I couldn't find a pin labled J-11 on the board.  Is it the pin labled ground that is right next to pin J-1?

Thank you.


Do you know which solder points on the main board I should use for my power and ground to work the Phoenix sound board?

Rather than dealing with the built in chuff on my C-19, I just mounted a reed switch on a tender truck bar, and mounted 2 magnets on one of the tender axles on the front truck.  I normally always mount the chuff mechanism on the tender truck because I know how reliable that trick is, and I didn't want to risk problems with the circuit board. 

I hope this helps. 

Chris.

Hello, I bought the new generation Climax back in 2011 with DCC  & sound and thought it would be a cost saving over getting regular Climax without the DCC and having to add sound later.

Nope, not so much.  The idle sounds are amazing, but that's about it, without the DCC remote, the whistle won't blow much, the bell will ring on throttle control, but the volume is not adjustable.  And from an earlier post I asked, I found out that I can't make the whistle and bell go off with magnetic triggers like that of most sound units, and that I can't adjust the volume with the addition of a switch. 

With that being said, I've decided to go ahead and buy a Phoenix PB-11 V6 sound board to put in the engine, but 2 questions.  How would I convert it from DCC to Normal DC in order for the engine to not use as much voltage to run, and what terminals on the engine's circuit board should I use as a power and ground source for my PB-11 V6 sound board from Phoenix?

Thank you

Chris

I sure hope Bachmann picks up the Patons to the old Delton C-16 locomotive.  It's a precious locomotive that was first made in 1988, and the latest models came out in 2009, and if Bachmann hangs onto the patons, they can improve the locomotive with more backhead detail, and more traction in the Heavy Duty Driveline, but not to touch the exterior, and leave the scale in 1:24.  If it's not saved, the Delton C-16, will be a locomotive that I will be sad to see go.

With the K-27 already made, who would like to see the even more awesome K-28 locomotive on the Spectrum line?

I am starting to save my pennies for this one because I really want Bachmann to make a K-28 locomotive, and the one I would go for would be engine 478, given how awesome of a 5-chime whistle she wears, how often she is run on the D&SNG as the 2nd crew favorite after engine 473, I just can't say enough good things about the Alco K-28.   Both LGB from Aster and Accucraft made K-28s, but they are out of production and very hard to get ahold of, not to mention that they are over $5K where as Bachmann's would list for a better range of $1.5K if one was ever made.

Who wouldn't want to see the amazing K-28, only 3 survive today, 2 still run on the D&SNG with one on display in the roundhouse, but long ago Alco made 9 of those beasts, and they were a favorite amoung crews for being the smoothest riding, easiest steaming and firing compared to the smaller K-27, and larger rough riding K-36s and K-37s.   The K-28 was overall the best machine used on the Narrow gauge, and I'm sure the models would be amazing.

Who wants to see Bachmann Spectrum produce some K-28 locomotives?

Is it possible to get the whistle and bell to work off magnetic reed switches by adding after market reed switches and get them hard wired into the sound board or am I better off removing the sound unit and installing a Phoenix sound to get more options for basic DC?

Will do.  I will ask my friend how he did it, and will try and video the process of replacing the old trucks with the new ones, and post them on youtube.   

The old plastic trucks are full of gear problems, even with the 2 piece drive shaft, they slip on the front universal worm gears, which results in the engine set to not work but the worm gear that drives it to strip.   The new metal trucks have solved the problem with the more simple design of using a ring and pinion gear set up, similar to that on the Heisler, and it's 100 times superior and more reliable.  To top it off the rest of the gears in the trucks are bronze which is even better.   

Thank you very much.  I will give them a call.  A friend of mine managed to replace his old plastic trucks on his first generation Climax with the new metal trucks, but he had to do some rewiring, but in the end he got it to work, so I'll figure something out.  I'll also order the new larger tender tank and coal load.  I know I have my work cut out for me, but I'll manage.

Thank you for your help.

Since there are replacement trucks for the older shays to convert from the plastic to metal wheels, are there sets available for the Climax too?  Also why isn't the Climax in the Large Scale parts catalog?  In order to get ahold of the parts for the Climax, the Climax locomotive should be listed for available parts.  When I tried to call, I was told to order online, but the problem is, the Climax is not in the parts catalog.   I have a second generation which has the metal trucks, and I have a first generation that is in need of metal trucks.  Is it possible to get a set of metal trucks for the Climax like there is for the say, and if not, will there ever be a set of trucks sold seperately like that for the shay?   Thank you.

But if the Logging Locos were made her is how I would do it, I would take the wooden Brio models idea, but would fit as much as the motor I can in the boiler and have some of the motor cover plate come down below the chassis to hold the wheels.  Lets be frank, these would mostly be for use by kids and they could care less on the interior rod detail on Bash & Dash.   As for Ferdinand, for now your best bet is to get a painted unlettered spectrum and paint it blue, red, and some gold, then use some resin for the face and slap it on.   But Ferdinand wouldn't be too difficult.  Hank wouldn't be too difficult, but the logging locos are more likely to be thought of than Hank because Hank was only in one episode.  Hiro however has a better chance of being made since there are probably more fans of Hiro than that of even the Logging Locos.  I hope the logging locos are made someday, but if they are, it won't be for a long time.  Hiro however might actually be made because we see a lot more of him than the logging locos and Hank.

Thank you very much for the helpful advice. 

I'm having a friend take care of this, and I'm having the option to run the engine on track and battery powered to have more options.

It has been decided to hook the wires to the DCC board in the engine, and have connectors run back to the decoders in the tender.   The wood load depression has been cut out to make room for the batteries, and an oil load will be made to cover the batteries.

I too am waiting on Spectrum 1:20.3 scale passenger cars, and San Juans would be nice.

For me the issue really isn't price, it's the weight, and that's why I haven't gone for th ASM ones, my 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s which would pull 4 or 5 passenger cars, wouldn't have enough power to pull one ASM brass car, but would for Spectrum Passenger cars.

Hello, I am thinking about adding air-wire to my 4-4-0 locomotive, but I need some pointers.  The engine is equipped with a Phoenix PB-11 sound unit which is the tender, and I believe their is still room to add air-wire in the tender.  However, I see the main circuit and DCC board is in the engine.   Where would be the best place to hook up an Airwire G3, and how would I get the sound to work with it?

Thank you.

Train World Online still has a lot and at a steal of $100 a piece.