Good Morning Mr. B,


      Is there any chance that when an HO scale engine is produced,  extra parts such as pilot wheels,  tender loads,  stacks,  etc would be offered as in the On30 line?

Jonathan,

    Shouldn't the Q class mike have a Vanderbuilt style tender?   And I agree,  with at least two other manufactures offering flex track at about half the price proposed,  I ask Bachmann,  what makes your track worth that much money,  and why not code 83?  With respect......

Hunt,   thanks for your assistance.

Hunt,

     It is now 11:30pm Sunday night,  and I just saw Roger's reply.   His is helpful,   but I was wondering if there was a site that might say the different radii in general.   If Walthers makes a #8 curved turnout and Peco makes a #8 curved turnout,  would they both be the same radii?    I know that there can be a difference between straight turnouts from different manufacturers and sometimes the nomenclature is different,  especially with Peco.

Artful,

      You might be interested to know that the H10 announcement was well received until they showed the tender.   In my store almost 50% of the original orders were cancelled once the second run announcement was made with the low sides that most envisioned.   Those cancelled orders were then placed again for the second run.

Good Morning All,

     Any idea when the new billboard milk reefers,  Rampo Valley in particular will be available?

Hunt,

     Is there a place online that I can go to in reference to curved turnouts and their radii?

Good Morning all,

     I have never had much luck with larger engines like a 4-8-4 on any turnout smaller than a #6 unless it was articulated.

Good Morning All,

       I have to admit that I did not see all the new product announcements from all the manufactures at the National Train Show,  but I did see the Bachmann announcements.   As others have said, I am a bit disappointed by the lack of anything new in the On30 line.   Fortunately,  I have enough On30 equipment to keep me happy,  but,  new things seem to spur me on to the work needed on my On30 railroad.
        In the HO line,  I am thrilled to see a 2-8-4 available with sound and dcc.  I think the selection of NKP,  C&O,  and PM is nice,  but......would have loved to see a painted,  undec,  or NKP in service version.   Looks like I will have to break out the black paint and one of my really fine pointed paint brushes to get rid of the white tires.
        It was also nice to see the N scale announcements of the SD45 and the 2-8-4.   They will be nice additions to the already nice selection that Bachmann offers.
        There is one thought,  though it is not just aimed at Bachmann,  and that is choice of releases.   You will notice that I did not mention the HO 2-8-2.    I cannot understand why the past two or three years,  manufactures are announcing either huge steam engines,  such as 4-8-4,  2-10-2 etc  engines that are already offered by two or more manufactures,  or engines that only one railroad would have had such as the Pennsy S2 and the Pennsy only had 1.
         I keep waiting to see if anyone will do a Pennsy L-1 Mikado.    I have heard that there is one manufacture who says it is on the planning board.   I am sure that the first one out there will be a huge success.  I realize that the L-1 was a Pennsy engine but since it seems to be the one engine not offered in a Pennsy line it would logical to make the engine along with some sort of 0-6-0 switch with a slope back tender.    Let me also say,  I am not a Pennsy fan per say,  but working a train store,  the L-1 is a constant source of discussion.
         The last thing I want to share is cost.   There seems to be an alarming rise in prices of the past couple of years.    If it were not for the fact that I work at the store,   I would be shut out of the market place as I am on fixed income.  That is another fact that I see at the store.   Fortunately for us,  many of our customers are well established model railroaders,  but even they are really feeling the pinch.
        Again,  to Bachmann,  thank you for the announcements for next year.   I trust all will run with the same quality as release over the past several years.    Now,  let's see,  is there room under the coaling dock for the Berk?

Good evening all,

      If memory serves me and lately it has been a bit AWOL....Bachmann announcements come out of the big show in Chicago and I thought that was in July sometime.   Correct me if I am mistaken.

Good Morning All,

       My On30 railroad is really a poor man's On3 pike.   I do not run any critters or smaller cars.   99% of my engines and rolling stock are from Bachmann.   For many years I had suggested an EBT mike or,  realistically,  the EBT caboose.   The year after the two bay hopper appeared in On30,  Bachmann offered the large scale version of the hopper.   My hope was aroused thinking that if you could go larger in scale,  why not step down to On30 with the caboose since the large scale caboose was almost dead on for the EBT caboose.   Well that did not happen,  but another manufacture offers the EBT caboose in a laser cut wood kt.   As for a new engine,   I still suggest the EBT Mike.   But for me,  I am glad and satisfied with what I have now because of one main reason.   As much as LOVE the Bachmann On30 equipment,  the new price structure has priced me out of their market and that is very sad.

Good Morning all,

      I do not get on this board much anymore and am shocked and VERY sorry to hear about Jim's passing.
As many of you have said,  he was always gracious and willing to share his knowledge.   Rest in peace Jim.

Thank you for posting pictures of your railroad.   It looks like a lot of hard work has gone into it.   There is one thing I would like to point out.  In one of the first two or three pix,  it appears wherever a nail has been put through a tie and driven into the sub roadbed,  the ties appear to be flexed down.   Be careful.   When a nail is driven in too far and the tie flexes downward,  you run the risk of drawing the rails toward each other,  thus putting the track out of gauge.  But again,  loved the pix.   Would love to see more.

Good Evening All,

   Now I have been known to read things and miss information,  so if I missed the following,  forgive me.   One factor that is usually not discussed when talking about grades and pulling power is the rolling stock.  How well does it roll?   If you have cars that roll like a track cleaning car,  then good luck.   But a 2.5% grade,  while not the best,  should not be overwhelming.  Also,  the mention of more wheels,  on steam engines,  might be preferential, is not always true.   On my On30 railroad,  m
y Bachmann 2-6-6-2 does not pull anywhere near what my 2-8-0 and 4-6-0s pull.

Good Evening,

     Good luck finding the colors.   It seems as if every time some manufacturer brings out a Reading engine or caboose in the G&Y scheme there is always someone who claims the colors are not correct.  You might try contacting Bowser to see if they can tell you what paint is used,  remembering that the engines are manufactured in China.   The Bowser C420 and the Bachmann GP30 are two of the most appreciated engines for color on the market today,  although I am not sure of the Reading GP30's availability.