I would love to see that motor as a seperate part.

Please contact me off list, I may have the parts you seek.

daniel_leavitt2004@yahoo.com

I will be picking one up at the Springfield show. Looks like I will have to toss my old Life-Like vans. I really like the fact that they tooled up an Andrews caboose truck, which has never been done before. They used the wrong wheels - 36" instead of the correct 33" sets, but these can be swapped out with older Bachmann or Con-Cor metal wheels that seem to pile up everywhere. The thin treaded Con-Cor wheels look especially nice on the car.

I'm still trying to figure out why this wasn't sold as a Spectrum. Its as good as anything Atlas or Micro-Trains puts out. Maybe not quite as nice as the Athearn bay window, but its literally half the price.

Hi everyone,
Last year The Bachmann, along with the friendly folks at Athearn, Atlas, BLMA, and Micro-Trains assisted with a project I have been working on for well over a year. The project was to catalog all freight car trucks currently available in N scale. While I was hoping to publish this in a magazine, the project took on a life of its own, and I decided to seek the assistance of Mark "Spookshow" Peterson, who is responsible for the N Scale Loco Encyclopedia.

Mark took my info, added a TON of his own and posted it to his website.
http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/trucks/trucks.php

We are still adding info, and the layout of the directory may change, but we now have a comprehensive list of all trucks made in N scale.

Check it out. If you have any suggestions, ideas or any info you would like to include, please e-mail me at daniel_leavitt2004@yahoo.com. I would like to thank everyone who assisted with this project.

Man, that old SD40-2 was a dog. I mean, it was probably one of worst engines Bachmann ut out in the dark days. It would be nice if they introduced a totally new SD40-2, especially the mid phase that Kato has neglected. I could use several Conrail units.

Coupler height has always been an issue when manufacturers switch to knuckle style couplers. When Kato first introduced their dumby couplers, they sat about as low as the Bachmann ones do. Their issue was that they built their engines to accept a Micro-Trains 2004 coupler box, and not the standard height 1015. When they designed the coupler, it was made to work in a 1015 mounting height. The result was a coupler that sat very low.

The easiest way to convert the engine to standard height is to use a Micro Trains 2002 or 2004 coupler kit. The couplers will be at the correct height. I also believe that the newer Bachmann operating couplers mount slightly higher than the old dumby couplers.

I have been looking at the first high resolution photos of the GP7 and Canadian grain car and I am really impressed. I will be looking at picking a few up items at the Springfield show and these will be on my list.

Should we expect to see other cars and engines recently anounced in HO as N scale models in the next year (GP9, RS3 etc.)

I am rebuilding a standard like USRA 0-6-0 into one used by the Maine Central. I purchased a Spectrum short USRA tender to improve thectrical pick-up over the standard tender. I was a little disapointed the drwbars are not compatable. It would be great if Bachmann offered a drawbar to adapt the Spectrum tenders to fit with the standard line locos.

Most flex track will curve right down to 9 inches. I would reccomend using 19" as a bare minimum for such a large engine.

Bachmann,
I tried getting ahold of you via e-mail, but didn't get a reply. Any word on when the truck samples should be here?
Thanks,
Dan

It was 1* when I left at 8:30 from Framingham. The wind chill was pegged at -20* This is actually a little better then last year when the temp was around 0.

The Mallary building was expanded to the main hall which added several thousand square feet of space (I think 10-15k additional). All the buildings were just as crowded as last year even with the large expansion.

I had the opportunity to attend the National Train Show in July. The Springfield show is literally 4-5 TIMES the size. Its a bit awe inspiring. With the increased crowds and larger floor space, it is no longer possible to visit everything in one day. I got there at just after 10AM and left after 5PM. I still missed half the vendors and layouts.

This must be the largest train show in America at this point. Now if only we can get Bachmann to make some new announcements at the show.

Again, this is the recommended radius. They will go tighter, mine does 15 unmodified, but you will need to make minor adjustments to the diaphragms to clear a 12" curve.

Like any passenger train, they look ridiculous on anything smaller then 15"

Hey there,
I may be able to help. I've had several conversations with a few Bachmann reps in the last year. The new couplers will be here soon. They will first appear on the 40' flat with load and the next run of 44 tonners (that is second hand info though). Looking at the Farish pic, I would say these look like the McHenry couplers Athearn is using.

I am in process of writting an article for N-Scale Magazine covering various couplers and freight trucks. When I get my samples of the new coupler I will post high-res pictures here along with an in depth review.

I am curious, the Business Class Car (part #89973)  has been unavailable for some time. There is one included with the set, but the prototype has several. The End Business Class and End First Class are still available. I would like to add a new train, but have not been able to find this car.

There are some modifications you can do to improve performance. Start by replacing the wheels of the cars with wheel sets from Kato's passenger cars. These are available from their website, katousa.com. These wheels track better then the Bachmann ones and they roll better, which should improve your pulling capability.

I had a problem with the traction tire equipped wheels torque the trucks and causing derailments on the cafe. I ended up putting the traction tire equipped wheels on the same axle and mounted that in one of the trucks towards the center of the body.

I also filed a bit of material from the chin spoiler on both end units so they wouldn't catch on track joints.

They may need a little TLC, but the Bachmann Acela is a VERY nice set. This was the first named passenger train available in its entirety in N, and with current prices (under $200 for the DCC equipped starter set with track and power pack), Its worth a few fixes to get right.