Has anybody tried to put the shell from a USRA Light 2-10-2 onto the mechanism for the Light 4-8-2?

I am looking to Bachmann to provide the steam locomotives that I want in N scale.

But, I don't understand the logic of always making new mechanisms that then serves for only one model (maybe with some minor variations). 

Why not use the same mechanism to produce other engines that have similar wheel arrangements and driver sizes?  For example, a shell for a B&O P7 should be an easy switch for the recently released Pennsy K4 shell.  And, with the high headlight position and all-wheel pickup tender, it would make the competition for that model wither and die.  And, I am sure that there are other prototypes whose shells that would be suitable for that mechanism, too.

At the same time, a series of new shells on the same mechanism would provide the reason for having a continuing source of mechanism parts to actually repair the engines that have been previously produced with different shells.  That continuing part availability would greatly bolster the value of the Bachmann guarantee, which, at this time, really means only that you will get another locomotive type, probably not of your choice, when the one you wanted and bought somehow fails.

It just seems to me that that change in marketing strategy would bolster both our hobby and Bachmann's part in it.

I have been doing research and gathering parts to do a "bash" of a Bachmann USRA Light Mountain (4-8-2) to make it resemble a B&O T3 locomotive.  The loco shell will need extensive rework, including lagging overlays, running boards, etc.  Best to attach those directly to the plastic shell, without an intervening layer of paint.

So, what is the best way to get the paint off the shell without damaging the finish of the plastic used for the shell?

I recently bought a Spectrum 2-8-0 with DCC.  I programmed the long address to the cab number (705, the C&O paint model) and ran it successfully around a club layout pulling several cars for about an hour.  Several days later, at home on a test loop, I ran it backwards for about 20 minutes.  Everything seemed to be working fine.

Then I tried the 'momentum" button on my NCR Power Cab, and things started getting hinky.  First, after selecting momentum level 5 (between 0 and 9), the engine would not run forward, but would run backward.  I tried resetting the momentum to 0, but that did not get it to run forward, but it still ran backward. I tried resetting the momentum to 0 again, and it would not run forward or backward.  I tried resetting the decoder, and the address changed from long 705 to short 3, but it still will not run in forward or reverse.  The headlight still functions with the off-on command as well as when I change direction from forward to reverse and back, but the decoder does not seem to be sending power to the motor.

Some help, please.

I just picked-up a new "72' coach" in B&O, and it is lighted from rail power.  I got the schematic from the parts site, and looked through the windows with a bright light.  I can see that there are several light sources in a ceiling attached to some sort of PC board, but I do not know what the specifications are for the lighting.

Is this lighting system compatible with DCC, or will the continuously high voltage burn-out the light sources or melt the plastic?

Some info from the manufacturer, please.

Steve

As many of you have noted, the "medium USRA" tender that comes standard on the 4-6-0 seems too large.  I have one of the "short USRA" tenders that I want to use, instead.  My 4-6-0 is DCC, so I am wondering how much work is involved with swapping the tenders.  Can I simply move the decoder from one to the other without rewiring?  Does it even fit the smaller tender?

I am looking for a all-wheel-pick-up tender that comes with the Alco 2-6-0.  It is shorter than the "short USRA tender" that is listed in the catalog.  And, there is no parts listing for the Alco 2-6-0 at all.  Is this just a different shell that fits the slope-back tender frame? 

I recently purchased a Bachmann crane and boom care combination, and have a couple of concerns. 

First, the boom car looks like a flat car that was jacked-up to make its deck level with the deck of the crane.  Was the prototype raised like that?  It looks strange to me.

Second, the little tool that comes in the set to adjust the crane hook and boom positions does not seem to want to engage the pins in side the crane body.  Are there any hints to help with that?

The old "65' Shorty" passenger cars that Bachmannn produced in lighted version as the "Plus" line used a slotted-head brass screw with a shoulder to mount the trucks and serve as the electical connection through the car floor to the light inside.  Previous owners have messed-up some of those screws and nuts by applying some sort of hard glue, apparently to keep them from vibrating loose.  (Maybe in a vain attempt to combat flicker of the lights?)  SO, I am trying to find some replacements.

