One reason people buy DCC locomotives when they run DC layouts is manufacturers only issuing a certain loco in DCC or DCC+Sound options, but not in plain DC. Try finding a DC BLI steam loco. I got a pair of supposedly dual mode BLI PRR H10s 2-8-0s, one with the "West" tender and one with the "East" tender, as they are about the shortest 2-8-0 available, due to their short tenders, and they both run in fits and starts on DC, and often not at all. That is why I like it when Bachmann offer a loco in plain DC, DCC-Ready. I just yesterday ordered the ACL Pacific and SAL Mikado which both come DC, DCC-Ready. But even Bachmann have a bad habit of offering a model as DCC ready for some roads and DCC on-board for others, so it is pure chance whether you can get the engine you want in the format you want. I was lucky!
Bill.

My Spectrum Russian Decapods will go anywhere my Spectrum Consolidations will go.
Bill.

I can't speak for the Bachmann RS-3, but I have several diesels that did this, and the cause is either the lubricants in the gear-towers have solidified (Life-Like and Athearn) or, in the case of Life-Like, split gears, though gear locking is extreme for this cause, they usually do a lot of clicking first. You need to study the maintenance diagram and, when you understand it, dis-assemble to the point where you can see the gears to diagnose and fix. For Life-Like there are on-line videos to show you how to do this, the problem is so common. I don't know about bachmann as I have never searched the issue online. Clean the gears and re-lube with Hob-E-Lube - there are various types for different parts, varying from light oil (axle bearings) to grease (gear towers).

Hope this helps,
Bill.

Hi Bob, thanks. If by the 2-10-0 you mean the Russian Decapod, that is a much shorter model than the USRA 2-10-2 model, the whole loco and tender are only 10" long, the same as the 2-8-0, and it has flangeless driving wheels on the 3rd, i.e. centre, axle. I am guessing the 2-10-2 will need a wider radius than the decapod.

Hi, what are the "official" and "actual" minimum radius curves for this model, please? I have not found it specified in the official blurb.
Thanks,
Bill.

Hi, I just got an email flyer from Bachmann announcing a fresh release of the Baldwin 2-8-0 in HO and in N scale. I am wondering if the N scale models have a fully functional front coupler yet so they can be used for branch line, switching, and yard operations? If so, is the chassis sufficiently the same to allow me to transplant my old SAL loco and tender bodies onto them (Spectrum 81166 SAL #916 and 81173 SAL #914). These two old ladies are fed up with the big hand from the sky having to keep turning them round, and they would like to be able to run tender-first instead!!!!!
Thanks,
Bill.

Hi, just wondering what the advantages and disadvantages are of replacing the decoder with a blanking plug in the Spectrum 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s when using an analogue controller. My "DCC Ready" steam seems to start at a lower voltage than my "DCC on Board" steam, giving me a greater useful dial range on the controller, but are there other differences? And are there advantages in leaving the decoder installed??

Grateful for opinions / experience from other analogue users.

Bill.

There is some mystery here. The Bachmann online shop has no page for the USRA Light Pacific, the ALCo Modern 2-6-0, and whilst it has a page for the Baldwin 2-8-0 it is blank.

On the USRA Light Pacific, I checked my memory and found an email from Bachmann dated 15 March 2022 and titled "The 2022 Bachmann Catalog is Here!". There is a link "Click Here to View and Download", which I did, and I got a PDF catalogue which says 2022 on the cover, and on page 47 there are three DCC Ready USRA Pacifics, with "NEW" beside them, for the ATSF, ACL and B&O. I have been waiting for "Bachmann 52902 HO USRA Light 4-6-2 Pacific - Standard DC Atlantic Coast Line #1528" ever since, and it still shows as a pre-order item at Trainworld. Is it cancelled?

I wonder if Bachmann Europe has its own relationship with the factory in China. The Bachmann Europe website shows 103 US HO steam locos, including:
52802   USRA Light Pacific 4-6-2 - NYC #4552 HO Arrived £306.90
52804   USRA Light Pacific 4-6-2 - Grand Trunk Western #5629 HO Arrived    £306.90

On the Baldwin 2-8-0, whilst the page in the Bachmann US online shop is blank, the Bachmann Europe website shows:

