If they made a run of these lettered for the Virginia and Truckee, I'd buy a bunch and convert the layout to a model of Virginia City.  It wouldn't be too hard as one of my towns I modeled after Gold Hill anyway.  Since these are V&T prototypes it certainly isn't a stretch to see some lettered for the V&T in the future. 

Quote from: macbmac1 on January 07, 2016, 05:54:06 AM
Hello everyone:

I have done some locomotive building for the Tonopah and Tidewater Historical Society, located in Death Valley Jct., CA.  They are currently building an HO scale model railroad replicating the T&TRR in the mid 1920's on the property of the Amargosa Opera House.  To model the Bullfrog Goldfield RR locomotives, which interchanged with the T&TRR, I use Bachmann's  tall 4-6-0 (63" drivers) coupled to an MDC / Roundhouse Vanderbilt tender, to which I added Tsunami TSU-1000 Medium Steam decoders and Railmaster Hobbies ported speakers.

I had a friend mill out the tender underframe, which I then drilled holes into to fire the speaker down toward the track (a typical install); I then installed the decoder.  Locomotive apron rests fine upon tender support, and the unit looks pretty decent as BGRR #11.  There should be some pics on the internet -- many folks visiting Death Valley stop by to take a look at the layout.  I can post a pic or 2 when I get back out to the junction and take some.  A pretty simple install now that I think about it. and loco sounds really nice.

Michael McAnally
Pahrump, NV

Boy, do you and I need to talk!  Is there any way to send you a personal message?   

Nevin Wilson
Las Vegas, NV

I was able to put a TCS Wow decoder with a Keep-alive capacitor into the Vanderbilt tender without too much modification except to lower the motherboard enough to get the decoder to fit on top of it.  It is crammed in there pretty tight.  With the Keep-alive, it really runs great.  Now to try with the 4-6-0. 

Bachmann makes a oil verison of the Vanderbilt tender that was made for the 2-8-0.  Very simple to hook it up.  You should be able to find one on Ebay.  It is more of a wiring project for the 4-6-0 however.   

To clarify, I'm talking about the HO Spectrum Vanderbilt tender that was sold separately for the 2-8-0.

I've got a Bachmann 4-6-0 that I have re-wired a Bachmann Vanderbilt tender to run behind it.  As with all Vanderbilt tenders, there isn't a ton of room in it.  I'd like to put a sound decoder in it along with one of these "keep-alive" capacitors.  Has anyone put sound into the Vanderbilt?  What decoder did you use?  Where did you put the speaker?  How did you get everything to fit?  Did you use a keep-alive type system?  Did you ditch the board and hard-wire it?  Thoughts?  Thanks.

Spectrum quality slide valve 0-6-0 with sound and sloped tender.  Spectum quality 2-8-0 similar to their 4-6-0. 

I'll definitely grab a couple.  I hope the lettering is easy to remove. 

New 4-6-0s.  That is great!   I just don't know why you didn't letter them for my railroad: Bullfrog Goldfield RR.  (just kidding).  Hopefully the lettering will be relatively easy to remove. 

I've got a couple of Bachmann On30 2-8-0's that I'de like to put sound decoders and speakers into them.  Any recommendations concerning which deocers work best with this engine.  What size speaker fits?  Thanks. 

I have a number of Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 engines, some that have been modified with the Vanderbilt tenders.  I am trying to fit a wye into one yard for turning engines and the only way if fits is if I drop the minimum radius on the wye to about 16 inches.  Only the engines would use this wye so couplers aren't an issue.  Will these engines behave on that tight a radius?  Thoughts and opinions?

As someone who models the Nevada mining railroads who were using the 1905 Baldwin 4-6-0 with Vanderbilt tenders I would love to see another high boiler version that could easily mate with their Vanderbilt tender.  I have done the conversion and it isn't that easy especially with a sound decoder in it.  I would love it if Bachmann came out with a SP version! 

Quote from: 2foot6 on August 23, 2013, 11:05:35 PM
I converted my extensive HO layout to On30  six years ago.I used the existing track plan as it  worked well for me,increased the separation between tracks in the yards,rebuilt bridges to the correct scale and then started on the scenery ,it is now finished.To disguise the ties,I just covered them  with ballast or filled in the gaps with some plaster and covered with  grass and dirt  effect scatter matterials.My layout is a logging  layout so I was able to get away with it ,with this style of theme.  cheers Peter

I'll have to check the old photos and see what the roadbed for the Death Valley RR looked like. 

That Wenz Modellbau track looks interesting but the rail size looks a bit large.  Does HO cork roadbed look ok with On30 ties, or do they extend too far over the sides?  I have not measured the ties to see how wide they are.

My HO 14x14 Tonopah and Tidewater must be moved from Reno to Las Vegas.  Fortunately it is modular and can make the trip relatively intact.  However, since I have to take it apart anyway, I am thinking about the idea of converting it to the On30 Yellow Pine Mining Co. RR. 

I know that I will have to widen the sidings but my question is what roadbed do you use?  HO or something else ( S scale?).  Is Micro Engineering track the best, or is there something else I should look at?  Are there other sources of turnouts?  I can hand lay track but I am not that enthusiatic about doing it unless forced.  Any other resources I should look into?  Thanks, Nevin