Wait a second, what in the ebay advertising leads you to believe that the 4-4-0 is DCC only?  The description is exactly what Bachmann has on it's website in terms of description and I was under the impression that the Richmond 4-4-0 would run on DC or DCC.  Am I off base on that?  I don't have DCC.  Uh-oh.

Yampa, the claims are true!!  Thefavoritespot will sell you a 4-4-0 at a 'Buy it now' price of $110, and they have multiple loco's up for auction.  I got mine for $69.99 plus $12 shipping.  At present, I see no reason to think that this loco is any different than the one Bachmann is selling direct for $240.

If you go to ebay, search for auction # 370034769751.  That's the one I bought.

If I had more disposable income, a wife who wasn't starting to raise her eyebrows every time the topic of model trains came up, and a bit more space in my current home, I would be saying things to visitors like, "And here is my 'engineerkyle collection'",  which would be prominently on display.

I've bid on several of the past items but have not won one yet.  Bad for me but good for you.  You should be getting top dollar for this stuff.

The Cobblestone Manor looks a lot bigger than 17x7, but I'll take your word for it.

First Attempt

Here are some pics of my first model building attempt.  It’s a Branchline Blueprint Series.  Some thoughts about the experience that I am sure most of you already know but that might be pf some value to a novice like myself that is thinking about trying one.

1)   It took me longer than I thought it would.  I tried to go slowly, follow the directions and be as careful as I could.  Over the course of three nights I think I spent a total of 6 hours on this.  I have nothing to compare that to, but it seems like a long time to me.  That being said, I enjoyed the time I spent on it; the frustrations were more than equaled out by the satisfaction when something went well.
2)   In just this one effort, I’ve gathered all kinds of knowledge that I can apply to the next one that I fully believe will not only increase the quality of the finished product (there’s lots of room for that) but also cut the time it takes way down.
3)   Sometimes we forget that what seem like the most basic tips are so basic because they are undeniably true and essential, they aren’t just throw away one-liners.  ‘Treat others as you would want to be treated.  Use the right tool for the job.  Never start a land war in China.”  We’ve all heard them a thousand times, but they’re all important to remember.  I bought a minimum of equipment to put my model together, but I’ll be buying more for the second one.  Examples:  A) I did not have a precision ‘hobby knife’ for removing pieces from the sprue or trimming little excess pieces of plastic.  I will get one as well as some sort of file.  Instead, I was using a standard issue utility knife.  It was too big and difficult to use.  I broke a couple of pieces because of it and lost time through it’s inefficiency.  B) I was using an old pair of needle nose pliers to help with the very, very small pieces.  Way too big.  I switched to a tweezer the last night and that helped immensely, but my wife wasn’t very happy about it.  I will buy some sort of tweezer or other apparatus to assist.
4)   The glue issue went much better once I pulled my head out of my butt and started dipping the pieces into the glue rather then trying to put the glue in the hole.  My initial approach is so asinine I’m embarrassed to mention it, but maybe someone else will avoid my mistake.
5)   Using a very small drill bit in a pin vice to bore out the very small holes was a very good idea.  I’m glad I thought of it.
6)   The most frustrating moment actually came at the end.  The last instruction on the directions, after all the details are applied, is to attach the completed car to the base.  This was a bad idea.  Having no other techniques to employ, I had to pretty much man-handle the thing to get it together.  In the process, one coupler came off , 4 of the six little iron step thingies got popped off and the brake wheel got all messed up.  I reattached them, but the second gluing didn’t do them any favors.  Next time I will assemble before I put on all the details.
7)   In addition to losing some detailing during final assembly, one of the nuts that were included with the kit and glued to the base for additional weight came undone.  So at the moment I have a completed car with a large nut floating around inside of it.  I’m afraid to try to take the car apart for fear of further damage, so I think I am just going to live with it for at least a little while until it becomes too annoying, which I am certain it will.  The moral of he story is as above, use the right tool.  I used the plastic cement to attach the metal nut to the plastic.  That was sort of dumb I guess.  I will use some kind of super glue next time.  Or, if there are better ways to weight the car, I will try that.  Gluing nuts to the bottom doesn’t feel like the best way to do that.  I’ll research.
   So here it is.  There are some glue issues in places.  There are a couple of pieces that are not 100% straight.  Both break irons(?) broke, one of them was broken when I got it, one I broke with my giant utility knife.  Oh, and there’s a large nut floating free inside of it.  Other than that, I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out for a first try.

Okay, now I am having trouble with the pictures.  I’ll post later if I get it figured out.

It's all academic now anyway.  Thanks to the wonderful ebay tip, I just won an auction for $69.99 plus $12 shipping.

The best price I could find anywhere else was $139, plus unknown shipping.  What a deal!!

I'll let you know how much I can pull with it later.

As the person that started this thread I would just like to point out that my original questions have been answered in full.

