Good pointers there Les, thanks for the info, it will help a lot in my desing process.

thanks all. so i did have the idea mostly right then. will use that string solution, seems like a pretty good way to do it.

Ok, i just can't seem to wrap my mind around this one, but think i'm halfway there, or halfway stupid, take your pick. lol
If i want an 11 inch curve radius, does that mean the inside rails need to be 22 inches apart?

I've read some stuff on curve radius but i've hit a mental block & it just won't gel in my head. Help!!

Thanks Again.
Yes you're right, i'm hoping to get a 2 inch tunnel so i can run rail over another train that is passing underneath. So wow, 11 feet of track to get over a 2 inch uderpass? am i reading that right?

Les, at what height does one not need "run outs" with N scale track?
under an inch in 36" of track? or even less than that?

thanks. in a 36" piece of track, what's the best way to calculate the grade?

Hi All, just new to this hobby and switched from HO scale to N as it seems I will have more room to be creative in a smaller space.

I was wondering if anyone has ever bent a single piece of Peco flex track vertically/horizontally, meaning, making a smooth curved bridge. Kinda like this

___-------____

but out of one piece of flex track if you get what i mean.
the track seems to be able to flex that way to some extent, just wondering if anyone has actualy done it.

Well I must say I was a bit dissatified there, had that problem with the dead CP 1412 engine. I decided since it was screwed anyways that I would take it apart & see what was up. I unsoldered the old wires, put on some new ones from a cat 5 piece of cable I had laying around, and now she's back on track!

I have another problem now that I have to address. the coupler on the back of the engine has broken off, & it's attached to the chasis and not the truck, allready tried with a bit of crazy glue to see if that would work and no luck, still comes off. (and I don't mean just the horn coupler, but the hole bracket that holds the coupler has snapped off the body).

Again, just getting into this, and this was a cheap purchase of an older model, but this "f series" engine as some on here suspect it is, doesn't have much power. It barely makes it up the grade that came with the set for the bridge, and I had to shave down the top of the bridge supports as it kept getting caught in the bottom of the engine truck flanges. All in all, I'm not impressed by this Bachmann train set. Not saying I would not buy another Bachmann set or piece of equipment, but all in all I find this a rather shabby product.

but as my venture into this great hobby is just begining, I will truck on. I'm thinking N scale is the way I want to go, just looks like more space to be able to creat & play with.

So for those of you with broken stuff, take it apart, see how it works, you might just be able to fix it on your
own.

Thanks to those who gave me some ideas, and sorry, but no thanks goes out to Bachmann support.

thanks jward, you've mentioned that before. it's just that i'm so new to all this, that it is now frustrating to have finaly figured out the first reason it wouldn't run, to now just have it die 4 hours after i got to work.
i'm not quite set on HO scale, may be leaning to N. wanted to try some stuff with this one first and then make a decision. so i don't really wanna go spend $30 on another loco right now.
i'll try customer service and see what they say.
thanks.

after finaly getting this loco running, welding all the track etc..., the darn thing went up & died about 4 hours into running it. not a consecutive 4 hours, just in total.
the track has power, i can see little blue sparks when i touch the wheels to it. the light however died about 10 mins prior to the loco failure.
it is the flathead type of motor. anyone got any ideas? was there not a lifetime waranty on these things?
i'm just getting into the hobby and now this!  grrrrrrr
it is the CP 1412 diesel. nowhere on the loco are there any othe markings, except for "Bachmann China"
Help! i'm thoroughly not impressed!

well, this is an older model train, back from the 70s i think, it's not even listed on Bachmann's site anymore. lol
I have tried tightening up the trucks but the screws only go in so far and there is a lot of tilt on both trucks on any given car. Should i put in washers? and which truck should be the looser one, forward or aft?

What's the best track joiners for HO scale?
Should the top of the rail and inside also be soldered then smoothed out?
I'm looking for the best possible way to make track connections, obviously so there are no bumps in the track that seem to de-rail my rolling stock.

well after all i've read, flex track seems like it would be a challenge but the benifits seem worth the extra work. i will however work some more with my sectional track for a while to get the hang of doing that properly before i move on. i right now only have enough sectional to build a 56" x 36" oval. I will be going the flex track route to build my first big layout however.

Rich/Whiz Kid: why do you say you wish you went directly to 70 as opposed to 83 code, and what is the benefit of 70 code?

and best surface for laying flex track, plywood, styrofoam or felt covered plywood?

i saw a site where a guy used layers of styrofoam and a heat gun to create some great landscaping just by melting stuff away. looks really neat!

thanks the track is not perfect and probably needs some work. my loco goes around full speed at no problems, but will work on that.

thanks Rich, will look into getting some metal rp25 setups.

Again a newbie question. My old Bachmann set that i bought used, has the rolling stock constantly derailling at the slightest glitch in the track. Is this due to the fact that the trucks & wheels are all made of plastic? i tried to add weight to the cars, but that didn't help either. would heavier trucks/cars & metal wheels adhere better to the rails? how much lateral sway should the trucks have? mine seem to have quite a bit.

TIA.