engine is stopped.  I am wondering if this is because there is no Neutral setting on the Dynamis.  When the loco is stopped the handset still shows a direction set to forward or reverse.  Am I right?  And is there a way to select Neutral on the Dynamis?  Or do I perhaps need to re-program Shutdown onto a different key?  QSI shutdown is wonderful if improbably cataclysmic, and it would be a pity to lose it.

I would be grateful for advice. I have asked this in the HO section rather than the General section as I suspect more people read it and sound predominantly relates to HO.

Bill.

Hi, I have a Dynamis, and have had no problem programming new locos in the past, but I have just got a couple of new ones and maybe I have forgotten how to do this, but.....

So I have a new P2K fitted with a QSI Quantum.  It is #279, and I am trying to programme it to be #0279 on my service track.  The Dynamis will not accept 0 as the initial digit, and it will not give me the Prog icon if I just put in 279, it requires four digits.  How do I get it to accept #0279?

And I have a new Athearn Genesis GP15 with a Tsunami.  I can programme it to be #118 using "Programme on Mainline", and it jumps when I press Prog, but it does not respond when I select #118. It still responds to #3.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?  Both locos perform perfectly on #3.

TIA,
Bill.

PS - Hey Mr.B, how about a discussion board on DCC?  Your DCC FAQs section is a bit thin, and the General Discussion pool is more like an ocean than a pond.  There may be merits in having all DCC questions in one place.

Hi, I would be grateful for some info. 

Those familiar with the Spectrum Baldwin 4-6-0 will know that the high-boiler version has a much higher cab floor than the low boiler version, and so Bachmann have supplied it with different tenders with higher footplates (specifically the decapod tender or the USRA medium coal tender).  The low boiler version has a small, low tender with a low footplate to match the cab floor.  This has a coal hole and coal spill right down at footplate level.

If you look at the photos on this link http://taplines.net/GFA/GFA.html you will see several 4-6-0s belonging to the Gulf, Florida & Alabama which in Bachmann terms comprise the high-boiler 4-6-0 coupled to the low-boiler type tender.  The rear quarter views show that the loco has a cab floor much higher than the top of the tender base, but there is no photo which gives a clue about the front of the tender. I am wondering how the front of the tender might have been arranged.  It looks possible that the tender body might have been a plain water tank with the coal piled on top and retained by the raised sheet metal. 

I am aiming to reproduce this combination.  Does anyone have information or a photo or reference on the tender front that I could find on the web, please?  I don't expect anyone to have a pic of the GF&A, but maybe a similar engine + tender combination?

TIA,
Bill.

I just went into the online product catalog > HO > Steam Locomotives.  The header page says there are 13 DCC Sound Value steamers, but when I click on the link there is just one page with 7 locos.  DCC Sound Equipped says there are 47, but again the link leads to just one page with 9 locos.  The DCC Equipped link says 85 locos, but leads to just 3 pages with 29 locos.  Am I missing something here?

BTW, I went there because on Bachmann Europe I saw Sound Value Alco 2-6-0s for Wabash (51812) and Lackawana (51813).  I don't recall these being announced in the forward programme.

Bill

Hi, I just found a bit of good news on the connections compatibility issue.  I was comparing the cab floor heights of the high and low boiler 4-6-0s with each other and with various spectrum tenders when I noticed that the tender connections on the low boiler 4-6-0 and the Richmond 4-4-0 tender are the same way round, so out of curiosity I connected the Tsunami tender from Ma & Pa 4-4-0 #6 (Spectrum 85105) to DCC ready Ma & Pa 4-6-0 #27 (Spectrum 82302) and tried it on my programming track.  It worked fine, all functions, correct direction, everything.  I don't think this good news has been mentioned before in the various compatibility lists. 

It provides an easy opportunity for a bit of variety, especially with the painted, unlettered models, as the 4-6-0s have a choice of steel or wood cabs and the Richmond tenders have a choice of coal, wood or oil fuel.

I assume that as the wheel diameters are similar the gearing is also appropriate.  It certainly looks and sounds fine.

