See my recent post below.  Mine is really impressive.  -  NEvin

Actually, what I would REALLY like to see is the Tsunami in the Vanderbilt tender wired so it will run behind the 4-6-0.  that would be even more perfect!!! But I would settle for the small Baldwin tender with sound for my other engines.    -  Nevin

I acquired a Spectrum 4-6-0 with the Tsunami sound decoder and ran it last night.  WOW!   The sound is excellent but what is more important is the slow speed performance.  It crawls.  Much better than my TCS decoder equipped 4-6-0s.  Does Bachmann offer any of the tenders with the Soundtraxx decoder installed for sale separately?  I'd take a couple of the small Baldwin tenders with sound. -  Nevin

Quote from: richG on November 23, 2008, 02:25:48 PM
The first photo is the engine upside down.


The second is with the connectors laying flat.


Make sure you have a multimeter to verify connections. The front tender truck picks up on one side. The rear truck pickups on the other side. The trucks can swivel 360 degrees so do not let a truck swivel that much or you will get a short with both loco and tender connected together on the track. That has happened to a few people.
I installed a Micro-Tsunami in my 4-4-0. I used a 680 ohm resistor which is stll ok for an LED. The LED is a little brighter than using a 1k resistor. A 1k resistor gives you about 9ma. The 680 gave me about 15.5ma current. Max for an LED is 20ma.

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DON'T forget a 1 k resistor for the LED headlight if you hard wire the decoder, no PC board.
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Rich

Is that the same wiring sequence for the 4-6-0? -  Nevin

I've acquired a new Ma & Pa lettered 4-6-0 #27.  Unfortunately none of the Nevada mining railroads, T&T, T&G, LV&T or BGRR ever had a #27 so I need to remove the numbers from the engine.  Any suggestions about the quickest and safest way to remove the lettering from a Bachmann Spectrum engine with damaging the paint? 

I tried to remove the lettering from an old Rivarossi passenger car a few weeks ago and I was able to remove the paint completely but somehow the lettering remained!  So I am a little cautious about this next project.  -  Nevin

I may have missed it, but when will Bachmann announce the next round of new HO models, particularly HO steam?  Any rumors or speculation about what it might be?  -  Nevin

Since I was the one accused of hijacking the thread I would like to point out that I was actually AGREEING with Harold about the need a pre-WW1 consolidation.   All I said was they (Bachmann) would probably turn to a Ma & Pa prototype since that is what they chose for their recent 4-6-0 and the 4-4-0.  Since I model the Tonopah and Tidewater I would prefer a 2-8-0 based on that prototype but that is very unlikely.  I don't really want a Ma & Pa prototype but if that is what they end up making then I will kitbash into what I need.  -  Nevin

the Vaulcain idea of compounf cylinders was used. Almost all major railroads ordered locomotives with this setup.   they are not models of any specific SP class and more resemble the Bull Frog and Tonopah, Las Vegas and Tonopah and Tonopah Railroad locomotives after SP purchased a good portion of them and rebuilt them.

Japasha:  There is a good photo of a leased SP Vaulcain Compound being used in the construction of the Las Vegas and Tonopah RR.  Do you know if any of those Vaulcain compound 2-8-0s were ever produced in brass?  That type would make a great plastic model of someone were to produce it. -  Nevin

Harold:  Try decaffenated.    -  Nevin

I would strongly second the idea of a turn-of-the-century 2-8-0 similar to the 4-6-0.  They would probably turn to the M&P for a prototype.  My Tonopah and Tidewater could use several.  Just make it easily compatible with the same Vanderbilt tender.  -  Nevin

I think that the rule of thumb that Horizon uses is if the model is pre WW2 it is a Roundhouse model and if it is post WW2 it is an Athearn.  They are clearly related to the Athearn Genesis 4-6-2.  Which had its issues as did the 2-8-2.  They were kind of funky with a tether from the engine that you attached the decoder to and the whole thing stuck in a hole in the tender.  There was no tender pick up.  Mine actually worked great right up to the point where the gear cracked.  They are now in storage.  -  Nevin

There must be something going with the most recent series of Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0's.  I have owned a 7-8 of these over the years and haven't had a problem with any of them.  A number of friends have whole fleets of these with no complaints.  They have been the most reliable of steam locomotives over the years.  What is going on with the current batch.  -  Nevin

While code 83 generally looks better than code 100, if code 100 is properly painted and ballasted, can look very good.  Particularly true if you are modeling a heavy duty railroad like the UP, PRR or N&W.  I was invited to see a very large impressive prototypically exact N&W layout in northern Maryland last year and it looks absolutely fantastic.  Everyone was surprised to find out it was all code 100. 

Where the smaller rail really shines is if you are taking photographs.  Code 100 looks really large and out of place in photos.  My current layout is all code 70 and code 55 and I am really pleased with it. -  Nevin 

My locomotive rollers (another fine Bachmann product) arrived today allowing me to give my 4-6-0 a good breaking in.  My layout is a point to point with no way to give an engine the kind of long run at different speeds that breaking-in requires.  I am very pleased to note that running this engine at different speeds for about an hour has greatly smoothed out the engine, it is much much quieter and the performance is better.  -  Nevin

I snipped the capacitors and it made no difference that I could observe.  -  Nevin