Great job, Old Pilot. The pictures look very realistic. If you feel like it, please post a short note on your construction techniques. It doesn't have to be too detailed, just kind of a 10-foot overview. I, for one would be very interested. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

You might try contacting Bachmann's Service Dept. at [email protected]. They should be able to help you out. Hope this helps.

Hooray, mine came yesterday, May 05,2026. Way To Go, White River Productions!

Since the locomotive is brand new and therefore under warranty, try giving Bachmann support a call. Hope this helps.

Hi. Just wanted to let you know that the 2026 On30 Annual is available for early-bird order through April 30, 2026. You get free shipping (which used to be about $5.00) if you place your order by that date. I just placed my order, however the website did not say when delivery was expected.

Spring has sprung! Just checked the TrainWorld website. They show it as a new arrival on March 13, 2026 and, at the time of my viewing, showed 4 sets in stock. Hope this helps.

I started my original N-scale layout using the Anyrail free-trial version. The program contains a great library of Bachmann EZ-Track as well as quite a few others (Kato and Atlas come to mind). Anyrail will let you print out a list of all the track sections used in your layout, including turnouts. After a while I found the 50 track section limit too confining, so I purchased the software and have never looked back. That was about 2008-2010 and I still use it today for my On30 layout. Hope this helps.

Old Pilot,

I forgot to mention that I also run passenger service on my railroad, using the small steamers. I own three of the Bachmann full-size (36-foot) cars and one wood-sided side-door caboose which has a small passenger compartment. My passenger trains usually consist of one full-size car and an "express" freight car for produce transport (my railroad, as per prototype, runs right through the heart of the fertile farmland here in Central Florida). I also run a daily "Milk Express" using a single reefer and a surplus trench locomotive, as there are several large dairy operations in the area that require milk pickup. So, quite a few of my trains also trend toward only one or two cars long. Best of luck.

Old Pilot, I'm not sure I understand your question correctly, so forgive me if this reply goes off on a wrong tangent. I think what you are asking is how long (or short) of a train was typically run on prototype roads.

I would say that a lot of that depends on you and what your vision of your railroad is. Keep in mind, that logging railroads typically were shoestring outfits and usually had only a few locomotives available. Therefore these locomotives were used in whatever service was necessary, even if it meant exceeding the specs of a given locomotive at times. If one locomotive couldn't pull a load up a certain grade, then either a second locomotive was employed (if available) or the load was broken up into smaller sections and transported one section at a time.

Since this is your railroad, I would say that you could pull whatever load (read number of cars) your engines could handle over the steepest grade on your layout. As for being prototypical, I think that if you were to delve into the subject, you would find that there is a prototype available for just about every scenario. Although I don't run any logging operations, per se, I do transport lumber on my trains. I like small locomotives, so a lot of my steam power is 0-4-2 Porters. I don't have a Shay but I do have a Heisler. Most of my freight trains run to about 3 or 4 cars, not counting the caboose. On the Heisler I run 5 to 6 cars, again not counting the caboose. Keep in mind however that many of my cars are scratchbuilt/kitbashed by me and are only about 15 feet long, thus keeping my trains relatively short.

Anyway, this was a long-around answer to this: If your locomotive(s) can handle it and you like the looks of it, run it. Don't forget: It's your railroad! Hope this helps.
 

Scottmac, undoing unnecessary things, dropping parts and breaking wires - sounds like just a normal day in my life as a model railroader. Hey, it happens to all of us and I guess it just adds to the fun and frustration of working with model railroads. Anyway, I'm glad things are looking up for you - remember, if frustration has you at your wits end, put everything away, take a break, have a cup of coffee or tea (or something stronger if you prefer but in that case, wait until the next day to resume your project or you'll drop more stuff and really get mad - don't ask how I know) and then resume the work. BTW, sometimes my breaks run into several weeks, maybe even months. Best of luck. 

FYI, I have built a couple of On30 passenger cars plus one or two freight cars, but never locomotives, by utilizing parts from the On30 kitbash section. Bachmann was selling passenger car bodies, frames and roofs for reasonable prices. I was able to put together two passenger cars - minus trucks and couplers - for less than $30 dollars each. After I added Bachmann cast trucks and Kadee couplers, my cost was still less than $50 each. At the time, I had posted on this forum but its been a while now. Right now, I think they only have a couple of car bodies listed in the kitbash section. Hope this helps.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that you will also need to clean the locomotive wheels periodically. I usually use a cotton swab dipped in IPA or mineral spirits. Hope this helps.

DCC will run on any type of metal track as long as there are no shorts. So if your figure 8 track works OK on DC, it should work just fine with the NCE PowerCab. That said, steel track is probably the least conductive of the three major metals that have been used in track manufacturing (i.e. steel, brass and nickel silver) with nickel silver track being the best. As you start using your set with one or two locomotives, after some use, you may notice that a locomotive may run jerkily or even stall at different areas on the track. This indicates a build-up of dirt and carbon on the rails which needs to be cleaned off. A piece of lint-free cloth (old t-shirt) with a little isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits with usually be enough to get rid of the dirt. All track eventually needs to be cleaned but steel track needs to be cleaned more often than the others. Most beginners, as they progress in the hobby, find that it is advantageous to switch to nickel silver track. Since you already have steel EZ track, it will be easy to replace a few pieces at a time with nickel silver EZ track, which has a beige roadbed instead of black. Hope this helps. 

I don't have a center cupola caboose but I have 2 logging cabooses and they basically come apart like the passenger cars. Just be sure to disconnect the ladders from the roof first - usually the ladder will just pop out of the bracket. Hope this helps.

Jim, you're welcome.

Fred