Just my humble opinion... I think the LED's are great for headlamps and reverse lamps, but they are too directional for interior lighting in your combine (unless your goal is to illuminate one spot on the floor of the car).  With one LED, you won't be able to achieve that warm glow through the windows of your car; you would have to piece together an array of LED's to achieve that effect.  The good news is that LED's are quite happy with 9 volts, and your battery will last longer if you stick with one LED.  I just don't think you'll be happy with the light output.

Good luck!
Jay

Yeah, but the valve gear on the 90031 chassis is the more impressive Walschaerts configuration... I ordered a 90036 chassis to stick under one of my Big Haulers just so I could have something besides the Stephenson valves.  And at thirty bucks, it makes a cheap Christmas present for myself!

All the best,
Jay

Just got a blurb from Micro-Mark... they've got the Bachmann C-19 on sale for $798.80, which is the lowest price I've seen so far.  Also saw a trick line of speakers they're now carrying.

Disclaimer:  no affiliation to M-M; just a customer of theirs.

All the best,
Jay

Hey Steve,

Check out George Schreyer's website for Big Hauler issues... derailments is the first topic on the page!

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html

Good luck!
Jay

Try perusing the information in this blog... first topic on the page.
http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html

Good luck!
Jay

H Larry,

B&O engine #1332 is a Big Hauler series; it came with the "Royal Blue" starter set.  I got mine around the mid-1990's, but I understand that set was part of the product line-up for quite a while.

Hope this helps!
Jay

Don't know about the AccuCraft, but my Bachmann D&RG passenger coaches are exactly 19 inches from tip-to-tip of the observation platform on each end.

You can scale that up to whatever scale you consider these coaches to be.

Good luck!
Jay

Hi Steve,

I haven't changed out my Big Hauler headlamp yet, but it's on my list of things to do.  Check out George Schreyer's website for a DIY treatise on the subject:

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html#led

My Big Hauler's tender light did not come with a lamp in it either, and if you'll look close to the bottom of the web page listed above, George shows how to add an LED, plus the diode bridge that allows the lamp to light up only in reverse.

An yes, this will probably entail some soldering.

Good luck,
Jay

Thanks again for the replies gentlemen!

I already have some PVC pipe cement on hand; the ABS glue sounds promising and I'm sure our local Home Depot carries that.  I'd not heard of the Weld-on's #16 before, but if it's used for acrylics hopefully I can find a local source for that as well.

Over the course of the recent Christmas-tree duty, the Big Hauler with the repaired pilot beam started making expensive noises from the drive mechanism (it's a 3rd generation drive that I've already had to fix once), so the plan is to send that back to Bachmann for repair.  I'll be holding off on any more gluing projects until I see what I get back from Bachmann.

Thanks again!
Jay

Thank you for the responses gentlemen.  I didn't think to take a photo of the cracked pilot beam when I had it off of the chassis, but then my digital camera doesn't do that well with macro shots anyway, especially on a dark subject like the black pilot beam and chassis.

To get the loco in service for Christmas tree duty, I drilled through the front of the chassis and fastened the pilot beam, crack and all, back to the chassis with small machine screws.  The damage to the pilot beam included one of the two screw posts being broken off, so without any glue that would work, the drill-through seemed like my only option.  A little black paint on the plated screw-heads, and it doesn't look too jicky unless you look really closely.

And since glue wouldn't work to repair the stripped-out screw post on the chassis, I effected a temporary repair by sticking a thin piece of plastic down the hole before starting the screw.

I would like to proceed with other mods to the loco, like fastening shims inboard of the drive wheels to prevent the lateral slop that causes the electrical pickups to disengage.  It sure would be nice to be able to do that using glue... surely somebody on this forum has found a glue that works with these plastics.  I'm still open to suggestions!

Thanks,
Jay

This my first post, so go easy on me!

Recently I brought my 2 ten-wheelers out of storage for their annual Christmas tree duty, and the pilot beam on one of them was cracked just behind the cowcatcher.  I tried gluing it with Testor's liquid styrene cement, and when that didn't work, I tried Duco CA glue.  That didn't work either.

The pilot beam is obviously not polystyrene because a) it is flexible instead of brittle, and b) the liquid styrene cement did not "melt" the material at all (which is why the repair didn't work).

I also tried repairing a stripped-out screw post on the chassis, and again, neither type of glue worked on this either.  I've seen countless articles about making repairs and modifications to the ten-wheeler, and many of them call for gluing this or that... so what type of glue will "melt" this plastic, or at least adhere to it?  I've heard mention of using MEK, but I'm also hearing that's essentially what the liquid styrene cement is.

Any input would be appreciated!
Jay