You need to measure the back to back on all of the wheel sets. It is almost always too narrow. The wheels pull off the axles fairly easily. Kadee makes fiber washers for spacing trucks on HO cars that fit the axle perfectly. One is .010" and the other is .015". I just stack them as needed to get the spacing right.

Larry S.

But no dash clock.

The first thing to check is that the front truck on the engine is pointing the right way. There should be a piece of plastic on the bottom with a white arrow. Make sure it is always pointing to the front. If it's backwards, it will cause a short. Make sure to use the terminals marked Track or DC on the power pack. Do not connect any terminals marked AC or Accessories to the track. Also, make sure the connector to the track is making good connection. The transformer the sets come with is very minimal at best. They are a 'universal' transformer used pretty much from N to G scale. A transformer made for G scale engines will supply more power (amps) to the track than the set pack. Next trip to the hobby shop, take some track, the engine and the power supply and connection piece and see if it does the same thing there.

Larry S.

I should have added that I use the body mounted Bachmann couplers on Bachmann, Aristo, LGB and kitbashed cars. I use the coupler height of the front coupler of the Annie 4-6-0 as my base height. I also put a chain between the uncoupling levers and the top eye of the couplers to assist in uncoupling them.

Any coupler can be adapted to any equipment, if you have the required skills. I body mount B'mann couplers on all of my equipment.

Larry S.

LGB and Bachmann passenger trucks are almost the same. I like the Aristo trucks as they are made of several pieces and sprung.

Larry S.

The wooden ore cars are too short for ET&WNC hoppers. The ET cars had two hopper bays and air brakes. The ore cars are a factory kitbash of the gondola. There is a prototype for that ore car. The ends of cars like that were not usually enclosed. Two of them could be kitbashed into an ET style hopper.

Larry S.

You can get portable GFCI outlets. Looks like a short extension cord with an outlet box on the end.

Larry S.

Too much lube can be bad as it can attract dust and grit. Just wipe off excess after servicing.

We use a transformer like that at our annual train show. I run a 4-6-0 on a 60' oval all day with no problem. On an outside layout, good connections and clean track are vital. Service the engine on a regular basis. As said earlier, rain and moisture are the enemies of transformers.

For them to move the stack is a major change. Probably not going to happen. Looks like you will need to move it. Does't look like a major problem for kitbashing.

Larry S.

The manufacturer could put the scale reference on the package along with Large Scale/G. They know what scale they used in making the product.

Larry S.

(one of the MRR organizations should come up with a standard it would seem simple to me to use the following

G32
G29
G24
G22
G20   <---forget the"F" sense it has not caught on like Kevin wrote.)

This is not a Bachmann set. This set is a Chinese knock off of Bachmann cars and a giant version of the 2-6-0 Indy (seems close to 1:20.3). The cars are very close to the Bachmann cars. Another version is issued by Buddy L. I found the 2-6-0 to be a good puller but could stand a great deal of extra detail.

Larry S.
Southerm Ohio Narrow Gauge RR

I had one of the battery powered engines. Not much in the way of detail like the Annies. I wanted an R/C Annie, so I mated the battery engine to an Annie. Not a horrible job. Runs quite well for the simple R/C system. I don't pull too many cars with it so as not to tax the older motor too much. I left the iron slug in the boiler and put the batteries in the tender. The remains of the battery engine became a scrapped engine scene.

Larry S.
Southern Ohio Narrow Gauge Railroad

The steel track is indoor only. It will rust to nothing in no time and the ties will sun rot to powder.

Larry S.