51317   Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation Rock Island #2123 HO Arrived £191.40
51318   Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation Norfolk & Western #718 HO Arrived £199.25
57901   Baldwin 2-8-0 - Southern Consolidation #630 HO Arrived £283.80
57902   Baldwin 2-8-0 Pennsylvania Consolidation#7748 (DCC Sound Val HO Arrived £283.80
57903   Baldwin 2-8-0 - NYC Consolidation #1137 HO Arrived £302.50
57904   Baldwin 2-8-0 - UP Consolidation #730 HO Arrived £291.95
57905   Baldwin 2-8-0 Santa Fe #2508 Consolidation(DCC Sound Value) HO Arrived £283.80
57907   Baldwin 2-8-0 - Boston & Maine #2394 HO Awaiting £302.50
57908   Baldwin 2-8-0 - Lackawanna #369 HO Awaiting    £302.50
57909   Baldwin 2-8-0 - Pennsylvania #7746 HO Awaiting £302.50
57910   Baldwin 2-8-0 - Santa Fe #2525 HO Awaiting £302.50

And for the ALCo Modern 2-6-0 there are:

51708   ALCO 2-6-0 Steam Locomotive New York Central® #1907 HO Arrived £130.00
57811   Alco 2-6-0 - New York Central HO Awaiting £279.75
57812   Alco 2-6-0 - Pennsylvania Railroad HO Awaiting £279.75
57813   Alco 2-6-0 – ATSF HO Awaiting £279.75
57814   Alco 2-6-0 - L&N HO Awaiting £279.75
57815   Alco 2-6-0 - Union Pacific HO Awaiting £279.75

For the Baldwin 4-6-0 there are:

51401   Baldwin 4-6-0 Pennsylvania #7080 (DCC Sound Value) HO Arrived £307.00
51404   Baldwin 4-6-0 C&O #377 (DCC Sound Value) HO Arrived £306.90
52201   Baldwin 4-6-0 - New York Central #1238    HO Arrived £238.75
52202   Baldwin 4-6-0 - Baltimore & Ohio #1357 HO Arrived £229.90
52203   Baldwin 4-6-0 - Canadian Pacific #847 HO Arrived £238.75
52204   Baldwin 4-6-0 - Maryland & Pennsylvania #27 HO Arrived £238.75
52205   Baldwin 4-6-0 - Texas Pacific #316 HO Arrived £238.75

For the USRA Light Mikado Bachmann Europe list 9 road names, not the 6 listed on the US website, the extra ones being:

54305   USRA Light 2-8-2 - Maine Central #617 HO Arrived £306.90
54306   USRA Light 2-8-2 - Union Pacific #2492 w/Medium Tender HO Arrived £314.50
54403   USRA Light 2-8-2 Southern #4501 Long Tender(DCC Ready) HO Arrived £253.00

Unfortunately Bachmann Europe do not have a web shop, apparently part of a policy to protect their retailer network. They do have a "Find A Retailer" button, but for Bachmann USA stuff it lists any retailer who ever ordered a Bachmann USA item and many are small shops now out of business. However, Bachmann Europe say that those retailers still in business can order any item shown as "arrived" for a customer, as "arrived" means in stock at Bachmann Europe.

Finally, I am not sure why Bachmann US would ever let a steam loco which is in steam at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum go out of stock at Bachmann. Surely there must be a constant stream of new customers, i.e. everyone who visits the TVR?

I have an ancient pair, Seaboard #914 (Spectrum 81173, DCC Ready) and Seaboard #916 (Spectrum 81166, not DCC ready). I don't expect Bachmann to re-issue these in DCC + Sound any time soon, so I was wondering if the loco and tender bodies might transplant directly / fairly easily onto the chassis of one from one of the RRs Bachmann currently favour. I don't want to buy one and then find they don't!!!!!

BTW I'm surprised the Bachmann on-line shop does not specify a minimum radius curve for the 2-8-0. Nor does the documentation with my engines. The Model Railroader review of April 2002 says 9 3/4 inches, but I don't know where they got that from.

Do these latest sound value locos have a proper working front knuckle coupler, or has this basic ommission from a freight loco still not been addressed? Again the MR review says MTL recommend their 2004-1 as a replacement front coupler for this loco, but the MTL conversion chart says "No pilot conversion available". It seems to me that puts the onus on Bachmann to solve the problem. They did it on the 2-6-0, so it must be possible on the 2-8-0. The provision of a working front coupler on the 2-6-0 shows Bachmann recognise it is essential for freight loco operation.

Bill.

I am now getting the message below when I click on a photo link:

"You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

    You are not logged in. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and try again.
    You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
    If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

The administrator may have required you to register before you can view this page."

I guess "registration" is all about getting your data to sell on to someone else.

