Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Buzz:
I  think you're right about the sawmill.  Should probably just concentrate on it and the town.  I wasn't planning on it being incredibly huge, just a small simplified operation.  Haven't done much research on this yet.

Jonathan:
Haha.  I could do that.  Not sure it would fit in my grand scheme though.

Blink_182_Fan:
The only reason I chose to use 18"R was simply due to conserving space.  Currently, I don't plan to run anything larger than what I have now.  Obviously the longer equipment does look funny on the tight radius, but as I mentioned, I limited its use to areas than will be hidden from view once the scenery is complete.

ABC:
Not certain on this, but I think you may have that backward.  I do have documentation they they pulled the "Texas Chief" in the early '70's in Amtrak service.  I took some artistic license and have them pulling some Santa Fe streamliners.  I'm not a stickler for 100% prototype accuracy.

Here are some of my other projects.




These are some Athearn F7 SF Yellowbonnets I painted, decaled, and detailed.  Inspired from an article in the June 1999 issue of MR.


These are some Proto 2000 SD7's I painted, decaled, and detailed for my fictitious railroad.


This is a Walthers 90' Turntable I modified with scratchbuilt trusses and powerarch to resembled a prototype used by the Santa Fe.  Loosely followed from an article and plans in a late-80's issue of MR.


A Bachmann 2-6-6-2 that I shortened the tender by 1/2" to fit on the turntable.


A Bachmann Shay with Bachmann flatcar, Kadee disconnect log cars, and Kadee logging caboose.


A Bachmann Decapod with Roundhouse Overton cars.

All locos are running sound decoders.

Thought I'd share my layout with everyone.  Model trains is just one of my many hobbies, like most of you I'm sure, and this has been an on/off project over the last 4 years or so.  It's a 10 ft. x 11 ft. point-to-point plan around 2-1/2 walls of my spare bedroom.  It also has a loop that passes underneath should I want to sit back and watch trains run.  The layout will be primarily logging and coal operations with some passenger and other freight traffic mixed in.  The layout is built in four sections.  I built benchwork and laid track for sections 1 and 2 in '06 in my parents garage.  Messed with it here and there over the next few years making some minor changes to the track plan and upgrading to DCC with an NCE Powercab.  In '09 I moved into my own house and decided to dedicate one of the bedrooms to my train/hobby room.  Once I figured out how big the room was I began designing the remaining layout sections and making modifications to the existing sections before setting them up.  In April of this year I began constructing section 3 and 4 and was able to get them setup and track laid last month.  Curves range from 18"-26"R with the broader curves in visible areas.  Turnouts are Atlas, #6 on the mainline and a few #4 turnouts on sidings, all operated with ground throws.  Track is also Atlas, all code 83.  I have been doing a lot of testing and tweaking before going on with anything else.  The end loops are an 18"R and the current plan is for them to be hidden under the scenery, hence all the testing.  Once I'm satisfied with the trackwork it will be painted and ballasted, then on to forming the terrain, which will be constructed of extruded foam sheets.


Track Plan


Section 1 - Engine service facility


Section 2 - Powerplant, river, and part of a town


Section 3 - Will have a logging camp and coal mine.  Awaiting foam sheets to finish laying track.


Section 4 - Will have rest of the town, a sawmill, and possibly some other industry.

I had about 2 hrs total run time on it when I posted this question.  I've run it a little just about every night since and it seems the more I run it the better it gets.  Guess everything is still wearing in.

I am in agreement with ABC.  At this point I don't think anything is particularly wrong with the loco, just that its being taxed to its limits by the combination of the curve and the grade of my layout.  I'll just have to work around it.  I was just concerned that something could be wrong or this is a common problem.

Thanks everyone.

By "stall out" I would mean the motor would stop turning.  My loco doesn't stall, the drivers don't slip, it just slows to a crawl when climbing a grade.  I can shine a flashlight and see the drive belt slowly turning and obviously the train still moves.  I'm just unsure of the reason it does this since none of my other locos seem to experience this problem.

This problem sounds nearly identical to the one I'm having with a Decapod in my thread in the HO forum.

As far as returning the loco to Bachmann, I didn't want to until I was sure the problem was with the loco itself and not a problem with something on my end or something I could fix easily myself.  No sense returning a perfectly good loco.

I did try to do some research on the minimum radius before ordering, but didn't find anything definitive.  I liked the loco and decided to take the gamble whether it would work.  As I mentioned previously, it negotiates a level 18"R curve, but throwing a grade into the mix is just too much.

No, the drivers aren't slipping.  The loco just slows down almost to a stop once it starts up the grade, but doesn't ever completely stop and stall out.  This would be running at approx. half throttle.  If I advance the throttle higher, it will maintain some speed up the grade.  Now if the throttle is anything less than half it will stop and stall out.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the replies.

I thought the same thing about a gear slipping on the shaft, but did some disassembly and determined this not to be the problem.

I think the binding is the most logically explaination of the problem.  If I can't come up with a solution I'll just relegate it to duties on other areas of the layout. Although, the loco will make it up the grade on it's own, I have to advance the throttle to near full to make it.  This is really the basis if my concern since I don't have to do this with my other locos.  I didn't want to burn up the motor or damage other components. My other locos are a 2-6-6-2, a Shay, two P2k SD7's, and an A-B-A consist of Athearn F7's.   

Hello all,

My name is Thomas.  I've been playing with trains since I was about 3 years old, I'm now 26.  I've built several small layouts over the years, but was never able to finish any of them for one reason or another.  Several years ago, I started designing a new layout that incorporated features my previous layouts lacked such as larger radius curves, #6 turnouts and an engine service facility.  I then built the two main sections of my design in my parents garage.  A couple years ago, I moved out of my parents into my own house and recently setup my existing sections in a spare bedroom and finished designing and built the remaining sections of the layout.  Anyways, I'll post details and photos of my layout at a later date.

For my question, I recently purchased a 2-10-0 Russian Decapod w/DCC & sound (Item # 84301).  It seems to be underpowered and I'm not sure if it might be a defect or something simple that I could fix myself.  Whether free running or pulling a load, it has difficultly climbing a grade.  My grades are on the steep side at about 4% and it doesn't help they are on the tightest curves on the layout (18"R, will be hidden later), but none of my other locos have problems negotiating these areas.  The small radius doesn't seem to be the problem as it make it through the same radius on level areas of the layout.  I'm fairly new to running steamers and their troubleshooting methods.  Is it possible that any binding from the long wheelbase combined with the grade could be the problem?  Can anyone offer some suggestions I could try to alleviate this issue?  For reference, I'm using a NCE Powercab for control.

Thanks.