Well, i'm back. Anyway,  i have a Bachmann sound value B&O royal blue 4-4-0 (just one engine in my 40 engine collection now) I have wanted one for years but when i got it, a section of one of the traction tires was missing, so whenever that part of the wheel touches the rail, it dips down quite a bit due to the change in elevation. So my question is, how do i replace the traction tire? Especially the removal of the connecting rod, replacement itself, and the subsequent reassembly. Thanks.

I got a richmond  4-4-0 today, it is southern railway and is green. I want to change the coal load to a wood load (the one that came in the box) But how do i do this? i can't figure out what to do to remove the current coal load and install the wood one. Does anyone know how to do this?

Also i'm just curious, but do you think the street running would look good with wooden crossing boards between the rails instead of pavement? I think it would give it a nice old look like trains have been going by for many years (and my layout is set in the 50's!)

It does not lead to a lower level. It is meant to be very little space by design. I designed it as a scenic switching puzzle

What do you guys think of my layout plan now? It is fully completed and ready to be built in the coming months!!! and if you remember my earlier posts a few years back you will see it has changed quite a bit. https://www.flickr.com/photos/141984945@N08/27938543549/
Any feedback or criticism? I will not be offended.

I'm not sure if these types of posts are okay, but what is your locomotive roster? Im curious to see what other modellers collections are like

My collection is all HO but any other scale is welcome.
Bachmann PM 2-8-4
Bachmann USRA 0-6-0
Bachmann Baldwin 2-8-0
Bachmann Porter 0-6-0T
Bachmann Lafayette
Bachmann B&O 4-4-0 (Royal blue)
Bachmann Dewitt clinton
Bachmann 2-10-0
Bachmann 2-6-6-2
Bachmann alco 2-6-0
Bachmann modern 4-4-0
Bachmann SY 2-8-2
Bachmann 4-8-2
IHC 2-10-2
IHC 2-6-0 Camelback
IHC Streamlined 4-6-2
IHC 4-8-2
BLI PRR T1 4-4-4-4
BLI PRR S2 Turbine 6-8-6
Sunset Brass N&W unstreamlined J class 4-8-4
Athearn Genesis Big Boy
Proto 2000 0-8-0
Athearn SW1500
Bachmann F9

 I need an ho scale overland limited tender shell (my kitty had his way with it) but it is not in stock. It has been that way for months and months and i want one but they never seem to restock anything in the parts store. Why is this? It's always good to make sure they are always in stock, you can't just leave us hanging! So i'm wondering will it get restocked at some point?

The traction tire is damaged, it is missing a piece so it doesn't form a complete circle. Where can I obtain a replacement traction tire, or how can I fill in the gap at least? I would say at least 1 cm or 2 is missing from the tire, so a little bit of that groove is visible where the rest of the rubber should be

On second thought, i believe i have figured out the problem, the traction tire on one of the drivers is missing a section, so when it gets to that section it dips down. Should i just pull off the tires or get a new set?

I just bought a 4-4-0, B&O #703 with sound (the royal blue one) it's an absolutely gorgeous engine and it seems to run okay, except for one glaring problem. The locomotive jerks up and down very badly while in motion, it is especially bad in reverse, accompanied by the sound of something hitting something else. I believe this is because of the cross head smacking against the cylinder or the other side of the guide. This causes it to jerk the body of the locomotive down significantly. How can i correct this issue? does the valve gear need to be adjusted or do i need to break it in and wear away the plastic a little bit? i haven't heard of others having this issue. thanks

Im back! but anyway, i just bought a new locomotive at a train show today, a spectrum Susquehanna SY 2-8-2, #142. I now have 20 ho steamers in my collection! ( i just got a walthers 0-8-0, a BLI PRR T1, and a athearn big boy and i ordered a BLI S2 turbine 6-8-6) But anyway the SY is nice. Anyway the issue is, the Chuffing is very poorly timed, if i turn the power up and leave it just at the point where it doesn't move, it still makes chuffing sounds. And it is way out of sync with the drivers, like 1 chuff for every 2 revolutions.

I have to match the speed just right so it is correct. It is not in sync with the drivers. Is the sound normal?  because the box doesn't mention anything about sound. So i think it was added afterwards. Is it just out of sync because it's DC? Should i just remove the sound completely?

I am going to buy an ho sound value 4-4-0 and I would like to do a custom paint job. But I want it to be realistic, what colours would a 4-4-0 have been painted in the the 1850s-80s? All the preserved 4-4-0s now are usually painted in nice colourful bright schemes but I don't think the paint was as good back in the 19th century. What would a locomotive in the 1800s look like in terms of paint job?

I am a scale modeller, but I'm thinking about buying a Bachmann Emily to convert into an actual stirling single. I saw a video of someone who had done just that, they added a new realistic smoke box, removed some of the details and replaced them with more realistic ones, and gave it a new paint job and it looked like a real HO scale British engine!

But I'm just curious, is the Bachmann Emily and the entire Thomas line actually 1:87 scale? Or more like British OO or some made up scale? Is the Emily actually properly scaled like the real one or just a generic cartoonish representation? Let's say, I compare it to my 2-6-6-2, and I compared the dimensions of the real engines, would it match up? Is that big driver 8 scale feet in diameter? Sorry about all the questions but I would like to try this but I would like to know if it's really an HO scale engine that has realistic proportions to the real one

That makes sense. I see that the Dewitt clinton is now labeled as "discontinued" in the parts store, that's too bad. But that's life i guess.

Now, about big and fast, what about a SP Daylight starter set like i mentioned? Power pack, an oval of nickel silver track, a GS-4 and three (or possible four) matching 85' smooth side Daylight cars? . Something kind of like the Cavalier train set that's now discontinued, but with SP daylight equipment, or maybe the same thing with American freedom train livery in place of daylight red and orange. Is there any possibility of this happening? Maybe the Bach man or yardmaster could chime in with their opinion?

Hey mr B, I assume you know those old time train sets? Like the Dewitt Clinton, John Bull and Lafayette? Will any more ever be made or have they become unprofitable? I think one should be made of the "best friend of charleston" or possibly the stourbridge lion. Is there any chance of this happening? Also could a train set ever be made featuring the GS4? The overland limited set has a 4-8-4 so I think a daylight train set with 4449 and a few orange daylight cars would be awesome and would be popular. I imagine my suggestions won't be taken seriously but it never hurts to try eh?