Quote from: lmackattack on October 27, 2009, 01:52:32 PM
were the couplers that came with the locos made of plastic. if so did they have the plastic wisker that was intended to keep the knuckel closed? If so those are Junk IMO. put metal Kadee on and they will not only look better,perform better but also you can use the A unit only hooked to your train without the B unit.

the plastic knuckle couplers are not that good. they bend easy under load. if you do use a plastic nuckel use the ones with the springs that hold the knuckel closed. they are much better than the plastic wisker.

just my .02

Trent

They are the Bachmann Easymates, factory installed.

And one good thing is i can run my Old  horn hook rolling stock with the A unit if i choose too. Yep i still have my rolling stock from the mid to late 1970s and still run them now and then.
So for me it works out well.

i have read many good things about those kadee couplers.
I'll have to keep an eye out for them in my LHS or maybe even
just order them online and try them out.

But those horn hooks, i already had them on hand and they were
"free" so to speak, they came in  perviously purchased kit as an alternative.
When the train is moving i don't even notice them unless I specificly Look for them.
And they are Reliable for the most part, I have Never had them come
apart when a train is going forward.
Sometimes they will if they are really worn out after a sudden stop or after backing up.

Quote from: pdlethbridge on October 27, 2009, 12:27:15 AM
Now, if  only some one could convert one to a back yard barbaque. I wonder how many bags of charcoal would be needed?

A trainload of charcoal bags!

Sorry about that,,could not resist.

well obviously it is old if it says Hong Kong.
a few years ago England gave Hong Kong back to China which is why
EVERYTHING seems to be made in China these days.

I just bought a Bachmann FT-A and B unit locos,,the DC versions, New York Central System.
Over all,I have found these to be well made locos.

There was one small problem. The A and B units would come uncoupled,
the A unit being a wee bit faster than the B unit. It was quite amusing the
first time, watching the B+consist chase the A.
Then it became consistent. A brief test showed me the couplers were easy to pull apart.
Did this with the power off and just used my hands and it did not take much effort at all to pull them apart.
I have noticed this about knuckle couplers on rolling stock before.

What to do?

I remembered that i had some old school Horn-Hook couplers!
If nothing else, those old school horn hooks are Reliable.
So I removed the knuckle couplers between the A and B units and replaced them with the horn-hooks.
Made a test run, about 20 laps.
No more uncoupling incidents!

So there it is, just one possible and simple solution.

If all else fails,,a little bit of 87 octane gas, a match, WOOOOFF!
Once the flames are out put it up on the layout surrounded by some
fire fighting trucks

Safety Tip-Remember folks, this should be done outdoors!
Or REAL fire trucks might have to show up.
Have a garden hose or bucket o'water handy.

PROS for Steam

They are just plain Cool.
Awesome to behold.
They have personalities.
[think tim allen from 'home improvement' tv show]
They have More POWER,,ARRRRRR AAARRRRRRRR  AAARRRRRRRRRRR AHHH!
HO! Snort!

They PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT!

most of us have heard the news about the demise of the Athearn Blue Box kits.
Time to get the pitchforks and torches out and storm the gates, but be careful and watch out for boiling oil response.

Anyways,,for anyone who wishes to contact Athearn and write up a polite and diplomatic e-mail stating why this is a Big Mistake here is a chance and the link

http://www.athearn.com/About/Contact.aspx

if there is enough responses,,,good reasons,,good essays or the like
there is a chance, be it great or slim [ i won't give odds] that athearn
Might change their minds about the issue.

It is worth a shot anyways,,,the worst that could happen is that Athearn will say "No".

The best that could happen would be to revive the line.

Much like what happened with the Coca-Cola company when they dropped the "original" formula to "New Coke".  The "new" coke soon vanished and
Coke Classic made its triumphant comeback.

Is it possible to get/order front guide and rear trailing trucks for 2-6-2 Praires in HO?

I already checked the "order parts" on the left hand side of the screen and
the selection there seems very limited. Wich i found odd considering how large the product line is.

only saw N scale available,,,,,need HO scale

replacing the couplers are not a big problem. If you can use a Phillips head
screwdriver, you can fix the couplers. If you still have the papers that came
with the set there should be an explosion chart of the loco.
An Alternative would be to take it to a hobby shop that deals in model trains
i am sure they would be happy to help you with replacing the couplers.

Bachmann does have track kits to expand the layout
like these two

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1303

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1947

any self respecting hobby shop will have at least one these in stock, they are also very easy to find on-line at nice prices. These come in steel or nickel/silver rails.

Another new set is one way to acquire more track and expand his fleet too, normally at less cost than buying new locos and cars separately.

i also suggest a precision screwdrver set like this
http://store.qualitydist.net/sty-66-052.html
you can get this set at a wal mart for about $4 to$5
this particular Stanley set is much more comfortable on the hands and fingers to use.

We still got Accurail kits, made in USA.

I got a few Athearn RTR,,and they are well made products.
But then again it is not like I can't find the whopping  5 to 10 minutes it takes to assemble a BlueBox kit fer cryin out loud, sheesh.
Are people today really THAT pressed for time?
End that usually pointless, empty talking about nuthin phone call.
Turn the cell phone off.
Sacrifice some TV watching time, your not going to miss anything anyhow.
Unless the playoffs are on.

It is an end to an era,,sad to see the line dropped,,about 60% of my cars
are blue box kits.

I suppose in the end it is all about the bottom line.
RTR is more profitable.
It was a corporate decision, it does not have to make sense.

Athearn will do well, Look at Bachmann,,has Bachmann ever sold rolling stock kits? or locomotive kits? Not that i am aware of.
Structure kits yes,,but i  have never seen rolling stock or loco kits.
Bacmanns products are decent too and not WAY overpriced like some
others that i won't name like intermountain or mth for example.

My two bits
For a kid  that young,,a Lionel set, much easier to find Lionel stuff than G scale.
Fastrack is easy to work with too,,just like Bachmanns EZ track is.

A sheet of plywood with casters that can roll under his bed or if a table is desired,
a pingpong table works out well.

Any chance of ever seeing these again? They have been MIA for some time.
Cool and different buildings, go good with 4-4-0, 4-6-0 early steam locos.

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/bachmannhoscalekits/id37.html

out of pure curiosity of my own,,
how do you measure scale speed?
I mean,, what is the mathematical equation?

is it like, say, 2 feet of straight track in X seconds divided by what?

ihobby will be at the Donald E Stevens Convention Center,Rosemont IL.

on a map it is litteraly right across the street from ORD, Chicago O'Hare.
where the 294 and 90 meet, Des Plains Rd.

Runs from 22OCT09 to 25OCT09.

Looks like it might be a nice get the heck outta dodge for a day roadtrip for me!