Thanks for the replay.  I replaced one set of trucks with a Walthers heavy weight set. It was not a not a simple task.  The replacements trucks are not available from the Bachmann parts shops.

I first noticed cracks in the trucks between the wheels.  Then a car would go though a curve or turnout and truck will just break apart.
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It's the die-cast metal parts of the trucks that are deteriorating and becoming brittle .  This is happening on both the 6 wheel and the 4 wheel trucks. 

The Bachmann 2009 catalog has "performs best on 22" radius curves or greater" (I case anyone was wondering and wants to peruse old catalogs, they are on the Bachmann web page).

Not sure what the real world radius is for the 2-10-2. The 2-10-0 is a much smaller locomotive and they have 22" listed for it also but it runs just fine on 18" radius curves and can even ride on 9" long turntable. But the 2-10-0 has a shorter wheel base then the 2-10-2 so logical it should handle tighter curves.

Has anyone else had a issue with the last run of the Spectrum HO heavy weight passenger car trucks metal crumbling apart?  These are for the last run they made with light bulbs and separately apply hand rails. 

Not sure if there are any replacements available.   This also makes to very Leary of purchasing any of the new runs.  Will they also fall apart after 10 years.   

Trainman203,
                Your referring to US made decoders with DDE and EQ?    There are my standard now also.

Depending on which tender (with or without a speaker mount.)  Just look at the bottom of the tender for sound holes.  I now only install Tsunami 2s or WOWs in steam locomotives.  They are both around the save price and have the best set of features for the money.
I usually go with the TSU-2200 or WOW10, With a 9-Pin JST to NMRA 8-Pin Wiring Harness, 28mm round speaker (1 1 Watt (Nominal) 2 Watts (Peak).
  If you have the tender with speaker mount. I use the SoundTraxx gasket to get a good seal in the mount. And a couple of dots of hot glue just to be sure.  Then I solder the speaker wires to the speaker.  Then just plug harness into the 8 pin socket on the light board and decoder and then plug the speaker wire plug into the decoder (if you unplugged it).
  With the older tender you will have to drill holes in the coal load for sound to escape and hot glue the speaker to bottom of the coal load. The rest of the install is the same. 
  The TSC web site has instructions on how to install there complete WOW kit for both tenders.  They also have great example of installations to look at.  Also SoundTraxx has vast collection of how to videos.

I think all my Bachmanns have sound decoder installed in them.  And most of them are DCC ready locos.
Also I try to use the factor circuit board when possible. The circuit board has the correct resister to match the factor lights. And for the models where the wire plugs are on the loco, Altering the wire length can cause unwanted issues. 

This may be too much info. 
 

Nope.   Light is a plastic shell, Heavy is a metal shell. 

This falls under compromise area of the hobby.  The available space issue.  I am stuck with 18" radius curves do to space limitations.  But there is still a lot of equipment that works just fine on 18".   The longer passenger cars have a heavy amount of over hang on 18".  So I hind my curves with scenery.  And mainly stick with 40'and 36' rolling stock and the 50'and 60' passenger cars. And short steam locos 2-6-0, 2-8-0.  A mikado with a standard tender does not look to bad.  There are several passenger cars that will run just fine on 18" curves (They will note this in there product descriptions.)  Also check the instructions on your passenger cars, Some of the Rapido passenger cars have instructions on how to operate them on 18",  This is usually going a long shank coupler. 

But if you have the space go with larger curves.     

I just use a DCC auto-reverser for my reverse track.   There are several available on the market and you can get basic ones to advanced ones with block detection.   

Bachmann makes one "E-Z Command ® DCC Automatic Reverse Loop Module"

Just make sure to supports your power supply amperage.

 

It's been awhile sense I built one.   Are you looking for a EZ- track plain for it? 

I just want to give kudos to Bachmann for a great locomotive. I have 3 of them and they work the yard and industry areas. 

They have great detail and run smooth. and can crawl at very low speeds.   Now they great thing Bachmann has done is to go with TCS WOW decoders. This makes this already great loco even better.

First the sound this little loco puts out is outstanding. It is CD-quality uncompressed samples. I can hear the loose base compression in the other band decoders. It's very obvious when they are running side by side. Bachmann put the large High Bass speaking in the 2-10-0 another plus.  And the WOW has a 4Gb SD card (that's around 5 CD of audio storage.)

Beside the high quality sound.  The WOW also has "True Scale Sound" and this works great I will more reviewers would demonstrate this feature.  And it works perfectly on 2-10-0.  The Chuffs get louder and more intense has you start to pull a load of cars out of the yard and then even more has pull the cars up a grade. and then as you go down the grade it automatically start playing the costing sounds. (This is one main feature that has made we change out most of decoders to WOWs and TSU2s) The audio assist menu is very handy and very easy to use. And it has the ability to turn on automatic tots and bells (for us with lazy fingers). 

These are great little locos.   

And I am so thankfully Bachmann is using TCS WOWS and SoundTraxx decoders.

also lets not forget the axle ends are also painted!

Good job Bachmann.



 

Another thought on scales.  Each scale has it place.  They all have pros and cons. 


N scale is great scale for module layouts like "T-Trak"  Which are just over 12" by 12" module you hook together to form a layout. Each module can have a different scene modeled on them. Also with N scale you can build a good size layout on standard hollow core door. If you want to run full scale passenger trains N scale is great for this.  A 13 car passenger train is 6 feet long in N scale over 12 feet long in HO. Cost less the HO and it has come a long way the past few years in available products. (In fact they are making stuff in N-scale that is not available in HO that I would like to have for my HO layout. And this is a very long list now.)  My current N scale layout is a door on a folder table and there is a lot of room on this layout Roundhouse, Passenger station, Coalmine , Two small yards.