I have not tried it with the high boiler, as the cab floor is way too high to match the tender anyway.

Bill.

I am thinking of backdating a 4-6-0 with a wood cab. 

The parts diagrams with my Spectrum 4-6-0s suggest that the wood cab is only included with the undecorated versions, both high and low boiler.  Is this correct?

And on my decorated 4-6-0s the steel cabs appear to be glued on.  I am wondering if the undecorated 4-6-0s also come with a steel cab fitted, a wood cab as an alternative, but hard to use as the steel cab is glued on.   Is this so?

Also, the part for the wood cab does not seem to be available on the spares page.  Is it only obtainable with a complete undecorated loco?  I emailed the spares guys but got no answer.

I would be grateful for any info.

Bill.

I have a PFM brass Maryland & Pennsylvania Baldwin 2-8-0 #26 and I was looking at it over Christmas dreaming of DCC and sound, when it occurred to me that it would be an ideal addition to the Spectrum range.  Reasons are:

The old Bachmann 2-8-0 was the first Spectrum model, but you have judged it no longer meets the Spectrum standard, so you have demoted it.  In any case, it is a large engine for a small layout because of its long tender, and it would look wrong with a smaller tender.

The Ma & Pa bought four small 2-8-0s from Baldwin between 1902–1912, two of which (#23 + #26) lasted until 1947.  They make small models, 8 inches over engine and tender, they have an incredible amount of detail, much antiquated, and went through the phases of wood and steel cabs, and so have all the atmosphere of your other Spectrum antique steam like the 4-4-0s, 4-6-0s and Decapod.  To see the prototypes, visit http://www.maparailroadhist.org/locos.htm and look at #23, #24, #25 and #26.  You might also look at Baldwin 0-6-0s #29 and #30 as future Spectrum candidates.

It would fit your Ma & Pa theme, and many other period railways and shortlines . There is a Roundhouse small antique 2-8-0, but it is way below Spectrum standards.  However, its continued production by Athearn shows its popularity.

Please give it a thought when deciding on your next Spectrum steam loco.

Merry Christmas!
Bill.

Hi, my on-line hobby shop now has the DCC ready Bachmann #63307 ALCO S2 Diesel Switcher Western Pacific #562 in stock.  However, when I looked at the MB Klein website, I found two Tsunamis for the ALCo S2 / S4.  These were:

SoundTraxx Micro-Tsunami Decoder 827012 (TSU-750) for Alco 539 Turbocharged Diesel Engines

SoundTraxx Tsunami Decoder 828049 (TSU-AT1000) for Alco 539 Turbocharged Diesel Engines

Can anyone advise on which is the most appropriate for the Bachmann S2?

I assume the TSU-1000 is better than the TSU-750, but will it be a straightforward fit in the Bachmann S2?  This will be the first loco I have fitted myself.

Grateful for advice,
Bill.

The new Sound Value S2, S4 and RS3 locos look very good value and sound good judging by you-tube clips.  I am wondering if their chassis are the easiest way to upgrade my old Atlas Classic locos, several of which which are not even DCC ready and all of which require serious modification to fit sound, and which have liveries Bachmann may never reach.  Has anyone done similar body swaps, and if so are there any tips?

I did hear that the Bachmann S4 body was an upgrade of the old Atlas tooling, in the way that many of the Chinese products for different brands come from the same factory, though my Atlas S2 originated from Roco in Austria, but tools travel around.

Grateful for any advice,
Bill.

I have asked this before, but not got an answer, except for a chearful "if you wreck the boiler you can buy a replacement"!  Surely you can tell us, Mr B, or why do you put an alternative set of domes in with the Baldwin?

TIA,
Bill.