Bill.

Thanks for your very helpful reply. On your coupler change first, unfortunately when I click on the pics I see "Service Temporarily Unavailable. The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later." I'm not sure if that is temporary or if the pics have expired. Anyway, I have a box of MTL 001 02 003 (1015-01) "Universal Body Mount Short Shank Couplers". Is this what you used? I see on the MTL website Product Code: 001 02 001 "BMC - Brown (1015/1016-B) 3pr:  2 pair short shank & 1 pair medium shank with draft gear boxes." I am wondering if the medium shank couplers would help the issue of having to locate the coupler box too far forward to use the screw? There are quite a lot of couplers on the MTL site, all in very small print, and I am looking to see if i can find a Long-Shank coupler, which might serve better still. I found 001 10 301 (1301-10) MTL True-Scale Long Shank Coupler, but that doesn't seem to have a trip-pin, tho it does use the same size coupler box as the 1015.

On the valve gear, I am glad the troublesome parts are called eccentric! The loose rod easily pushes back onto the pin, but presumably will just as easily fall off again. It is not the result of wear, as it came off the first time the loco ran - it was bought a long time ago (2004-5 from a now long-closed hobby shop) and never used. I am reluctant to send it back to Bachmann, as I have heard that with old locos they don't repair, but just send you a current one, and if they no longer make the same RR as the one you sent in you get a loco for a different RR and never see your original again! The pic of the Cylinder Assembly in the parts store makes it much clearer how it all fits together than I could tell from looking at my assembled loco. One simple fix might be to super-glue a flat metal disk to the end of the pin to retain the rod. Or to dispense with the rod. The long pin behind the fake screw suggests it holds quite a lot together, so I am guessing that part would need to stay. Or as you say, a new assembly from the parts store does not cost a lot.

Thanks again,
Bill.

I have an old Spectrum 2-8-0, Spectrum 81166, SAL #916. There is a short arm amongst the coupling rods that is attached at one end behind a plastic thing top-left of the 2nd driver and is still attached, and the other end should be attached to a pin on the oval thing on the 3rd driver, but has come off. From the parts diagram the rod seems to be part #MTB25 and the ovoid thing it attaches to looks to be the pin on part #OOP01. My question is, if I push the hole in the end of the rod back onto the pin, how do I stop it coming off again? I can't glue it, as the pin needs to rotate within the hole in the rod. I assume it was a push-fit, as the parts diagram does not show a retaining nut.

BTW, it doesn't stop the loco from running, it is just cosmetic, so at a pinch I could remove the rod entirely, as with it hanging loose it can foul the ends of the sleepers or pointwork.

If it is not fixable, which would be a pity as it is a smooth running loco, will the old Spectrum body transplant onto the present 2-8-0 chassis? And does the present chassis have a fully working front coupler with a trip-pin? That would be a big improvement. This old chassis has a non-working knuckle which plugs in with twin prongs, which can be replaced by a non-moving Rapido on twin prongs which is supplied, but I use knuckle couplers and lack of a fully operating front knuckle is a major drawback for a loco that does switching.

BTW, I don't want to run this as DCC, and I don't mind if the front coupler protrudes a bit further than the dummy if that enables it to function fully.

Grateful for any advice,
TIA,
Bill.

Hi, the "High Boiler" aka "63" Driver" Baldwin 4-6-0 was issued for the New York Central, with the Decapod tender, for the CNW (lettered CStPM&O) with the USRA medium coal tender, and undecorated with the decapod tender. You can still see parts in the Bachmann parts store, not under "Baldwin 4-6-0", but under "4-6-0":

https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=68_210&sort=20a&page=3&zenid=8io87a7fir2mutsu64299gl8h5

If you are searching ebay / the web, search for "Spectrum 4-6-0".

The undec version comes with a steel cab fitted and an alternative "Wood" cab in the box.

DC versions may not have sound-ready tender floors.

