robertscountrylady@eastex:

Sounds like the track you have is Lionel 0-27 three rail. That is nominally 0-Scale tinplate with 27" diameter curves.

If you plan on using this track, you will need trains designed for three rail operation. That means you will have somewhat limited choices in terms of manufacturers and equipment.

Google "0-27 Three Rail Trains" and you will get thousands of hits from suppliers, interest groups and web sites.

Bachmann doesn't make any equipment for your track.

Hope this helps.

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers

 1.  Do you visit Train Museums?

Yes!

2.  How often do you frequent Train Museums? 1 per year or 1 per Week

As often as possible. Several times a year to our favorites and we stop at everyone we can when traveling.

3.  Are you a member of any Train Museums? and do you do any volunteer work there? If so please share.

We are members of a couple that we think do the most outstanding job on subjects of special interest. See my signature. We've done some volunteering at the Bay Area Electric Railway Association's Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction. First as parking attendants for the Pumpkin Patch trains last October and recently as car attendants for the Scenic Limited Wildflower trains in April. Great experiences, and we met lots of great people. We plan to do more in the future.

4.  Which train Museums are your favorite? Do you prefer large w/ many trains , or small single road versions.

All, but the BAERA WRM is really hard to beat. It specializes in electric traction, so is a unique experience. The California State Railroad Museum is one of the best in the country, and the Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources at Ardenwood farm is a great group of folks that have done a great job, starting with very little other than enthusiasm. We truly like them all, large & small.

5.  Bonus Q.  If you were asked to start a train museum, what would be the key features, and how would you advertise these?

Ain't gonna happen!!

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers

Bob:

The bell is on the side opposite the control stand.

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers

Vinny:

The best answer is the same as Hunt posted in reply to the same question you asked earlier.

Quote from Hunt (with bold emphasis added):
"Get a copy of The Complete Atlas Wiring Book -- All Scales -- Book # 12.

"It has diagrams showing how to connect the two DC power packs to the rails so you do not reverse polarity and where to correctly place insulated rail joiners."

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Not a model train show, but a real LARGE SCALE (AS IN 1:1) event. My wife & I are volunteering this weekend as parlor car attendants on the Bay Area Electric Railway Association's Western Railway Museum Scenic Limited Trains. Three trips plus an early evening charter on Saturday, then three more trips on Sunday.

This is the last weekend of this yearly event. If you're in N. California, come out and ride on the old Sacramento Northern Oakland to Sacramento line while viewing the wildflowers. About 5 miles are under wire. The museum has one of the largest operating electric train collections in the country. See:
http://www.wrm.org/events/upcoming_events.htm
for wildflower trip details and:
http://www.wrm.org/index.html
for information about the BAERA / WRM.

See Ya on Board!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

The chains are used to prevent tipping and thus unloading of the car while in transit. There are large hooks at the bottom / end of the frame. The chains hook over them. When the car gets to the dumpsite, the chains opposite the desired dump side are unhooked, the car is dumped, then the chains are refastened. The chains should always be fastened, except when unloading.

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers

Paul:

I haven't used them for the exact purpose you describe, but I think the #11 Xacto-style sawblades would work. See them on Micro-Mark's site at:
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=28

Take a look at MM part numbers on that page:

14346: 0.010" thick with 40 teeth / inch
14347: 0.010" thick with 30 teeth / inch (probably best for your application)
14348: 0.015" thick with 24 teeth / inch

While the plastic solvents might work on new or thin joints, they will also attack the plastic and potentially damage your building beyond use. These saws cut a really thin kerf and can get into very tight places.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Quote from: atlanticcentral on April 11, 2007, 03:43:02 PM
Bach Man, ebtnut,
Does the message board software not like AOL?

In my experience, it's usually more a matter of AOL not liking non-AOL software and websites. As rick9 suggested above, check your settings, but you might also try a different better browser.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

I have no idea what the size or rating of the ". . . red power wire . . ." is, but 22 AWG is ~0.025" in diameter and is good for 7 amps. Whether it's used on DCC or DC is inconsequential for the purpose of this discussion. If the size of the wire in question is not marked or identified, just measure it. If you can't measure it, check its temperature in operation. If it feels warmer than your skin at full operating current, move to the next larger available size. 20 AWG is ~0.032" (1/32") in diameter and is rated at 11 amps.

Here are a couple of resources that show and discuss the current carrying capacity of wire:

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/WireCapacityChart.htm

Remember: This isn't wiring for the space shuttle!!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

A recent posting on the Yahoo Historic Sierra Railway group's "Today in Sierra History, 3/31":

"1937: The Sierra Railway is sold at public auction to the Sierra Railroad Company"

Interesting how the owners and names change over years. It's still the Sierra Railway with me!!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Quote from: DChinn on April 05, 2007, 04:11:43 PM
If there should be a new large steam loco in the process, might we expect it to be 1:20.1 scale or some other?    Dan

Do you mean after the previously announced 1:20.3 scale (Fn3) K-27?

Some wish lists and suggestions go by from time to time, but I don't think Bachmann has made any specific announcements of new LS locomotives. The arrival date for the K-27 seems to be somewhere in the foreseeable future.

I'm hoping for a 1:20.3 scale, modernized version of the 4-4-0, the Centennial 2-6-0 or a 2-8-0. Can anyone say NCNG #5 or #8? Lots of room on my RR for a 1900s engines to pull those 1900 to 1930s boxcars and hoppers.

Happy RRing,
Jerry Bowers

Lyman:

Glad to help.

I haven't seen one live, but someone had a video or film at the Sacramento NGRC a few years ago. It sounded like a well muffled moderately high RPM model airplane engine in a model locomotive. Not too loud, but it's obvious that noise doesn't scale well!

There are some on-line videos, but my dialup connection is not video friendly, so I don't have an address. Go over to My Large Scale [www.mls/forums/.com] and ask. Someone will be able to point you to one, maybe even an oerating one!!

There are some other large scale IC powered locomotive enthusiast. Poke around the links at the WADA site. I just found videos and US based contacts on some of pages linked off WADA's menu. Also, try the search engine on MLS. There is an occasional mention there and a couple of the MLS guys have built their own.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Quote from: Consolidation on March 30, 2007, 08:01:59 PM
I got mine today.  Man it's big!

Congratulations!!

Be certain to do the motor mounting check / tightening before you run it. If the mesh is not good, you could damage or even strip the gears.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

There aren't any pictures of the new 1:20.3 cars in the on-line catalog pages.

The instructions near the top of this page say "News: Click on the "photo gallery" link above to see the Bach Man Gallery". This link seems to work erratically and the available photos are spread around on several pages, but they are there.

There are numerous pix of all of them in several threads on MyLargeScale.com. Easier to see them there.

Happy RRing.

Jerry

Quote from: lgldsr on March 29, 2007, 09:52:17 PM
No...I meant real diesel power. A miniature version of the real V-16. Far fetched? Possibly. Could it be done? Sure. Costly? Oh yeah!   

See: http://users.erols.com/diesel/wada/diesel.html for internal combustion powered LS model locomotives. They use model airplane type 'fuel' in glow plug engines powering generators and electric traction motors. They are internal combustion (diesel) / electric propulsion, just like the big ones! The site shows prices and availability, including a US dealer. Google "WADA Diesel Locomotive" for more sites.

Happy RRing,

Jerry