The problem is that the screw thead seems HIGHLY non-standard.  The best I could figure, it looks like an English 0-60 (yes "sixty" not "eighty) or a metric 1.5 x 0.40 or 0.45 (computes to 0.42 thread pitch).  And, then there is the shoulder.

Has anybody found a source for these?  (Not on the parts website.)

I looked at the exploded drawing for my Spectrum 2-8-0 and fund the part # for the dummy scale coupler on the front of the engine, then searched the Bachmann on-line parts store for that number with no luck.  Eventally, I looket at ALL 3832 parts in the on-line catalog, and it is not there (although just about every other coupler is there).

So, how can I get one of those?

Maletrain

Since the similar thread has focused on engines, I thought I should start a new one to address non-engine wants.

What I think is lacking through-out the N-scale industry is short steel passenger cars.  Bachmann used to make its "65' passenger cars" with and without incandescent internal lighting.  But, they were really not proper scale models and are not "interior friendly."  There ARE short 60' and 65' passenger cars with 4 wheel trucks that are the size of these old Bachmann models.  For example here: http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=P53_fp-.gif&sel=coa&sz=sm&fr= and here http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=P58_fp-E94787.gif&sel=coa&sz=sm&fr= .  These are 62' and 67' cars respectively.  The old Bachmann cars are about 62', but have paired windows that really belong on the 67' cars.  So, the interior seat spacing ends-up as only 32" to make an interior. And the end windows are not right for the toilet compartments.  Plus the old models have non-model walls between the coach compartments and the vestibules that are hard to make look realistic.

A proper model of the Pennsylvania 62' cars with electic pickup wheels for adding a good lighting package should sell like hotcakes to the many N-scale modelers who run minimum radius curves in the 14' range but still want passenger trains.  There is really nothing else on the market to compete.  The Wheels of Time limited run models of the 67' Harriman coaches and 70' cars are not produced in sufficient number to fill the demand, nor in sufficient road names.

Anybody else have cars they would like to see?

When messing around with some old Bachmann passenger cars apparently designed for 12 VDC operation, which had excessively bright lights on my DCC layout, I found that my Bachmann EZ-Command DCC unit (Item No. 44901) is putting 19.4  volts AC (rms) on my tracks.  That seems strange, because the transformer that powers it is putting out 16.4 volts AC (rms), very close to its specification of 16.0 volts.  House voltage at the time was 120.7 volts AC (rms).

This concerns me somewhat, since I have read that some LED lighting kits are only good for 18.0 volts AC (peak), which is close to 16 volts AC (rms).  Worse, apparently Kato engines are only warranted for track voltages below 18 volts peak.  So far, I am only running Bachmann engines, which I PRESUME are OK with a Bachmann DCC unit.

So, I am thinking that I should settle on a control system before I go any further into engines and car lighting. 

Any other Bachmann DCC units that hit their track voltage specifications better?  Or, is there a relatively inexpensive DCC unit from another vendor that I should upgrade to?

At a recent model train show, I purchased a pair of used 65' Standard Coaches and a 65' Standard Combine (item numbers 74264 and 74164).  I need to do some work to make them acceptable for use on my layout.

First, I need to change the Rapido couplers to a knuckle type. Does anybody know how to best remove the cover on the existing coupler pocket and what number Microtrains coupler to use?

Next, I need to do something about the lighting in these cars.  It is very intermittent and, whenever it is working, it is very flashy.  I cleaned the wheels but that was not the cure.  It is also too bright and shines through the black roofs.  Can somebody tell me how to get the bodies apart?  I tried taking a screw out of one truck until I heard something inside the car drop loose, after which the lights stopped working in that car altogether.  So, I assume I will need to disassemble it to fix it, as well as to make the lighting more even and less intense in all of the cars.  I can see two tabs sticking through the car floors, but was not able to make that release the roof or whatever it is that comes off.

