Chris- Were you calling on the 800 number? If you call on the 215 line and ask for customer service, you'll get primo service!

Roger- I would venture a guess that many would beg to differ with such an all-inclusive statement!- Mike S.

Well stated, Kevin!

Sheldon- A very informative bunch of comments! For HO, do you envision using blocks, block selector switches, DPDT switches for TE source selection, and a couple of TE's, inorder to run multiple trains... or do you plan on one-at-a-time operation? I know our local HO club used to use two TE's on separate tracks... but now it's one track with DCC and one with TE and blocks. We are currently trying to locate 10 pole rotary switches at a reasonable price. With your often "beyond the box" approach, I am anxious to hear more of your thoughts. As a good Bach-man reader, I ANTICIPATE!- Mike S.

Mlt1- Buy an NMRA gauge for your scale (HO?), and use it to measure the wheel gauge. If it is incorrect, grab one wheel set and twist the wheels while pulling or pushing to get the correct gauge. Most any hobby shop will the gauge.- Mike S.

Tommy- For track spacing NMRA suggested practices, see: <http://www.nmra.org/standards/s-8.html>. For vertical (and other) clearances, see: <http://www.nmra.org/standards/s-7.html>. As you will see, Sheldon is right on with his information. I just added these references to put you in touch with the NMRA. While you a re at it, you might want to consider buying a standards gauge. It's very handy for checking wheel gauge, coupler height, etc.- Mike S.

I have to be in Palm Springs, CA, for a convention the week of the end of October and the beginning of November. Does anyone have some ideas for good railroad places to go nearby during short (2-4 hour) breaks? (Hobby shops and/or rail fan sites).  Also, I'll have one weekend half day available. Any ideas would be appreciated. - Mike S.

Craft type hot melt works well, too. And it can be softened for removal with a handheld hair dryer.- Mike

I own many (70+) Bachmann locomotives; and I have had nothing but the best of service from the folks in Philadelphia... including replacement/upgrade of a large scale locomotive used commercially and accidentally burned up when an un-noticed derailment caused a severe bind on the mechanism. I, for one, am a lifetime customer of Bachmann... and I tell any and every one looking for trains what brand to buy. Sure, there are the little problems here and there. But it's the value and how the problems are handled that has won my business and loyalty. Thanks again, Bachmann!!- Mike S.

Try taking off the front wheel set again and reverse it. It sounds like you reversed it when you replaced it. HO wheel sets have at least one side insulated from the axle. If you reverse one truck (or an individual axle/wheelset in a truck) you can cause a dead short. Let us know how it works out for you.- Mike S.

Yse! Please. Me, too!- Mike S.

You obviously have the earliest version of the cars. (I have a few of those sets, too.) As Bob has said, the boxes tend to droop. This can be fixed with a couple of spacer washers. But, budy mounting is better, providing you stick to wide radius curves.- Mike S.

Yes, you can use the E-Z Mates on the Athearns... better to use the E-z Mate II's... much better spring action.- Mike S.

But the "cowcatcher" modern version, AKA the "plow" is still a very important part of modern engines. Two or three years ago I was in the engine when a pickup truck with a trailer load of telephone pole size logs lost the whole load on the crossing. Fortunately, when he saw us coming, he had the sense to drive along the track toward the direction from which we were coming. When we hit the poles at about 35-40 mph, the large ones went flying off the track like so many toothpicks spreading in a fan pattern, and the smaller one were cut into three shorter sections by the wheels. Anyone standing "down track" from us would have been history. Amazingly we did not derail. The plow only showed a few scratches and splinters of wood. The next day, in the same engine, opposite direction on the same track we rounded a corner to find a large (12"+ diameter) tree fallen across the track. The plow kept us from derailing and sustained little damage itself; but the steps and handrails on one side were pushed up more than a foot. I shutter to think what could have happened in either case had we not been equipped with the plow!- Mike S.

Dennis- The way I read it, these engines <http://precisioncraftmodels.com/BLI---UP-TTT-6-7-2-10-2,-Hybrid,-HO-c3440.html> can run on DC or DCC and their sound systems run on DC or DCC. If that is true, it would seem that the sound unit would be available for DC installations?! Anybody understand it differently?- Mike S.