Fred- It took just under 2 weeks from placing my order to receiving the Annual. I was pleasantly surprised considering some of the more recent issues have been summertime arrivals.
Mark B.

Got mine today. Nice issue.

John, that's something I'm going to try.

Mark B.

Has anyone found a method to remove the graphics from the Bachmann cars? I am referring to items such as the passenger cars with the fantasy paint schemes depicting scenes with wolves, wildlife etc. I've tried sanding them off and that paint does not want to come off. Has anyone come across a solvent that might soften the paint enough to enable it to be scrubbed off? It doesn't matter to me if the base coat of paint comes off with the graphics as long as the plastic doesn't melt.

Mark B.

John

When you get the roof off you may want to file back the tabs or enlarge the slots they go into.
This makes it easier when you want to remove the roof again for further tweaking. I just did one of the baggage cars converting it into a MOW supply car. Added doors and windows and probably had the roof off and on 4 or 5 times and finally it hit me to modify the tabs.
The plastic side walls are fairly flexible but nothing broke. Have fun....

Mark B.

I use a small screwdriver. Wedge the blade between the roof and the side near the end of the car. Pry the screwdriver upwards to force the side away from the edge of the roof. Keeping the side pried away use a screwdriver with a slightly larger blade I insert that into the opening, give it a slight twist and the tab holding the two pieces together should give you an opening. Work your way down the side of the car and the roof should loosen on the side you've been working on. The opposite should let loose with a bit of wiggling or you can repeat procedure.
The roof is held on with slotted tabs so you are trying to get the side walls away from the roofline as best as possible. When reinstalling roof just try to flex the walls outward a bit and press down roof. It may require a bit of force, just make sure you are dead on for alignment of tabs and slots.

Others may have better methods but this works for me.

Mark B.

I like the idea of a shorty type RPO or RPO/baggage/and maybe passenger type combine.
Wood sided hoppers would be very welcome. I've blended some S scale ones into my fleet and they seem to fit very well, but still would like to see some produced in On30. How about some outside braced box cars? I also recently saw a picture of an outside braced caboose that was equipped with a side door. Very cool.
How about a bay window accessory piece that could just be added to sides of some of my logging cabooses?

Mark B.

Any further news on the 18 footers?

Mark B

Thanks for the update

Mark B

Any word on the 18 footers?

Mark B.

Mr Bach Man-

Can you give us any idea of when we can expect a shipment of the On30 18 foot freight cars?
I would really like some of the flat cars, tank cars, and both high and low side gondolas. The only item I found in stock was at Micro Mark and they had 1 of the box car sets. All the rest are out of stock. The last time I had a bunch of them on back order at MM but they did not have enough to fill all of the back orders. Please produce enough to supply the demand.

Mark B.

If indeed there are no new items, does anyone else also feel let down?
The next time the Bachmann says "anticipate..." I'm going to....... (fill in the blank).
How about it Mr Bachmann. What if any new On30 items do you have for us this year?
Are we not looking in the right place for the On30 listings or is there just nothing to list?

Mark B

The only On30 items I saw on the Model Railroader "New Products" site was for 2 unlettered (data only) box cars. One was boxcar red, the other was mineral red.
Is that all there is for On30 from Bachmann for the year?

Mark

I found some at The Favorite Spot. About the same price as Micro Mark. They arrived about 5 days after ordering and are on the layout awaiting weathering and some lettering. Looking forward to getting a few more.

Mr B'mann. Any updates as to when we might expect some 18 footers, especially box cars?