I suppose you mean the outside of the engine and cars, right?

The less impact you have on the item the better.  Gentle brushing with a medium stiff artist brush and application of spray keyboard air will probably get a lot of of it off.  Try that first and see what it does. If they're still a lot left to get back to us and we'll figure out Plan B.

I agree.  I have two of the oil bunker Vanderbilt tenders.  I only wish I bought 10 while they were available.

The Bachmann spectrum consolidation is an Illinois Central Harriman engine, fairly close in appearance to both SP and UP engines. With replacement of the pilot ladders with sheet metal steps like both prototypes had, you could have a reasonable SP or UP engine, depending on if you put the coal or oil tender behind it.  I know that there are multiple incorrect details in doing this, but you could get close enough to satisfy a lot of people by doing the above work.

In the past year or so complete tenders for the Low driver ten Wheeler were available at the Bachmann online store.  I bought about five of them while I could and have used two of them already., notably behind the Bachmann mogul whose stock tender is very awkward in appearance compared to the replacement one.  And while you're at it, bring back the alternate oil bunkers for both the ten wheeler and the consolidation.

Quote from: Len on November 20, 2025, 04:29:45 PMIf it's used, have you tried a factory reset to clear any previous programing, such as an address change?

Len

At this point in time, they are all used unless you somehow luck into one that was never sold and has never been unwrapped.

That's a beautiful engine. I'm glad you got yours working.  I've lost count, but I must have eight or nine of those in all of the deep-fried Dixie Southern road names they offered at one time.  With a little CV adjustment they run like clocks and crawl like ants.  The only real flaw they have is that the sound volume turned all the way up is still extremely low, especially the whistle which in real life was overpowering.

And expanding upon the learned Mr. Ward's statement, it should be said that both the Santa Fe and the Union Pacific are not purely West Coast railroads, but rather both have extensive Midwest and Great Plains trackage on their way to the West Coast.

That's because Model railroads are mostly concentrated on the east coast and the West Coast. The great middle of the country is mostly a model desert with a few exceptions around some cities.

Years ago, I ordered four or five pilots for the decapod that also work on the 63 inch driver ten Wheeler.  Never been sorry I did.

Why didn't you get 2 while you could?  They're going to go out of stock and you're going to wish you had.

We knew you'd figure it out!  That's the best education!  😂😎

A steam locomotive "consist" would be a "doubleheader."  with a separate crew!  Operating quite independently of each other, but very dependent on each other's moves to not break the couplers or defeat each other's tractive effort.

I've done doubleheaders on DCC layouts a few times with two separate engineers.  Or having the helper at the rear of the train with a separate engineer.  Now THAT'S fun!  With a capital F! If you want to be prototypical, the engineers communicate with each other what they going to do only with Whistle signals!  Then, you start beginning to understand how rugged railroading was in the past.

I agree about a dirty spot on the track, but also one of the trucks might not be picking up.  That happens some with my engines if one tender truck isn't picking up for some reason or another.  It gets on an insulated switch frog, the pick up driver on the same rail hits someplace where gnat deposited on the track, and it stalls at slow speed. But apparently if you run fast enoigh, there's sufficient momentum to push it over that spot and it keeps going.

I have a secondhand Bachmann ten wheeler that came with a small lead weight on the pony truck instead of the spring and it tracks just fine.

DC or DCC?

I think it was in this case the OP was asking more of the EZ command than it is intended to do.  I would call that a move into more complex model operation. Some might call it advanced.  I don't see any disrespect in that. 

I have nickel silver EZ track on parts of an interior layout, the main line has been down almost 20 years now.  The other day I happened to look at the rail in the right light and saw that the rail was turning very dark with oxidation. The funny thing was, the trains still ran fine.  I cleaned the railhead with a Cratex block, looks shiny now,  but it really didn't improve operation that much.

I don't think you'll get those results with  your steel rail track.

I was wondering if you still had that grain elevator that was disguised to look like a white blue bottle!

😂😂🤣🤣