The CNW models were Spectrum 82306 (DCC Ready) and 84906 (DCC + Tsunami Sound)

The NYC models were Spectrum 82305 (DCC Ready) and 84907 (DCC + Tsunami Sound)

The painted, unlettered models were Spectrum 82307 (DCC Ready) and 84902 (DCC + Tsunami Sound)

These links to Walthers show you what the undecorated models look like:

https://www.walthers.com/spectrum-steam-powered-baldwin-4-6-0-w-tender-high-boiler-painted-unlettered-black

https://www.walthers.com/4-6-0-63-quot-drivers-w-sound-dcc-spectrum-r-unlettered-painted

They are very nice engines, and if you want to mix and match I can tell you that the small Baldwin tenders from the Spectrum "Low Boiler" aka "52" Driver" 4-6-0s plug straight into the high boiler models, i.e. the wiring is consistent - I say that because some Spectrum models had different pin configurations for the tender to loco link, so whilst the plugs looked the same you had to swap wires around before they worked properly. The new, not-spectrum 4-6-0 tenders will not plug straight in, as they have a different plug entirely to the old Spectrum 4+2 arrangement.

BTW the high-boiler 4-6-0 looks great with the Spectrum Vanderbilt Medium coal or oil tenders, which came unlettered, or for the SP (oil), or B&O (coal), and I think perhaps for the UP too.

Hope this helps you find what you want.
and Merry Christmas to all,
Bill.

Hi Jeffery, UK railways did not use standardised steam designs before they were all amalgamated into British Railways in 1948. Each railway designed and built it's own steam locos, and there were over 100 independent railways pre-1922, when they were consolidated into 4 main operators to survive following the wear and tear of WW1. The reason they built their own was partly the result of Victorian era competition laws that prohibited railways from building locomotives for other railways. There were several independent builders, such as Dubs, Sharp Stewart, Beyer Peacock,Vulcan Foundry, Armstrong Whitworth, etc., who built locomotives for sale to the empire and overseas, and a lot of their engines went to South America, Africa, India, etc. Those independent loco builders did often get overflow contracts from UK railway companies that needed more locos more quickly than their own shops could build, but they built to the rly company's design. The independent builders also sold off-the shelf locos to a few small UK railways that did not have the capacity to design and build their own - shortlines in US terms, but those small railways more often bought retired locos second hand from larger railways that were replacing older locos with newer, more capable engines, as that was a lot cheaper for a small rly than to buy a new engine. Thus there was a huge range of locomotive designs, and although when railways merged into 4 main companies in 1922 (LMS, LNER, GWR, Southern) the 4 new Chief Machanical Engineers set about consolidating their own loco shops and replacing older obsolete classes with more modern company standard designs, many of the Victorian designs were still operating into the 1950s and even 1960s, with some whole classes of locos surviving intact (except for casualties) from pre-WW1 into British Railways ownership in 1948. That is why there are so many preserved steam locos in Britain. There is a major interest in older steam locos amongst UK modellers and the manufacturers are increasingly focused on that. Each loco model has the potential to represent several eras, with suitable modifications. Below is a link to the current Bachmann UK steam range. Hornby, Dapol, Heljan and others are also producing steam. A common factor is that a lot of these are made in the same factories in China, so the UK manufacturer does the design work, usually in conjunction with a museum, heritage railway, or rly company historical society, but the Chinese do the tooling, on demand, so the actual maufacturing side is a "well oiled machine". Clearly, this "well oiled machine" could be deployed to support any market, as indeed it does for US diesels.

https://www.bachmann.co.uk/category/model-railway/branchline/steam-locomotives?page=1&sortby=5&numper=100

Bill.

Hi Rich, the ex-MDC 2-8-0s were re-issued earlier this year in several paint schemes and sold out almost as soon as they arrived from China.

http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=2-8-0&OA=True&PageSize=72

I got these 2:

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH84917

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH84966

The 2-6-0s last came out in 2007:

http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=2-6-0&CatID=THLS&OA=True&PageSize=72

and I got these 4:

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84703

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84704

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84705

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84706

As you note the 2-8-0s and 2-6-0s both use the same boiler casting and cab and tenders, as do the 4-4-0s, also last re-issued in 2007 and which I missed at the time:

http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=4-4-0&OA=True&CatId=THLS

But looking forward, a model Bachmann might like to consider is the SP & T&NO moguls, which were very powerful and handsome looking engines and could be coupled to the Vanderbilt medium oil (or coal) tender already in the Spectrum range. Re steam v diesel popularity as models, the problem with a lot of american steam is the engines were just too big to fit on a small model RR. But small steam models on the 8-inch - 10-inch long range could fit and appropriately sit and operate on a railroad that would fit along one wall of a bedroom in a modest house or flat. These small steamers spent a lot of time switching, not just racing thru the plains / forests / mountains / swamps of continental america!

Accurail now offer a vast range of 36-ft boxcars for almost every RR you ever heard of, and they all need steam to switch them! As do the Atlas 36-ft reefers.

Bill.