The operative phrase is "laminate and stagger".  Use 1/32" square balas and stagger the ends so as to present a flowing structure.
Give a coat of sanding sealer and sand down to rail height.  Finally, "texture" as you wish, and then finish.
Rich

Yardmaster et al;
What is "correct"?  It is pretty much construed as to mean what the builder's mind will readily accept as good.  One can get into a fistfight over this kind of debate, but I think that the ruling commonality here is just what I said.  Hell, it is your money, time, effort-and your locomotive.  You do with it what you want; I am sure that Bachmann will be just as happy.
Rich

If you got enough of this stuff, you could sell it for plastic regrind-Or maybe go for broke and do landfill...
Rich

An 0-10-0...Must have been a real bear on that yard trackage without ponies. to guide 'er through the turnouts..
Rich

Hi, guys (and gals);
Just a couple of thoughts here. 
I have been in this hobby for  a long time, and have done a ton of scratchbuilding, kit bashing, and scratch-bashing, and have a good idea of how and why.
Plastic kits, especially Walthers, Bachmann, et al, are a great way to get into this game-they are relatively inexpensive, good quality, and well-instructed. 
I have started to really get away from plastic, especially with the advent of top-quality scratchbuilding items and a lot more time (I am semi-retired) to do this stuff.
I have always gotten a great deal of satisfaction wit hthe plastic kits; especially the abovementioned.
A bit of advice to those who are 'movig up" so to speak:  Bar Mills arre really good kits.  Having gotten to know Art Fahie a little, I have gotten a great deal out of his speak, as well as their seminars at the train shows.   Their kits are a delight to build, well-instructed, and yo uwill wind up with a really high-end model. 
Sheepscot's George Barrett put out somegreat kits; they are a little harder to build because lf their complexity; a great deal is thrust upon the modeller, but again, the finished product-wnen directions are followed) .
I believe that if you follow  your abilities and don't push into something you aren't ready for, you will enjoy the progression, as well as his hobby, even more.
Rich



 

A company called "Little Giant" makes a variety of pumps and has a lot of parts etc.  Give them a shout, as they can surely lift a column of water 22 inches.
RICH

Getting either a 6+6 wheel tender or a centipede, which the New York Central did use on it's J-3 Hudsons.  AHM-Rivarossi had one for it's Hudsons.  You may find one at one of the train shows. 
My approach to DCC  is usually go through Tonys trains, get a Tsunami, and just go wire for wire as per "textbook wiring"; this way you are taking it right back to the basic wiring.  I just picked up three 2-6-0s and will check them out as soon as I get my new layout (and me) into construction mode......
Don't forget to check the headlight; is it a bulb or aLED...
Rich

Yeah; it was/is a two-edged sword, almost prohibitively expensive but for a few of the lines, like you say, who could justify it. 
I cannot speak with any qualification on the Pennsy, but I am a New Haven fan.  A good example of the extreme expense is the recent act of stringing a clothesline from New Haven to Boston! To me, it was and is a mystery as to why they waited so long, other than government subsidies.  Electrification of the "West End" (New Haven to Manhatten) was, of course, due to an ordinance of New York city banning steam locomotives from the proper.   The New Haven WAS the premier railroad back in the day; rider patronage demanded a first-class road, so it worked; but it even worked better on the carfloat scene.  Those EF-3s could pull almost 5,000HP-and 9600 HP on a startup down the pans!  It is funny when you think of it:  The "Yellowjacket", as the EF-3 was called, could easily pull 125-car trains (Max on the viaduct) from Bay Ridge to North Cedar Hill!  But, more interesting was the wheel arrangement; 4-6-6-4-just like the Challenger, and just as much HP too!
RIch 

HI John;
The 2-6-0 you have is what I call Bachmann's answer to a "one size fits all" approach (sounds like an old Frank Zappa tune), an approach that I personally do not care for.  The 0-6-0 that they created created is, to me, just that:  an 0-6-0. 
In my collection I have a couple of 2-6-2 Prarie types.  They are way different; and, to me, look a lot better.  Slapping a pony and/or a trailing truck on what is really a switching engine doesn't do much for me.
The 2-6-0 Mogul Bachmann just came out with is a really nice looking locomotive, and it seems to run just fine.  I also have two IHC Moguls which I have the same feelings about.
I have compared you photo to their new Mogul, and there are quite a bit of small differences in them.  All in all, I think Bachmann puts out a fine product, but that  "one size-fits-all "0-6-0 will never capture my heart!
Rich

Hi, Lee;
Thanks for the heads up about home furnaces.  As an electrician, I occasionally get called in to a furnace problem, and in talking with the furnace techs, someimes learn some pretty interesting facts.
All of these discussions about steam reminds me of just how easy it was/is to set a "motor" (electric locomotive) up to run.  With the New Haven as an example, the dispatcher would put a call in from New Haven to the plant engineer at Cos Cob with the dispatch schedule, and the engineer would provide the capacity via extra power output when needed.  That all done, the motor engineer raised the pan, and off they went.  that is an oversimplification, but it gets the point across;  Just as easy as that!
Rich

Don;
They're known technically as "oblongs"?  Hmm...  I do learn something new every day.
PS:  I have had a beard since I was two...
Rich

I am not too familiar with the 4-8-4, but you might consider up-grading or modification to brass and/or poly fittings if this rig is starting to boogey badly..  Hobbytown of Boston would be a good starting point for some good-quality drive parts.
Rich

On the 0-6-0;
With its versatility to work as a yard engine, humper, and in some cases, a road engine, this little locomotive found its way to a great many roads, with as many purposes intended.
The tender, with its design, gave it top billing as a shifter type loco, as it could be run forward or reverse with excellent visibility. 
Both the New Haven and the Boston and Maine had a fairly large roster of them.  My personal opinion of the unit was that it could be a hard road engine because of its lack of pony or trailing truck, which would make the engine tend to be rather rough riding and hunt the rails; and  that, in combination with a bad stretch of track or turnout configurations, made the potential for derailments high on the high iron!.
Rich

OEM:  Original Equipment Manufacturer.
It is quite correct in this instance, to use that phrase.
Recorder?  Hmmmmmm...Lenscrafters, perhaps?.....
RIch

Hi;
I believe that, in the world of prototype, the 2-8-2 MIkado was the most-built steamer, built by several builders, and many roads.
Your question, however, deals with Bachmann.  I have to side with Pacific Northern, and say that, Bachmann-wise, the 2-8-0 is the most popular. 
To make a bit of a forcast, I think that possibly the 2-6-0 will eventually come on second.  With its versitility and "small-ness", the Mogul has a lot of appeal to a wide range of modelers, as well as layout owners.  I purchased three as soon as I caught wind that Bachmann had imported one.  I haven't run them yet, as my layout is now (again) in stages of reconstruction, but sooner than later, I will.
Rich