Fred and others,
I checked with White River last week about the annual. They said they anticipate shipping mid-May and have not yet received them in their warehouse.
Mark B.

Make sure the wire pickups from the engine make good contact with the pads on the trucks. Sometimes the engine may rock from side to side a bit, and you may lose electrical contact. If you are adept at soldering, attach them for a more permanent connection. I am not adept but my hobby shop (Engine House Services) in Green Bay is. They used short pieces of flexible wire from the engine to the trucks. It's a tight fit. Other than that, no major issues.
Mark B.

Thanks, and will keep some track space open for them.
Mark B.

Does anyone have any information on the availability of On30 3 bay hoppers?
Mark B.

Thanks for the hint, Fred. I've inquired and did not get much help from B'mann., I have a loco in for repair and alongside I've ordered a dozen of each screw that shows on the parts department for On30. Sort of a shotgun approach. Their screws show as "universal" for usage/application. No dimensions listed. Next step is to measure them and order from a small screw supplier. There are a few recent stories on another forum about one of those suppliers, ignoring customers call, e-mails, and requests.
Perhaps the Bachmann himself could shed some light. With over 1000 replies to my inquiry it seems this might be a bit of useful information to a lot of us On30-ers.
Best to all of our fellow On30 fans.
Mark B.

What is the part number for the screw that holds trucks to bolsters and for the screw for the coupler box cover? Or does any one know the screw sizes so they might be ordered from another source?
Thanks,
Mark B

For us "seasoned citizens" suffering from diminished eyesight and shaky hands the Bachmann On30 offerings have been great.
Thank you, Bachmann, for enabling me to stay in my favorite hobby.
Looking forward to new products.

Mark B.

Dapper indeed.
Thanks for the help.
Mark B.

Many of us have been running our On30 steamers for quite a long time, most likely with little to no maintenance. Is there any information as to lubrication of gears and bearing surfaces?
I have some trepidation about opening an engine and having parts go flying to all corners of the work bench. Hopefully any information would provide a guide to accessing critical areas for each rod and geared engine as well as types of lubricants to be used. I know there was a VHS tape that Bachmann put out a long time ago, but mine probably got tossed when my VHS player quit working a long time ago.

Mark B.

Fred- It took just under 2 weeks from placing my order to receiving the Annual. I was pleasantly surprised considering some of the more recent issues have been summertime arrivals.
Mark B.

Got mine today. Nice issue.

John, that's something I'm going to try.

Mark B.

Has anyone found a method to remove the graphics from the Bachmann cars? I am referring to items such as the passenger cars with the fantasy paint schemes depicting scenes with wolves, wildlife etc. I've tried sanding them off and that paint does not want to come off. Has anyone come across a solvent that might soften the paint enough to enable it to be scrubbed off? It doesn't matter to me if the base coat of paint comes off with the graphics as long as the plastic doesn't melt.

Mark B.

John

When you get the roof off you may want to file back the tabs or enlarge the slots they go into.
This makes it easier when you want to remove the roof again for further tweaking. I just did one of the baggage cars converting it into a MOW supply car. Added doors and windows and probably had the roof off and on 4 or 5 times and finally it hit me to modify the tabs.
The plastic side walls are fairly flexible but nothing broke. Have fun....

Mark B.

I use a small screwdriver. Wedge the blade between the roof and the side near the end of the car. Pry the screwdriver upwards to force the side away from the edge of the roof. Keeping the side pried away use a screwdriver with a slightly larger blade I insert that into the opening, give it a slight twist and the tab holding the two pieces together should give you an opening. Work your way down the side of the car and the roof should loosen on the side you've been working on. The opposite should let loose with a bit of wiggling or you can repeat procedure.
The roof is held on with slotted tabs so you are trying to get the side walls away from the roofline as best as possible. When reinstalling roof just try to flex the walls outward a bit and press down roof. It may require a bit of force, just make sure you are dead on for alignment of tabs and slots.

Others may have better methods but this works for me.

Mark B.