Anybody?

I bought a pair of Bachmann freight cars with McHenry couplers and a pair of Atlas cars with Accumate couplers to get a feel for whether I can successfully use them to remotely couple and uncouple trains.  NONE of them worked in any combination on a between-the-rails Kato permanent magnet uncoupler.  So, I bought a "Totally Hidden Uncoupler System" from S&L Industries and tried positioning their magnetic buttons under a piece of flexitrack for optimum effect on the various couples.  Of the 8, only 1 would actually move properly on the S&L uncoupler, and it would not move on the Kato uncoupler.  Also, I discovered that the magnetic pin on one of the Atlas cars had come out.  I found it on the layout track with a magnet and tried to reinsert it, which I seemed to get right, only to have it come out immediately the next time it went over the uncoupling magnet.  I did discover that only one end is magnetized, so I inserted the other end.  But, until I know how to keep it there, it won't help.  I measured the height of the pins above the rails on all 8 couplers, and found all but the one that works to be too high.  But, one of the non-working 7 was only about 0.003" too high, and the one that worked was actually 0.001" lower than standard (at 0.009" instead of 0.010").

What I would like is some advice on how to get all 8 couplers working.  First, I am thinking that I need to adjust coupler pin heights above the rails, but am afraid that I will dislodge more pins.  There is a pliers-like device for bending HO scale coupler pins - is that the best thing to use for N scale couplers?  Second, can I expect to successfully insert the pin into the Atlas Accumate and somehow keep it there, or should I replace the coupler?  If I need to glue it, what is the best glue.  Third, is there some sort of smoothing or lubrication procedure for couplers that will make them move more easily?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Looking for some advice on whether a newly bought Bachmann Spectrum N scale Baldwin 2-8-0 is showing signs of a problem.

Last Christmas I bought a Bachmann non-Spectrum N scale Baldwin 4-6-0 and a loop of Kato 13-3/4" radius track so that I would have a train to run under my very diminutive Christmas tree.  It is powered by an entry-level Bachmann DCC E-Z Command controller.  It works great pulling 4 Bachmann Jackson Sharp open sided excursion cars.  It starts at reasonably low throttle, runs reasonably smoothly as low as 13 smph, and cruises at about 40 smph at about 30% throttle.  Top speed is 83 smph.  It makes very little noise when running, mainly wheel clicks on rail joints.

This year I added a couple of turnouts and a 2 track "yard" where I can store a separate train.  I bought a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 and a couple of freight cars to begin building the new train. 

The way the 2-8-0 runs immediately seemed different compared to my 4-6-0.  It does not even start moving until the throttle is about where the 4-6-0 is doing 35 smph, and does not get up to 40 smph until over half (55%) throttle.  It also makes an obvious electric –motor-sounding whine/hum at any speed, with the pitch varying with the speed. 

It runs well enough with enough throttle, and has a top speed of 65 smph pulling 2 short freight cars.  But, at a constant throttle setting of about 55%, the actual speed around the track has varied with running time from 38 smph to 49 smph when measured on several occassions, usually starting low, getting faster, then slowing down again.  In comparison, the 4-6-0 varies only about 1 smph under the exact same conditions.  On the other hand, the 2-8-0 will comfortably throttle-down to  13 smph at the throttle setting that the 4-6-0 is going 40 smph and sometimes can do a pretty good job of 8 smph without getting jumpy.  It just won't start at that throttle setting and sometimes may get jumpy when throttled to that setting if it has been running higher for too long.  There seems to be an optimum session run time of tens of minutes when it becomes fastest and smoothest.

I can tell from the exploded drawings that came with the two engines that they have different motors and similar gear structure.  (Of course, I know the gear ratios are probably different and that the different  drive wheel diameters will affect speeds, too.)  So, what is nagging at me is whether the noise and the speed and smoothness variations are anything to worry about.

With models this small, I am hesitant to just take it apart to look.  So I am first looking for advice from people more experienced with these models before I decide what to do, if anything.