Yep, NS heritage units are still on the list of releases, hopefully will be up for grabs in early December

I got 200 pieces of rolling stock probably, collecting sense I was 12 probably, but only about 120 have metal wheels and knuckle couplers. this is a ruff estimate but believe it or not... the 120 part is near spot on. I'm 17 now with a job. If your truly dedicated and its your main hobby, its easy. my other one is drag racing and I buy a $20 shirt 1-3 times a year. Just giving a ruff idea of how people get so many trains. 

Looks like that door is gonna be a hassle. Did you build that straight section to be able to lift, or at least is the door pulled away/pushed away from the tracks instead of going towards them? Might be an idea to consider building that kind of lift for that specific area if you ever plan on using the door, even if its gonna be a year or 2 down the line till you open it. It'll save everyone's back some bending that isn't needed.

I don't mind if they're released till the fall/ winter of 2013, gives a teen like me time to save up $1,000-$1,500 to buy most, if not all of the first 10 heritage units when they come out!   

At least it wasn't a big boy (4-8-8-4) and a challenger (4-6-6-4)   

then again... that would be interesting, just extreme overkill

Shawn, that's  my situation. 7 years younger but 7 inches taller!    but back on subject, siblings can lead to all kinds of episodes! Just to throw ideas off my head... older engine looking out for the younger one and the engines tease them (they don't mean to hurt their feelings), the bigger engine is over protective, the smaller engine wants to do big things on its own, the big engine thinks that he doesn't need help from the smaller sibling but then learns that the younger sibling can help... and finally the classic "I Don't need to listen to you because your bigger/older." Don't be silly Billy would be an example of an episode like this, but change it around a bit and it can be a totally new episode. You can have 2 new toys for every series, a set or 2, and possibly a 30 minute special episode!

More twins? Oh boy... when do the triplets come? 

No, but seriously, why can't they have a brother-Sister duo? That would make sense, right? The older and bigger brother looks out for the younger and littler sister. Kids can relate to that more than twins, and I'm not saying twins don't exist, just saying they really don't need 3-5 pairs running around the railroad. I don't run the show, so all I can do is throw in my opinion.

KITBASHING: Half the fun of model railroading 

I know this isn't a Thomas board, but it sure is close to one, and really should be in the everything Thomas topic, but deep down, i feel like other people have wondered this... if not, hopefully wheels start spinning and you wonder too. Now the question is split into two things. as you may know, the culdee fell railway locomotives are incline locomotives. They never made the TV series but they were in the book series. Now, at a young age, I was introduced to the Thomas railroad series (im talking late 1999 as my earliest memories) and I got a set with Culdee in it along with a few other sets. Now here is where the fun begins. I HAD NO CLUE WHO CULDEE WAS! I never played with him much compared to others, in fact, back then, I played with Stephany and James the most. Getting back on Topic, I always wondered, why does Culdee have a rear face? That made no sense to me! I always thought it was a Dr. Jeckel Mr. Hide type thing. Cathrine i thought was a powered rail coach (Does anyone here even remember that wooden railway item?  ) so on, so forth... I was ignorant to the point it wasn't even funny. Then, I found Lord Harry in die-cast by ertl. That just confused me more. Lastly, about 4 years ago, I found the book series as a narration. Found out Catherine was a coach (a big one too, not like the small 4 wheel wooden model),there was quite a few locomotives, and they all had faces on their backs as well as their fronts!

Now for the fun 2 questions...

1. Why do these locomotives have faces on their backs.

2. Are they a totally separate character like Mighty Mac or are they the same locomotive that is just double faced?

Any info would be great!

Wasn't there a wheel load in James in a mess? (The one where he hits the tar wagons). Sure it was for a wreck, and it was in a troublesome truck, but it would be an interesting add on. I'm getting off topic. How about a proper Thomas and the Christmas tree load? The one where Thomas gets stuck and Donald and Douglas go to rescue him? Then you got a possible car load, looked like a 41 Ford coupe type car. this was from the early days of the series, saw a couple episodes with 2 loaded... but these were very short cameos,so I don't see that happening. the oil drum idea is great, a modeler can probably do 2 coats of black paint to the paint drums and it would do the trick. Would be attractive for kids though too.

I'd have to say either building wooden layouts (I'm talking full room sized ones, not a dinky 10 foot by 10 foot  ) or Day Out With Thomas. Back when the live steamer came to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad was when it was the best. For recent times, probably running an ho scale bachmann Thomas in front of my trains at club open houses. He's always leading a freight train with the help of a bachmann FA-2 and a bachmann S4. Maybe I'll try steam with Thomas at the April open House, That'll make it easier for the kids to decide whats the most popular train running. 

Always competing with a Walthers warbonnet F7A-B-B-A set that a club member brings.... 

Hello, I'm shipping a loco out for a friend to decal it for me, sense im not very good yet. When it comes back, I plan on buying a sound decoder. That is all planned as of right now. What I need help with is making this fine loco heavier. I mean, I put it on the club layout I go to and it pulled not even 15 atlas trainman hoppers up the helix. I want it to match my ATSF 4-8-4 at least (it pulls the 19 i currently own, and usually can pull a total of 20 cars on a good day) Anyone know where i can add weight and how for this loco? First time doing this, so I figured I'd ask, get the materials while the loco is away and get it running by February.

Any help would be great!

I can do 19 atlas trainman hoppers on a 2 percent straight shot, the 2+ percent helix is a different story. I think I was able to do it, but a fair amount of slipping. Haven't ran it with anything too spectacular on the club layout lately. I like teaming my FA-2 up with my S4, wonderful sound combo of the classic Alco growl and a turbo whining. 30 cars no problem, usually keep it at 20 for the shows though  

What i usually do if i want to save a certain topic or picture is copy and paste the URL (www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.ETCjustanexample) and put it in a Microsoft Word document.

Second on the berk! Needs a bit of work. Tried pulling the 19 car coal train im used to with my ATSF 4-8-4, and i had to take off 6 cars just to get it rolling again on the club helix! (3 55 ton and 16 70 ton Atlas trainman hoppers) The 4-8-4s (I've ran the Niagara before) are great locos. I'm sure the war baby will be just as good.