After I mentioned a Forney bash--as featured in the Gazette--on MLS, somebody suggested I use the saddletank switcher, which is cheaper. But do the tanks come off and reveal a usable boiler? Or are they molded into the plastic?

Also--and this probably should be a separate post--can you buy cabs and stuff from Bachmann? I know that when you look at the schematic that comes packaged with your new loco, there is a parts breakdown, suggesting that somewhere there are "spare" components. So are there, Mr. Bachmann?

Which brings up another idea: why can't Bachmann offer these parts so that bashers can acquire them easily--without going on eBay, trolling for used goods?

Me and the guys at MLS are debating as to which loco originally served as the prototype for Bachmann's large-scale Connie. At the time I heard it was a Cuban sugar railroad loco. But apparently some access problems developed and Lee Riley had to look elsewhere--namely Adler Gulch in Montana, which at this time is not on the State Department's don't visit list. So which is it?

For some time I have thought about building a certain caboose and figured that it might be possible to use an existing flat car as a platform--to save me from the hassle of building the whole dang thing. So what are the dimensions of the new Bachmann Fn3 flat car?