Dear Mr Bachmann,

On 30 March 2012 in response to a question on sound you said:

"The new sound module setup was initiated with the HO scale EM-1 and the new On30 Heisler. Starting with these two items all Spectrum locomotives will be equipped with a dual mode decoder and a premounted speaker . The user will have the option of purchasing a sound "module" that will mount on this decoder for sound (creating a full SoundTraxx Tsunami). In other words Bachmann will now offer one version of a Spectrum locomotive with an optional sound module available for it. There will no longer be three versions of the same locomotive offered (DCC Ready, DCC on Board or DCC Sound on Board)."

OK, that is clear for Spectrum, but what is the policy for new non-Spectrum locos?  You introduced the S2 in your 2012 NMRA leaflet, but for some railroads they are DCC Ready and for others they have Sound Value.  This seems a change in policy from previous recent non-spectrum locos, e.g. the S4 and the ALCO Mogul, which had both options for each railroad.

To make this specific, if I wanted a Western Pacific S2 with sound, should I be waiting for an inevitable Sound Value version to be released, possibly in vain and see all the DCC ready versions sell out, or buying the DCC Ready version and sourcing my own sound unit, or maybe you will be releasing a Sound Value conversion kit for the DCC ready locos?

The current position seems a bit strange.  If I want a Western Pacific with sound should I feel cursed that there is no Sound Value version, or blessed that I can fit a full-spec Tsunami without being left with a redundant sound value chip?

TIA,
Bill.

Hi, I am wondering:

1. Are the Ma & Pa 4-4-0 #4 and #5 models identical apart from the numbers, or are there other detail differences? (Bachmann 83403, 83404).

2.  Do these two and the other Richmond and Baldwin 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s with the dual mode chip come with jumpers so that the chip can be disconnected?

3.  Specifically including SAL Richmond #159 (Bachmann 83408), and SAL Baldwin #108 (Bachmann 80104).

I ask because I have decided to retain a DC layout as it is not practical to convert all my older engines to DCC and sound, (and I want all the engines on my DCC layout to have sound as there is no point in having some with and others without), but I have found that under DC the older DC / DCC ready engines can be controlled much better especially at slow speeds than their dual mode chip fitted exact counterparts.  My specific example is the Baldwin 4-6-0 DC, DCC ready Ma & Pa #27 (Bachmann 82302) compared with the DCC & sound Ma & Pa #28 (Bachmann 84905).   I have found this with two different controllers: an old H&M Duette (my test track), and a more modern Gaugemaster Combi (my old layout).

Grateful for any info.  As I have to buy on-line I can't ask the retailer.

Thanks,
Bill.

OK, I may be dim, but can someone explain this, please?

I found the Tsunami SoundTraxx page in the Parts and Service section on the Bachmann website and it says:

"Beginning in late 2011 Bachmann Spectrum locomotives that are ordered with DCC come equipped with a SoundTraxx Mobile Decoder that has a 21-pin plug and a speaker already installed."

It then says:

"Bachmann also sells a separate sound module to plug into the 21-pin connector. The sound Module and the mobile decoder plugged in together act the same as the Tsunami found in the 2009-2010 released Spectrum models."

Now, I am looking inside my older HO sound equipped 2-8-0 tender and I see three things: a DCC decoder; a speaker; and what I take to be a sound card.  Two wires (yellow and orange) run from the sound card to the speaker (soldered connections) and seven wires (blue, white, yellow, grey, orange, red and black) run from soldered connections on the sound card to an eight-pin plug which is plugged into the main DCC decoder board.

Does the website info mean that Bachmann have now split the components / functions which I have on one sound card and put them onto two separate cards, a decoder and a sound module?  If so, does the "SoundTraxx Mobile Decoder" which now comes with each new DCC loco hold all the loco specific  information, e.g. all the sounds and instructions specific to a 2-8-0, and the "separate sound module" is a generic unit needed to make it work but the same unit can be used with any loco?

The Bachman page concludes by saying:

"Listed below are the locomotive models that currently are or will be shipped with Tsunami Digital Sound Decoders installed.  Select your model from the list to link to a quick reference document specific to that engine. "

"When referencing CV defaults for locomotives built after Spetember 2011, the values in Italics are only applicable if the sound module is plugged into the decoder. "

The list includes the 2-8-0, but no CVs in the document relating to the 2-8-0 are in italics.  That almost seems to read as if all the 2-8-0 sound functions will work without the additional "Sound Module". 

