Thanks Woody, I could always build it as an old rotted out hulk near the tracks.  P.M.

Sheldon, I agree 100% with what you say regarding future B.L.I & P.C.M. releases, they have spent a fortune on fancy catalogs showing products that are years away from actually existing,  their projected release dates are dreams at best, most products arrive a year or two after the forcast dates yet they continue to advertise more and more new projects. now they have suceeded in alianating their dealers by selling direct at lower prices then the dealers can afford to, and they want us to preorder, I've had a P.C.M. loco "preordered" for almost 2 years now, only to see the projected date keep being pushed back. At this rate they'll be lucky to have the stuff that they've announced so far out by 2012!
They make a great product, but what good is it if they can't deliver?
     P.M.

I picked up 4 of the Model Power ones up at a yard sale last year for $15 and body mounted Kadee couplers with no problem, I also have one of the old Ambroid kits that has not been built (it's actually a Northeastern but it's the same kit), how hard a kit is it? one of these years I might work up the courage to start it. P.M.

hey, I had the same problem with long work hours et al but now the company I worked for is out of business (incompetent management) so I have plenty of time, but of coarse no extra cash for brass locos or Les Paul guitars and the like. In looking at your company's web site I'm wondering do you manufacture in this country or subcontract out offshore? P.M.

I have one of those old Crown cars, always wondered what became of em. What do you mean  by Horizon Hobbies policies? I know that they don't sell through any other wholesalers, a guy from  Walther's told me that they tried to negotiate with them but they wouldn't budge. Quite some years back a hobby dealer told me that a big part of Athearn's production was sold, undecorated, to aftermarket decorators such as Bev Bel et al and I've wondered if they still do that. Thanks, P.M.

Hey, thanks, I'm gonna try that later today.  P.M.

I followed these instructions EXACTLY and my loco won't run (it ran fine before on straight DC) I think my decoder might be bad.

yea, but they were right across the street from each other, the guys ran an ad together that said they had some RR stuff and that's why I went, the Kustom amp was at the same one that had the mags, I've now read allmost every word in those magazines, it's amazing how fast I can go through em.   P.M.

I went to a couple of yard (junk) sales yesterday and here's what I found:

Bachmann Orient Express set, the loco was in ok shape as were the passenger cars but over all the rest of it was pretty rough, I didn't go for it as the price, at $90, seemed too far from what I would be willing to pay ($20, for somethihg that I didn't need) to have come to any meeting of the minds.

a pile of 42 Model Railroader mags from the 40s and 50s, all in good shape, I bought them all (of coarse) for $30 (apx $.72 each) I love looking through these things, but it's funny seeing articles about prototype steam locos that say what they ARE used for, instead of what they WERE used for.

a perfect condition, and working, Kustom 250 bass head from around 1973,  that's my other hobby (paid $15 for that one)

Yes, something along the lines of the old Varney (now Bowser) "Casey Jones" is definately needed. The Bachmann ten wheeler is an excellent loco but it is a very old and small prototype. Most railroads  used larger ten wheelers as medium sized passenger locos and some used them for freight and milk train  use.  P.M.

My switches are a mix of Atlas and Peco code 100, and all are remote controled, ( I am slowly replacing the Atlas ones with Pecos) although I operate by DCC all the switches are controlled the old way, the reason I haven't gone to DCC control is that my layout is small enough that I'm  usually close enough to reach the buttons which are bunched up in two central locations, I tried having them located along the edge of the layout but didn't like it (one problem was that when I had to lean over to reach a derailed train on the far side of the layout I often bumped the button, throwing the switch) at some point I'll probably switch to DCC control of the switches (I have several stationary decoders for this purpose) but I've got  a lot of other projects to get done first.  P.M.

Nigel, no  did not, and I will this afternoon. I didn't think that was the problem since the rear light works fine without one, but it could be. Thanks.  P.M.

I recently put a decoder into a P2K 0-8-0. everything works fine EXCEPT for the front headlight (yes I did change both the front and rear bulbs over to leds) the rear one works fine but not the front one (yes, I've tried a couple different leds on the chance that the first one was defective, with no luck) this is a plugin decoder, so there's not much chance that it's wired wrong (I've tried a couple different decoders, each one works the same in this loco and works fine in others). Anyone have any ideas what's wrong? THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS. Thanks in advance.  P.M.

How is the color on the Athearn cars? The Athearn F 9s that they sold for years had the wrong color green (almost a teal).  P.M.

I have two of these and one pacific, the first one is from the very first batch and has worked flawlessly since I got it several years ago, the other developed the split gear syndrome soon after I got it. I contacted Athearn and they told me to send it back and they would fix it, which they did, however, now the headlight does not work.. The pacific seems to have caught the split gear disease and when I called Athearn they told me to E-Mail them and they would send me the wheelset with a new gear attached  and instructions as to how to change it.
As far as how strong a puller it is, it seems about average for a plastic steam loco of it's size, it's definately more powerful then a Spectrum Consi or S Y Mike, a little less so then an IHC Mountain.
The Oriental Powerhouse Mike mentioned in one of the replys was actually manufactured by the same Korean company that did the Athearn one (Samghongsa) but it is totally different, and is a little more powerful a puller, it dosn't run any better, and does not have an opperating headlight, I have one and I was very dissapointed with it.
Another option worth checking out would be the IHC Mike, which, while not as well detailed as the others, was very reasonably priced and is an excellent runner. I don't know if they currently catalog this loco, but I'm sure their still around as they made them by the zillions.   P.M.