Dont  tell me!!!  much  the  same  myself!!   I am  currently  laying  some track on a UK 00 layout  and  although  I am  using flexible  track  on  the  visible  sections  which  will be  more  or  less  straight or  slightly  curved  I have  bought  some  Peco  large  radius curved  track sections  for  some  of  the  parts  which  will be in tunnels etc!

This  layout is  in  a  garden  shed  and  I  have  built  the  baseboards  quite  high up  around 4'6"  so  theres  not  much  bending!!!

  a modeller  i know  uses  EZ track & DCC turnouts   in  the  fiddle  yard ( Staging  yard) of  his  USA  H0  layout here in the  UK,  but  uses  PECO  Code 83  Flexible track  for the  visible part of  his  layout,  he  bought  the   EZ track as  a clearance line  from a local  shop.  It  works  fine.

Thing  to  remember  0n30  is  7mm /foot  scale,  EZ track  is  imtended  for  HO  which  is 3.5mm/foot scale,  so  the  sleeper (ties) are  small  and incorrectly  spaced  for 7mm scale.

Theoretically it  is  possible  to  fit a   Keep Alive unit  to 0n30 locos,  but  I am  wondering  why  you  find  it  nescessary?

I suspect  you  may be  having  problems  with  this one  loco?  Does  it  tend  to  stall   or  the  sound stop &  re start?

If  so   you more  than  likely  have  a pickup problem on one  of  the  bogies  ( sorry  trucks!)

I have had  a problem with one  of  my Climax locos when it  was   first purchased new,  it  stopped & started  sound  stopped etc,  I  quickly  tested  the  power  pickup  from   the  wheels  by inverting the  loco  and  applying power to each set of  wheels,  I found one trucks  contacts  were not properly contacting the  rubbing plate above it and therefore not always  sending power to the  decoder, this meant  that when  the  other  truck  which  was  fine  was on a section of  track  which was not as clean as it should have  been lost  power,  the  faulty truck  was not always doing its  job thus causing the problems,

It  was  simple a matter  of adjusting  the  contacts on the  truck with  fine nosed pliers  and  all  was fixed  the  loco has  worked perfectly  since,
The trucks  can be unclipped from the  chassis  by carefully pulling  them.

Hope this  helps.

I can confirm  that  all that  it  is  nescessary to  do  is  reset the onboard  decoder  (CV8 value8) BEFORE  FITTING  THE  SOUND  MODULE,  and  read  the  instruction sheet  for the  sound  module  with info regarding certain CV values and reset the  CVs  to the  stated  values,
If you wish you can  set  CV 3  & CV4  to values of  your  choice to give  smooth acceleration  and  deceleration of your loco.

I have fitted  a few  Heislers  and 2-4-4-2s with sound  modules  and  they  all worked  fine  first  time!

Yoiu  may  be  expecting  a  little  too much  I am  afraid,  they  will go  round  15" rad  no problem   I have  no smaller  radius  but  I have  just  curved a  yard  of  Peco 0n30 flexible  track  to  an  approximate 12" radius  and  tried an 18" car on it..................

It  just  about went  round  but  the limiting  factor  on the bogies (trucks!) being able to  turn  enough is  the coupler  box,  if  the  box  wasnt  there  the  bogies  would  turn  through 90' no problem!!

If  you  have  not  already  done  so  I  would  return  it  as unsuitable  for  use  to  the  supplier,  was  it  an  eBay  purchase?  if  so  you should be  covered by  the  eBay buyer guarantee,  If  it  was  purchased  by  a  credit  card  then  the  credit  card  provider  should  be  also be  able to intervene on your  behalf if  nescessary.

When  you  tested the  loco  5 weeks  later,  did you also  try  another  loco also  to  check  if  your  system  was  not  faulty?

The  trolley  (or  Tram as  we  caqll them  over  here) is  powerful  enough to pull 2 or 3  at least  bachmann 0n30  freight  cars,  so  no poblem pulling  an unpowered  trailer,

I have  removed  the  motors  from a  couple of them, its  failrly  easy  to  do  buy remeber that you must  retain  the  pickups  and  other  wiring  if you  want  the  lights  to  work!

Dismantling  is  a  bit  fiddly  but  with  care it  can be  done.

Still anticipating!

Lets  hope  the  realisation  is  as good  as to anticipation!!

I have  just   bought  2  more  locos  from  my retail supplier  here  in the  UK,  Tower  Models in a very  wind  swept  Blackpool  ( The  Tower  is  still standing  despite  100+ MPH  winds!)

It should not  be  difficult,

You will needd to  source  a sutable  sound decoder and a  speaker   not sure  what  the  avaiabilty is  over  there, but possibly Digitrax will do a  suitabe  one,

It is  simply a case of removing  the tender  bady to gain access to th  intterior,  mount the speaker in the  base after  removing the  pcb.  (  I think the  tender base will already be moulded to accept a speaker  if not it will be  nescessary to drill a  few 1/8" holes to let  the  sound  out.

The new  sound decoder  is  then plugged in to the 8 pin socket (assuming it  is  8 pin) on the pcb  after  removing  the  original decoder.

It is  surprising  how  often  this  question  comes  up!

I have    4 or 5 (ones out on loan) 2-6-6-2 & 2-4-4-2s  Whilst  18" Radius  is good,  they  will run around  15" radius  curves

Also the  layout  on which one  of  mine  is  currently  a  guest  has  a  curve into a yard  somewht  less than  15" radius  possibly  around  13.5! Rad.  the loco will  just  about  traverse that....slowly!!

I am not  sure  if  you have  checked out prices?

I note that the Whitcombe is preoderable at $238.50 from a well known NY retailer of many  things! which is a lot less than the $425.00 RRP.
however if I were to order from them  I would be paying out  around  $350.00 as shipping to the UK, and UK import charges (20% of the item cost + 20% of the shipping charge + a service charge has to be paid beforre they will deliver to my address!!)  Also it can take about 2.1/2 weeks to arrive.

Over here in the UK it is listed at £225.00  (thats a  discount price) which is around  $370.00 the good point as well is  that the retailer  I use  does  not charge any shipping  and  it iss delivered  next day guaranteed service!

Are you  sure  its  plastic??  If  you  read  the  loco's  description you will find  it  states 'DIECAST CONSTRUCTION'

Even  so  it  will be  a low  volume  item sales  wise comparedd with H0 and  tooling is VERY expensive  these days!  

I have  spent  most  of  my  'working' life in  marketing  ( not  model railways  though!!!) and thinking  with my  Marketing  Hat on I feel that  Bachmann  will  look carefully  at the  success or  otherwise with  the  Whitcomb diesel, before  even  thinking  of  producing  another  diesel loco for  0n30,

Given the  current  financial situation  and  the  obvious  cut  backs  many modellers  are   having  to  make to  their modelling purchases I feel that we  may  have  to  be  VERY appreciative of Bachmann in investing in the  forthcoming Whitcomb Diesel loco, and  support them  by actually  buying  them if we can afford to!

By doing  this  they may just  be confident  enough to consider  further 0n30 diesel locos.

Lets  hope  not  !!!!.....the  Heisler  was  VERY late, due I beleive to having to be  shipped  back to the  factory for some  sort  of  revision!!

Conversley  the 2-4-4-2 Mallet which followed the Heisler was delivered quite quickly after the initial announcment!

I notice  that  on  Bachmann Europe website, the  estimated  delivery is now  shown  as  Jan/Feb!
This update was dated 01/01/2014

When  first  announced it  was  shown as  October 2013