I was told they were shooting to hit the emergency fuel cut off switch on the side of the tank? The trailer looks cheesy, but I might have to see it for the trains.

You can't expect everyone to do everything for you... Get a caliper or even a ruler and measure how big the hole is.

There's a thing called a drill...

To be perfectly honest, you're not doing the model train people a favor by selling it to them, and the small amount of money you will receive, will only get you a few days of food. The set's detail is not up to today's standards and has no collector value, thus the railroad modeler population wants nothing to do with it. Good luck with whatever you choose to do, but it would make a good Christmas/Birthday present for a young relative.

Most 4-6-2s had very distinctive features. The ones being produced are models of the USRA design 4-6-2s.

Quote from: RBMN #425 Fan on August 10, 2010, 09:24:20 PM

Quote from: Dalek1995 on August 03, 2010, 12:15:57 AM
Diesel 10 will NOT be released by Bachmann! Drop it!

look, we all know(i think ) that bachmann won't come out with diesel 10 in the forseeable future., so can't we fantazise about it, like what would happen if they made him?

I fantasize about a lot of things, but not on forums where everyone can see how cool I am. I suggest you do the same.

Yes, the WM also had a nice amount of 1st gen power mixed in with SD40s and SD35s. It was my impression that the BL-2s were mainly limited to the Hump Service by that point. It may have been something to do with the weak frames.

The reason there's a good amount of BL2s in existance is because BAR's rolling museum continued into the 80s, when 1st generation diesels became more valuable to preservation groups. Even in the mid 80s BAR had a good amount of GP7s(they still do), F units(still have 1), BL2s(all gone) in service, with the newest power being GP38-2s.

It's funny that I would find this video the same day that I find this post.

http://www.remoteuncoupling.com/html/video.htm
Those are G scale couplers but according to MRH they are going to be producing them in smaller scales.

"Kadee exhibited a fascinating new remote control coupler system at the National Train Show. G scale couplers were being demonstrated with a hint that once perfected, smaller scales would follow. Pricing and release dates are pending."

While it looks like it is only on the locomotive, it appears to be a much more refined version of the coupler, not something you have to run into at 25smph to lock the knuckle closed... (MTH)

Now that you mention it, yes it does seem that modelers continue to look for a way for semi-completely hands free operation- buttons to do this, do that, make this turn, make that move. When you think about it, no we can't get 1:87.1 scale hands that are useful, but why not operate like the real railroad in the sense of manually uncoupling cars. In railroading there are almost no applications of automated coupling and uncoupling. When running a local and setting out cars, the brakeman/conductor still has to exit the cab and pull the cut lever on the car to open the knuckle. Even hump yards still need a crew man to pull the cut levers when the cars reach the summit of the hump. So why is it, that even though the real railroads always uncouple cars utilizing a hand, we strive to automate this feature? Very peculiar my dear Watson. As for myself, I dislike the look of Kadee track magnets and trip pins, utilizing only a skewer to uncouple cars.

I don't think it's the cost of the hobby that is causing a decline. I'll go even further to say there isn't a decline, just a change. Right now, most teenagers have a very limited budget, and furthermore, school, work, and social lives all require time, and in some cases money. The time factor is likely why you don't see many teens at train shows. I'm going to use myself, a 17 year old railfan and model railroader going into my senior year at high school, as an example. This hobby is expensive, and right now I have higher priorities to spend time and money on, but that doesn't mean I'm no longer interested in trains because I haven't purchased a locomotive since December, haven't gone to a show since January, and have only made it to 4 club meetings this year. There will always be a dedicated group of young modelers, but many are likely to take a hiatus when they go off to college or begin a career, only to rediscover it later in life.

Back on topic... Having an automatic coupler in every car will be more trouble than it's worth. Having to select each freight car address, and press a function button is a time factor. Determining which end of the car the knuckle will open on is another, and duplicate road numbers? Forget it! On a large layout there are bound to be cars from different railroads that have the same road number. Having an automatic knuckle on a locomotive is a better option simply because there is a clear front and back to a locomotive so you have better control over opening a knuckle(or however you plan to do it, personally I'd go for an option that utilizes a Kadee #5 that moves vertically to slip out of the coupler) and you won't have to enter a roadnumber every time you need to uncouple a car. Even in this situation you'd need an uncoupling pick to separate cuts of cars, but it would likely make set outs in hard to reach areas much easier.

It's my understanding the circuit board is to prevent damage being done to the motor in case of a surge. When installing a decoder they really don't serve much of a purpose anymore not to mention wiring in the decoder is easier with it gone. If anyone wants this done and is not confident to solder the decoder themselves, email me.

http://islandmodelworks.com/Chicago.html
You'd have to build/paint the kits, but that's you're best bet.

IHP also makes kits, but these are much more in depth and require more skill than the IMW kits.
http://ihphobby.tripod.com/

Oh yeah, that works perfectly until you want to run more than 1 engine...
You can buy small steam sound decoders, as they'll be similar in sound to an English engine. If you want to go all the way and use recordings from the videos you would need a loksound decoder and programmer.

Yes, if you want a steam trip get there for the 9am departure. I believe tickets for this trip are more expensive than those behind, or in this case, in front of the diesels.