Any idea when the egg liners will reach our shores?

Anyone going to the 30th National Narrow Gauge Convention in St. Louis on Sept 1 -4?  My wife and I will be taking AMTRAK from Chicago to St. Louis then renting a car.

Several years ago while traveling to the Long Beach area for business I visited the Big Train Show on the Queen Mary. The large scale club ot there , Oro Pacific, I think, ran a log train with Bachmann log cars. The owner had removed the truck mounted couplers and replaced them with body mounted Kadee couplers. Does any one have any information on which model coupler was used, any issues with height adjustment, or any other pertinent information.

I was able to schedule trips to coincide with the train show weekend for several years . Funny how that happened!

Is there a standard or pseudo-standard for the mounting location of the magnetic reed switches used to trigger the bell and whistle functions for sound systems? That is, does the bell switch go on the fireman's side or the engineer's? The whistle switch would go on the opposite side.

I was just playing around with the programmable settings for start voltage on the K27. I found that the start voltage for my engine was down around 1 volt to get it moving. Setting the parameter now lets the whistle signal sound prior to movement. The bell still does not respond as I'd like and more tweeking is in order. Has anyone else played around with these or other settings, and what were your findings? Of course the programming cable from Phoenix is required.

Thanks,

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Aside from this, I like the new format.

I am considering installing AirWire900 in my K27, Connie, and 36 ton Shay. I am wondering what amp hour rating for the pair of 7.2v batteries I should use, which manufacturer is best, Ni-MH or Li-ion technology, manufacturer and model number for a charger, etc. Also, can anyone make a recommendation for an AirWire900 supplier other than CVP products themselves?

From the little I know so far about the product I have made a couple of assumptions that I'd like verified.
1) The system works like "standard" DCC whereby one controller can have multiple engines doing different things on the same track.
2) All the receivers in the engines can operate on the same 900 MHz frequency and that the locomotive addressing takes care of differentiating which unit is being "talked to".

In regards to the actual installations I assume that the K27 and Connie would be pretty much the same with all items going into the tender along with the Phoenix 2K2s that are already there. What about the Shay? Is there enough room in the tender portion of the engine for all the electronics, batteries and Phoenix model 97 and Big Boost board? If the 7.2v battery packs won’t fit, what will? Do I need a “battery car”? I can also use suggestions on how to separate the power pickups from the motors in the power trucks and routing the wires to the tender section? The shay does have the newest trucks installed.

Any comments will be appreciated. I hope to get this all accomplished this spring and am now starting to install the roadbed and track. Doing so with out having to run wires all over the yard is the only way to go.

Thanks,

Mr. B,

For some reason the photo album is no longer sorted by date. I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing on my end or if something happened the last time you were in there.

Does any one have plans for building a carrier for large scale locomotives? Something that would make it easy to transport locos such as the "K" and the Connie from the basement to the yard without having to disconnect the tender and make several trips. It could also be used for storage of the engines when not in use. Any plans or links to existing plans would be appreciated. No sense re-inventing the wheel if it's already been done.

Mr. B,

Who will be representing Bachmann Industries at iHobby in Rosemont, IL, the World's Greatest Hobby Show in Schaumburg, IL and at Train Expo in Milwaukee this year?

What is the minimum recommended center-to-center track spacing for 1:20.3 scale both for stright runs and curves? I will be using both 5 and 8 foot radius curves.

UPS is scheduled to deliver my batch of ME ON30 turnouts from MicroMark today. They had been on back order since the beginning of February; and promised by ME for a couple of years.

A couple of hours have passed since the first paragraph of this post. UPS has just delivered my order of twelve turnouts. They were definitely worth the wait. ME did a good job in producing these turnouts.

The first thing I noticed was how long they are: slightly over eleven inches along the straight stock rail. They do match up nicely with the printed templates I picked up at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Dearborn, MI back in 2005.

The turnouts come with a two sided set of instructions that cover everything from them being DCC ready to mounting and detailing. That's right, detailing. They come with bolt head castings for the frog and a switch stand mount that can be located on either side of the turnout.

The frog is isolated and made from metal so it can be powered through switch machine contacts if desired. The rails are un-weathered but instructions are included on weathering the rails to match their flex track (of which I have about 75 feet).

The gauge checks out OK, although they may be a little tight on the diverging rail. As received, the turnouts may need to be straightened slightly due to the ties taking a set during shipment. No big deal, just press the side against a straight surface or use a straight edge while mounting. There are even directions on how to curve the rails immediately past the frog.

Now I need to get busy laying track.