There is a picture atop the 2-8-0 sheet of Western Maryland #744, but the WM 2-8-0 currently available is #760 (Bachmann 51307).  There is no mention of any sound equipment in the description of Bachmann 51307 on the website product information.  It would be very helpful in the website product information said in the entry for each loco "To fit this loco with sound you need to buy component xxxx".

I have only found two "Sound Modules" listed in the Bachmann product information, one for the B&O EM-1 2-8-8-4, and one for the 14-Ton Two-Truck Stearns-Heisler.  Where is the module for the DCC 2-8-0?  They are not in the "Parts and Service" section either.  And I don't see these modules listed by retailers such as MB Klein either.

TIA for enlightenment!
Bill.

Here's the situation:

I have a small shunting layout built for diesels which I am adapting to Ma & Pa steam 1952 (year I was born and the last 4-4-0 (#6) was retired), with DCC and sound. 

The Ma & Pa still had three Baldwin 2-8-0s (#41, 42, 43) which it retired between 1952-57.  They looked quite close to the Bachmann 2-8-0 (except for the headlight being on top of the smokebox), but seem from photos to have had a shorter tender.

The crucial headshunt in my yard will only hold the Bachmann 2-8-0 plus a 40' boxcar (I have a Western Maryland 2-8-0). If the tender were a bit shorter a 2-8-0 could shunt a 50' boxcar.

The 2-10-0 and the high boiler Baldwin 4-6-0 both have a tender which looks shorter and would not disgrace a 2-8-0 on a shortline, though it is not quite the same as the Ma & Pa 2-8-0 tender, so I am thinking of acquiring one of these to pair with an unlettered 2-8-0.  It would also make a contrast with the WM "visitor" (the WM met the Ma & Pa at York, PA).

My questions are: 

Are the 2-10-0 and high-boiler 4-6-0 tenders the same? They look quite similar, but the unlettered, sound equipped  4-6-0 seems hard to find now, whilst the unlettered, sound equipped 2-10-0s seem more available and cheaper.

Would these tenders plug directly into the 2-8-0?  I have read on this board that the wiring of the connector pins differs between Bachmann loco classes, and I do not want to plug it in and fry the decoder.  What wiring changes would I need to make?

Are the sounds pre-programmed into the 2-10-0 tender "meatier" than those programmed into the 4-6-0 tender, as might befit the bigger engine?

Alternately, as Bachmann already seem to have made quite an investment in the Ma & Pa, how about you issue the 2-8-0 with the shorter tender in Ma & Pa livery, even if only as a special edition run, to complete the fleet?  It would be nice if you could move the headlamp rather than me have to do it!  (It just needs the lamp from the 4-4-0 or 4-6-0).  And a painted tender would be so much better than waterslide transfers from the Ma & Pa Society.

Hoping you or fellow steam railroad CEOs can help with advice, if not with a special run Ma & Pa 2-8-0!

TIA, Bill.

It would be very helpful to have a list of Bachmann past products with product numbers.  This would help in searching for an out of production item on google, ebay, etc.

For example, I am currently trying to find a list of HO high boiler 4-6-0s with sound, without sound, and DCC ready, to see if any would be of interest to me.

It would also help in identifying an item seen for sale, especially when the seller does not know much about it.  For example I have recently seen a 2-8-0 on ebay with a product number (11412) which bears no relation to the current catalogue series, and I am having difficulty in finding out if it is DCC ready, as it is sealed in its original shrink wrap and the seller does not want to break the seal.

Bachmann Europe produces a list of all past products in OO and N scales for the British market which it updates annually. (http://www.bachmann.co.uk/past_and_present.php).  But I cannot find anything similar for Bachmann US.

Is there such a list?  Bachmann must have the info in their records.

Or can anyone privide a comprehensive list of the HO Baldwin 4-6-0s?

TIA for info,
Bill.