Does anyone know a web site that will give the different sizes of diesel locos? I think the DD40AX is the biggest, but where does like the SD80 fall in, at its size? How far up does the GP numbers go and is a larger number always mean a larger engine? I thought the DD40 was the same as a DD40AX, but now that I have both, I see that the AX is about .75" longer than the plain DD40. I was tryng to find a SD80 and it seems that Kato is the only one who makes them and road schemes is very limited. There seems to be more of them in N scale, however.

I read the following article on MTH's site:
Like the DCC standards established by the NMRA, M.T.H. Electric Trains took significant measures to ensure that our first HO locomotive complied with other NMRA standards whenever possible. Since our K-4’s release, some reviewer and consumer comments have been published that criticize the K-4’s operational functionality with power supplies that meet the NMRA’s minimum standard of 12 volts maximum power output. Understandably, those comments point out that the K-4’s top speed is less than expected when operating the train (with 12 volts applied to the track. A more typical max voltage output commonly found in today’s DC power supplies is 16 VDC.
To start with, most of today's power supplies are DCC, not DC, and it reads in AC on a multimeter. I have been operating my 18 train layout on 14 vdcc. If I crank my booster up to 16 volts, to satisfy MTH's K-4, what will that extra 2 volts do to my other trains? I will have to admit that I have been having some volume and other problems with the MTH and the 16 volts straightened it out and increased the volume. I just don't want to over power my other units just to get MTH to behave!

To all the owners of a new MRC Prodigy Wireless Remote that starts experiencing decoder problems with their locos. It states to recharge the batteries if the charge falls below 4 volts, but that is a little premature as it will behave correctly down to about 3 volts. But it doesn't just quit working, when in low battery state, it starts sending false signals! You may be clicking F12 and it will send a F11 signal, or in some cases will send it to the wrong loco! So before you start reprogramming your decoders, check your battery charge status. It will continue to send signals until the batteries are completely depleted, but not necessarily the right ones. This little ditty is not brought out in the manual!

Are any of the steam model trains prototypical when it comes to the way the pilot or trailing wheels are mounted? In other words, is all they support is their own weight and not part of the weight of the locomotive?

I am having a problem with adding traction tires on a MTH K-4 without giving up continuity. From experience I have learned that the more wheels you have drawing power from the track, the smoother your unit runs, especially in DCC. When I replace the regular drive wheels with the traction wheels, that came with the unit, it starts skipping along and sometimes stopping. This is a real problem in my 6 and 8 feet tunnels. I have some small grades and it won't pull my track cleaner without spinning its wheels. When I put the old wheels back on, it runs fine. Is this why MTH doesn't put them on from the factory? They use the words, " if you want to pull stumps", then use the traction tires. What good is all that traction, if you are out of gas!

I was just wondering if the old Southern Railway, in NC, was the only RR that furnished housing for their employees? It wasn't elaborate and I would dare say people wouldn't even live in these conditions now, but it was something SRR did out of pride in their employees, back in the 30s and 40s. My Dad spent most of his entire life on the SRR, but as a "section forman", in charge of about a 30 mile stretch of rail. SRR took old "beyond repair" box cars, placed them on side rails and converted them into housing for employees. I was born in one of those "box car houses'! In the early 40s, they started building 2 room regular houses along the rails at depots. After I was born my Dad had built up enough seniority to move into one of these real houses. He loved SRR and his job, but in 1948 he lost 15 men of a 17 man crew to a terrible wreck on the SRR and was in a comma for 6 months himself. This was all caused by one stupid employee who thought time tables wasn't important! Dad was never able to work on the railroad again, but SRR took care of him until his death in 1979. Lawyers hounded him continueously to sue SRR, but Dad never would. Times and peoples' attitudes sure have changed. How many would be that loyal to an employer this day and time? I am retired now, and since 2002, have built a $16,000 HO scale model layout, and of coarse, it is all SRR! I just wanted a model train set that my Dad could never afford and it kind of got out of hand! But I was just wondering if this housing thing was a common practice at all railroads, in by-gone days, or did the Southern have the market cornered?

Does anyone see any trend of sound decoder prices ever coming down? After all, for a few bucks more, you can just about buy a sound equipped locomotive, and in certain models for less money! It seems like they have been on the market long enough for the price to start dropping. A friend of mine, who is into decoder manufacturing, said the only cost difference on the assembly line, is a couple of bucks more of componants over non sound decoders. The price is simply based on supply and demand.

I am in need of a pair of number boards for a Spectrum DD40AX. The original owner lost them! I am in the middle of a DC/DCC conversion and started the cosmetics and found the number boards missing. Any body out there got a junker they can rob. I'll be glad to pay for them. I also need a complete set of handrails for a DD40 Athearn. No luck finding either, online yet. Sounds like I got the DD40 blues, don't it?

I am putting dual decoders in a Spectrum DDA40X dual motor unit, at the recommendations of several "experts" and have got 1 question, due to "they" say 2 motors would overload 1 decoder. How do I check the synchronization? It has always been an issue in a consist, but this was easy to check in that situation. This unit will have a straight no-sound decoder and the other is a sound decoder and will probably be a major mis-match!

Need help! I have got a permanant ink printer and some Walthers decal paper. I have tried from draft to high color settings and get terrible copies. What's the trick?

Bach Man, was the last DD40 Bachmann made, which was in Spectrum, a better quality built DD40 than the older versions, which were just regular Bachmann's? Like better motors, drive train, etc, or was it just the same technology in a different box?

Hey Bachman,
I am trying to find out  how smooth a runner was the referenced DD40AX. I understand this special Centennial unit had dual flywheels, which should make it smoother than a flywheeless dual motor unit. I have an old Aethern DD40 flywheeless dual motor unit I converted to DCC with sound and the gears makes about as much noise as the decoder! Will it be worth my time converting this one, or is gear noise just a fact of life with these DD40s?

Are there any smooth running diesels as large or larger than the old DD40 that Athearn used to make, although it wasn't a smooth runner. I have looked at several DD40s and own one, which I had converted  to DCC with a sound chip in it. But a sound chip is about a waste of money in these relics, as the gear noises drown out the chip sounds!

I have been trying to find a drawing of the referenced train that I seen on the net years ago. I saved it on my PC, but it got destroyed in a house fire. There was never any photos were allowed of it, as Russia tried to cover up this big blunder. They even placed all involved building it under close guard to keep it quite. It was a two story nuclear powered locomotive and dwarfed the "Big Boy"! It made it about 100 feet out of its shop, where it was built, and had a nuclear melt down. It melted the permafrost beneath it, sunk between the rails and disappeared. Any help finding this info would be appreciated.

1-Is the contoller in this set the same as the one without the train?
2-How many DCC trains will it control?
3-Does it have the IO port?
4-Does it have on track programming capabilities?

I am just curious. I am a model railroader and retired. My dad worked for the railroad his entire life. Maybe I just didn't get to town enough, but we were the first ones to have TV in our backwoods community, but I have never seen any real life trains and box cars with all that advertising on them!. Was there ever a John Deere, Segram 7, Crown Royal, Dale Earnhardt, Harley Davidson, etc. trains, box cars and cabooses? You can get these model trains and cars with everything from shirts to applebutter  advertised on them. Just thought I'd ask. If this has been going on all this time, downtown, could some one let me know?

How important is it to consist according to consisting rules? I have (2) F7 units that I just assigned the same number to and they do fine. I checked the individual speeds on them and they matched perfect. Do I need to use the MU programming mode, or is my way just as good?