I AM IN THE PLANNING STAGES OF A BACHMANN HO ACELA EXPRESS LAYOUT. I NEED TO KNOW IF THE STARTER SET LOCOMOTIVE GOES IN REVERSE AUTOMATICALLY. ALSO WHAT IS THE MINIMUM DIAMETER OF A CIRCLE. LASTLY WHEN PLANNING INCLINES ANY ADVICE?
AT,
Trainset (locomotive) does not go into reverse automatically. It operates like a regular DC locomotive. There is a DCC version now on the market.
The set is rated for 22" radius (44" diameter) curves. However, speaking from experience, I would recommend using a minimum of 24" radius curves. The cars are lllloooonnnngggg.
The locomotive requires more voltage than other locomotives. Seems that way to me. I would stick to one or two percent grades at the most--especially if you buy extra cars to make a complete consist (I did). I believe the train would slow to a stall if the grades were any steeper. That's merely an opinion. My mainline grades are 1%. The train operates fine on that. I have no experience with steep grades using this train.
Regards,
Jonathan