Now I am not sure way but I have lease derails and coupler issues with my N scale layout then I do on the HO layout. So what I have learned was the reliable between modern N and HO is about the same.

I think I will be giving up a HO passenger service. I do not have a basement or a 40x60 foot shop to run HO scale passenger trains in scale. I am limited to a 12x13 room. So my next project I think will be a T-Trak layout for my N scale passenger trains to run on. This I can fit in a 12x13 room. And very easy moved around. 

So for limited space areas N scale is good option. But they are cat bit size

   





     

There are about double the height.  You need about 6" for clearances under the tree.

I did not have to bend up any branches this year.  I also put the track on top of snow blanks for the Christmas village.  So it was kind of spongy (not an issue for O-gauge).   

Now the way I looked at was "It's going under a tree so it's not a real model railroad". So I went with Semi-scale O-gauge.  In Semi-scale the cars are shortened to handle O27 and 031 curves which are even tighter then 036.  So semi-scale O passenger car is about the same length of a HO scale passenger car. And they look fine on a O36 curve.

Here was my list Pros:
You can accidentally kick a O-gauge car and not hurt it.
It runs handle being on sponge surfaces like carpet.
cars stayed couple under poor conditions.
Puffing smoke I can see.
Very easy to setup and operate.
look good with Christmas villages.   

Cons:
Not scale (but under a tree so is this a con?)
Add on cars to the train set are expensive.
O-gauge plug in accessories are expensive.

And just a note on O scale vs semi-scale.

Scale O-gauge locomotives and cars will not all run on 036 track.  Most require O42 or O72 which is not at all practical for under a tree.
   

I agree complete with Trainman203 about going from DC to DCC being a life changer.   

But before you go to far down the DCC path.  Is your goal just to have a small layout to run under a Christmas tree?  Or are you planing on getting into the hobby?  And then what made you go with HO?

My model railroad is HO scale layout with a DCC system for control.  Since all my HO locomotives are models they are not suited for being under a tree in our living room. For the under the tree layout I need something that is some what durable and the track can hold up to being assembled and dissembled ever year, Simple to operate, Track can set on top of carpet without issues, and affordable.  So for the under the tree layout we alternates between G-scale and O-gauge. G-scale and O-gauge train sets work get for this job.

This works will for me I have my model railroad layout that I work on all year long.  And once a year I break out the toy trains to play with.

(note: You can stop reading here the rest is just a quick comparison between G and O for use under a tree. We tried HO one time but catzilla attached derailing the train, And eat the passengers. The C.E.R.R soon went out of business do to family lawsuits.)

Now comparing the two:
G- scale looks very good under a tree. It's larger then most presents under the tree. Most of the steam locos come with chuffing sound and smoke. And I had no need to purchase anything additional.  Everything I need was in the Bachmann large scale train set. The included track is a 5'4" x 4'3" oval. I usually take out the 2 straights and just run a 4'3" circle. the track can set on top on the tree skirt without issues. But it is a large scale then the villages they sale at the stores. And you may have to raise the tree or push the low branches up.

O-gauge (Semi-scale, traditional not the way more expensive O-Scale).  Most set come with O36 or O31 track. O36 is a 3' circle so it is the same size as an HO 18" radius circle. I think all the O-gauge train set with steam locomotive have sound and smoke. They will have a power pack with a Whistle and bell button or a remote with a whistle and bell button. And usually ever thing you will need is in the train set.  O-gauge also looks good with the light up villages they sale at the stores. And the track setting on top of carpet and a tree skirt does not cause running issues. O-gauge sets will come with basic sound (for O-gauge) and a puffing smoke unit.  And they are very simple to operate.


 
 

 

Can you please bring back the Williams steam locomotive lines but with factory install Blunami decoders?    Think about having a Williams S2 with blunami in it!  And a semi scale Hudson with Blunammi!  The other semi scale manufacturers are just to pricey and have very little selection. (But one of them it starting to ramp up again.) 

Thank you.

I have yet to install DCC decoder in a Bachmann HO 0-6-0 (N scale yes).  Sound decoder not impossible but it may be difficult. 

As for smoke.   Most HO models do not add smoke units to there locomotives. And if they locomotive come with a smoke unit they turn it off or disable it.  This is more of an O scale thing.   

The Bachmann smoke units are more for kids.  And smoke kind of like incense burning and the locomotive has be moving at a good pace for it to work on DC power.  And most of the time you can not even see the smoke. Now there is another Locomotive manufacture that using DCC controlled fan drive smoke units that puff in time with the chuff sound in HO. but they are around 2 to 4 times the price of a Bachmann locomotive. And still most the HO models turn off or remove these unit also.

Now is O scale sound and smoke are a standard. Even the basic O scale train set will have a puffing smoke unit and sound.  And the sad thing is Bachmann owns William's and use to have an excellent line of O scale steam locomotives and they stopped making them!


Going back to adding smoke and sound to a HO 0-6-0,  The catalog show the individual 0-6-0 with 3 version smoke units, Smoke units and DCC, and DCC sound. But not both Sound and smoke. And some trains sets have locomotive with smoke unit some not.  There is a replacement smoke unit for the 0-6-0 on the Bachmann parts site.  But I am not sure how involved it would be to install one.

Also note that 0-6-0 price range it may be more cost effective to just purchase a locomotive with sound factor installed. 

I hope this helps answer your question.