Thanks.  I will call.  These trucks are well done.  The are very close to 5-foot 1860s and maybe 1850s passenger trucks.  I found some with a 13-foot wheelbase, but they are too long.

Dear Bach-Man,

Couple questions about the trucks on the N-scale Old Timer coaches and combines in the Royal Blue or Prairie Flyer sets. 

Do you know what real trucks they are based on?  Do they come without couplers or with short coupler pockets?  Can I order them from your parts store?

Thanks for keeping us "old timers" informed.  This 4-4-0 is nice looking but needed an upgrade.  I have read a suggestion for Bachmann to bring it up to Spectrum standards.  And by the way, the B&O William Mason dates back to the 1850s -- Bachmann's 4-4-0 is not a bad match.  We are still researching the colors.

Have you sent your review to Mark at the N-Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia?  (http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/bach440a.html)

Tried to post a 40kb picture (under Additional Options...) and got:

"An Error Has Occurred! The upload folder is full. Please try a smaller file and/or contact an administrator."

How do I contact an Administrator?

Nothing like the Dewitt Clinton or John Bull available in N scale.  Minitrix used to make an N-scale set called "der Adler" (The Eagle); built in England but ran in Germany 1830s.  Hard to find and expensive ($300+; check Amazon or eBay).

I will try to post pictures later.

Welcome to the mid 1800s -- or as my wife and I call it, "The Twilight Zone".

We are modeling the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in western Maryland in the 1850s.  There is virtually nothing commercially available.  Before you sell all your stuff, hang around some of the N-scale forums (here, Trainboard, and Atlasrr, for example).  We have some research that will help you.

In many cases you can find something that is close, modify it a little, and paint it to look like mid 1800s.  We have several Bachmann 4-4-0s and they are pretty close to what was used in the 1850s.

The B&O museum in Baltimore has some cool old stuff -- from 1827 on.  We went there years ago but did not take nearly enough pictures.  We are planning another trip.