That is all.

Parker

I don't get this.  Am I understanding correctly that the review says that the loco has enough pulling power for 34 freight cars, yet drhone, in real world conditions, can only pull 4 Riverossi Coaches?  Am I to assume that a 60' Riverossi coach weighs about the same as 8 or 9 40' freight cars?

What am I missing?

Okay, that pretty much seals it for me.  Thanks for the heads up on the ebay seller, those look like terrific deals.  At that sort of price, you can afford to put in a new decoder if you don't like the one it comes with and still be way ahead.

I am looking for any comments on the Spectrum Richmond 4-4-0 American Modern (items #83401 to #83409) in terms of performance, durability, and general quality.  I am not particularly interested in the historical accuracy or the fine details of the model, to my eye, she looks beautiful.  So if the tender is wrong or the stack is too big, I don't really care.

I'm looking for a steam engine that looks good to me and that will pull 8-10 cars on a flat surface or slight grade and negotiate 18 inch curves.

Does anyone own one?  Are you happy with it?  I've read that the decoder that is installed is of questionable quality.  I see that Bachmann is going to release a new version with sound included, but I also see that the price jump will be significant.  Does anyone have a recommendation of another 4-4-0 manufacturer that you would put above the Spectrum?  Or do you have recommendations of other steam loco's that will negotiate 18 inch curves without too much trouble? 

I don't have DCC yet, but am planning on it in the future and would like to set myself up for an easy conversion, so DCC ready at least is an additional consideration for me.

Thanks for the continued help/information.

Parker

Bob, I'm getting the feeling that I jumped into the deep end of the pool, but now that I am here, I might as well start swimming.  I don't mind of the first few attempts turn out less than stellar, as long as they don't look ridiculous (and I have a pretty high tolerance for ridiculous) and they roll well, then that will be okay by me.  Besides, it might be fun to see the progression of my skills over time, assuming there will be some.



Dave, that sounds like an excellent suggestion.

The Blueprint Series.  I like their 1930's era billboard URTX cars.  I bought some of the RTR versions, but they have a much more extensive collection in the kits, so I decided to build my own.

Hmmm, answers so sensible it makes the question seem foolish.

I took the plunge and bought a Branchline kit the other day along with various tools and other supplies, including some Testors plastic cement that Yampa Bob had suggested (I believe it is #8872, don't have it in front of me).

The cement works just fine, but I am having trouble with the amount that I am getting.  The Testors in question comes with a precision, needle-like applicator, but even when I get what seems to me like the smallest possible drop of liquid to come out, it ends up being too much on the model.  It's fine on the big pieces, but the small ones end up swimming in plastic cement.  Does anyone have any technique tips for me?  Maybe my approach is all wrong.  I've been trying to wipe off the excess glue, but even when that works there is still too much on there, and it's extremely dificult to do given the size of the pieces I am trying to attach.  Many of the pieces are as small and thin as ant legs.  Large ant legs, but ant legs nonetheless.

Any thoughts?

Great stuff, Bob, thank you very much.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any YouTube or similar videos that might be out there that have some instructional content regarding this or other modeling topics: proper soldering techniques, how to wire a reverse loop, good ways to clean loco wheels, and so on and so on.

I'm a 'learn by watching' guy, as many are.  As fantastic as Bob's instructions are, a video compliment would be incredible.  Just a thought.

Excellent.  One part I am a little confused about though:  When I remove the old truck, there is already a hole in the bottom of the car where the truck was attached.  Are you saying that I will need to drill a new hole for the new truck?

Thanks for the clear and concise answer.  Appreciated.

Ignore for a moment historical accuracy, adherence to prototype or even personal asthetic influences.

I'm trying to figure out what type of trucks to buy for replacement on some old freight cars.  The existing trucks have non-knuckle couplers attached to them, they are plastic and are not attached to the car with a screw, but rather a piece of plastic that is larger on one end so that you can jam it through the hole in the bottom of the car but it wont come back out.  (Wow, how's that for a non-technical description!  I hope what I mean is coming through despite the terrible writing).  I've already broken on truck trying to get it off (don't ask) so now the car lies useless on my workbench.

So I am looking for suggestions on what type of truck to get.  Or maybe I am just looking for assurances that I am not looking at the wrong thing.  Let's assume I am talking about 40' box cars.

What is the difference in a Kadee Arch Bar and a Kadee Bettendorf Double Truss?  What about Roller Bearing?  Are those just different styles that have no particular performance differences?  Will just about any 33" wheel size truck do the job?

The customized cars that Engineerkyle is selling on ebay say they have Intermountain 33" wheelsets on them.  I'm inclined to go with that, since he seems to know what he is doing.

I realize that this isn't a very specific question and that many of these decisions come down to personal preference.  I'm very new to this and have always been one to get lots of information before I buy stuff.