It would really be nice if users could come here and check on which of their Bachmann products had been registered and register those that they've missed.  I got a couple of engines for Christmas and filled the registration cards out then gave then to my son to mail  He took them and said, "Oh, I'll try to remember the other five or six card I have to mail as well and get them all sent off next week".   Well, little did I know that "five or six" of my engines haven't had their registration card sent in.

  Just a thought. Another thought is, MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!


   Regards,

      R Hume

   Thanks for the YouTube link !!!

    I've tested mine with forty cars and a 1.5% ruling grade but haven't had a chance to see what the upper limit is without a grade to deal with.  Mine out pull the Proto engines we've compared them to hands down and you really can't beat twice the pulling power for half the price of the comparable the LifeLike Berks.

   Regards

   Thanks for all the replies.  It sounds like they're well worth the money all things considered.  I went ahead and orderd an A & B set of them and they'll be running around the tree this year as well as eventually running on the layout.


   Regards folks, and if I'm not back around before then Merry Christmas to all !!

   I really like my Bachmann steamers and haven't had problems with any of them as of yet.  I haven 't tried any of the Bachmann diesel units which are not Spectrum and come DCC equipped.  If anyone here can comment on how well they run or what quirks they may have, the FT units in particular, please let me know if you consider them competitive with other brands after running them a while.

Thanks

   I have one that did the same thing, failed after about half an hour.  I've had it around here boxed up to send back for, oh, maybe a year.  I'll be sending mine back as well since this came up and reminded me of it.  Well, this and Christmas, which is when I was using it for running the tree trains.  Anyhow, what's the failure rate on the simple DCC units?  I know several people who said they had one that failed although I don't know whether they sent it back or not.

  Regards

  If the 2-6-2 type is being considered this is one I particularly like.

     Since the PRR L1 Mike used the same boiler as the K4 Pacific, it seems to me that making an L1 in the Spectrum line is a natural.  As always, though, I still think the NYC L2 series and/or the NYC H10b that was such a trend setter (both in Spectrum quality of course) would be great.  If staying away from the larger roads is a goal, then I never heard anyone complaining about there being too many Atlantics on the market.  The Atlantic type would be perfect for the shorter passenger trains so many folks run.

  I can't say on diesels, I'd have to really think about what hasn't been done or hasn't been done well.  Besides, I'm partial to Southern and N&W high hoods running long hood forward which makes them an exception for most roads.


  Regards

   I second the opinion that any Bachmann 2-6-6-2 not running well should be shipped back for repair or replacement.  I have several and they are extremely fine engines.  I even bought one to keep on the shelf as a spare in case I ever should be unable to get one repaired or somehow total one.  I don't think I've ever seen an articulated run any better and only a few remotored and regeared brass ones run as well.

   Regards.

   Mid-60s units didn't even use vacum tubes except in their radios.  They were rely based units like earlier GP series units.  The -2 series started the use of electronics in earnest and with custom made boards about the size of the average current laptop motherboard.  Since then, of course, they can build pretty much whatever they like into a unit with standard components and the space available is not a problem.

   Regards

    For exactly how steam locomotives work, I recommend, "How A Steam Locomotive Works" by Karen Parker.  It is very well done and covers auxiliaries as well.  I think it's the best fundamental work I've seen.

   Regards

   I think these two are very good starting points.  The first is specifically about locomotives and the second is freight cars which are significantly different in the era of steam than they are now.  As I recall, they both have links to other sites, and beyond these basics and the link already provided above, most of what you'll want will be more specific and is best found with search engines.  One site of note that is often overlooked is the Google Books site which has a wonderful variety of complete books available for download and/or on line viewing.  Searching there for railroad, railroads, steam locomotives, etc., etc., can provide you with a great deal of older material specific to the locomotives and the era of steam railroading.  You can mine that site for several days and find everything from ICC rulings from the steam era to old textbooks from that era regarding right of way construction or the design of railroad yards.


http://www.railarchive.net/rlsteam/index.html

http://www.steamfreightcars.com/

http://books.google.com/books


   Regards

     looked me in the eye and say's BUY'ME!! ......BUY'ME NOW!!


     Whew, I'm glad to find out that the little buggers talk to someone besides me.  I was afraid I was nuts or something.  Now that I know others can hear them talking, I feel much better.


   Regards

   Thanks for the detailed information.  I wouldn't call it "long winded", I'd say it thoroughly covered the subject.

   Regards

SteamGene

"The current pre assembled Walther's 130' is to die for.  The ONLY thing it doesn't do is play "The Wreck of the Old 97" as she spins the locos!"


   That's a relief to hear !  I got a deal on one that I just couldn't pass up, but I don't know anyone who has one.  I'm glad to know it's not going to be a nightmare like some I've heard about over the years.  I know I haven't seen anyone weeping over their Walthers 130' table, but to me that could mean not many have been installed yet.  Have you seen one in operation much?

  Regards

Jim Banner   


  "One of the failure modes is the side rods cutting the crank pins off the main wheels (the ]wheels on the geared axle.)  This usually indicates we have not been oiling the crank pins enough."



    I put oil on the pins about every 15 hours of operation using a tooth pick to pick up just a small drop and let it run off onto the pin.  Is that sufficient as to quantity and frequency?  I no longer have the dexterity to make modifications as you suggest, but if there's a write up somewhere with a list of components I need to make bushings or where to buy them, my son may be able to.  I like the Idea of bushing in the rods, it seems like a more failsafe approach than relying on lubrication alone.

  On the other hand, you run yours so much I don't have any idea how long it would take me to have that much wear.  I also don't know how long it would take me to replace engines I've spent years getting together in order to have a layout, so it's pretty much a better safe than sorry situation the way I see it.  I remember times when there weren't the wide variety of quality engines available that there are now, and those times generally followed a major downturn by a year or so and then took a long time to recover from.

  Regards