Bachmann Online Forum

Just purchased a Bachmann Brill Trolley at the Timonium, MD Train Show
to find that it has a newer can motor powered underframe. It runs very
well, and quiet. Is this can motored truck also available is the newest release of Bachmann's PCC Trolley??

                                                                                            Ducky01

Dear Duck,
Yes, I believe so.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

I'm glad to hear about the up scale motor on the Brill. 

One question I would like to ask at large.  Has anyone ever incorporated a trolly line on their HO scale city streets?  I'm wanting to make a large loop around my downtown area, but I want it to follow the city streets and make a 90 degree turn at the intersections.  I figure it would have to be quite sharp, around a 5" to 7" turn radius.  I know the Brill can negotiate 15" radius track, but considering its' short wheel base, could it negotiate a 5 or 7 inch turn?

Thanks for any input,
Bill

I have three trolley loops on my layout. The two outside loops (18" and 15"
Radius) are powered by live overhead wire. (Bowser Overhead Wire Kit)
The inside loop follows the roadway and turns around via an eight inch
loop in the street. Most of my Bachmann HO PCC Trolleys's have been
remotored using Bowser's new can motor and underframe kit that has
been further modified so it will traverse the 8" loop without problems. The
Christmas Trolley I just purchased runs fine over the 18" & 15" radius but
derails on the 8" Loop, do to the fact that the truck sides hit the body shell
as it turns sharply. This car will most likely be remotored and it's original
geared truck used to repower one of my kitbash projects.

Ducky,

Thanks for the information.  That will give me something to plan for. My town will be going through a major urban renewal this coming summer and I'll make sure I have enough room at my intersections.

I like your idea of overhead power, but I have a tendency to wreck havoc with my overhead telephone lines, so I'll use track power with a seperate block.

Thanks again,
Bill

Duck,

Is that 8" radius? And I thought my curves were sharp!

Prototype trolleys could go around some impressively sharp curves.  IIRC, the Pittsburgh system had some curves as sharp as 35 foot radius, which is about 5" in HO.  Note that there is, or was, some ready-made trolley trackage (rails set into plastic street sections) available.  Check Walthers catalog. 

EBNUT,

Thanks for the tip.  I checked the Wallther's catalog and sure enough there is a Street Track Insert Set offered through their Cornerstone Series.  The smallest radius they provide is 15 inches.  Unfortunately they no longer have it in stock.  So, I guess I'm back to square one. I don't have the room for a 15" radius turn in my downtown area.  Thanks agin though.

Bill

Though this topic is a few months old, it is the starting point for some questions I have. I'm building a set of modules representing part of an old industrial city for a modular club HO layout on which I want to run a trolley line. 



1. I see from the earlier discussion on this topic that the newest release of the Bachmann Brill trolley has a better (can) motor than earlier versions. When ordering from a store, especially on-line, is there a way to tell whether they have the newer or the earlier version for sale? Is there a clue like a catalog number, for example?



2. I'm considering getting the set with the automatic reversing track. I'd like to know what are the entire contents of the set. (Since I would be using regular HO flex track to embed into the city streets, If the set comes with EZ Track, I could add that to the set my kids have.) Is there a way to set up the automatic reversing track to allow for intermediate stops?

By the way, this is my first post. How do you format these posts to have paragraph breaks?

Thanks.

Try going here for some real good trolley info.
http://www.trolleyville.com/trolleyville.shtml (http://www.trolleyville.com/trolleyville.shtml)

Another source of information can be found at http://www.eastpenn.org/ (http://www.eastpenn.org/).  They offer modular club standards for traction layouts, including tips and advice on constructing overhead wire, street trackage, etc.

Paul F.