My Whitcomb  arrived this  morning  , it  is  a  very impressive  model  well worth  the  money (and  the  wait!!)

I am a little pushed  for  time  at  the  moment,  but  should anyone wish to look at  www.rmweb.co.uk  and look at  the  modelling ' special interest '   section  and  NARROW GAUGE etc  you will find   a short  reveiw  there  under  the  Whitcombe  heading.

One  thing to  note  the  loco  is  very  heavy  701 Grammes!  It  runs  superbly!

A couple  more  observations..... sound module  installation  when  they  become  available  appears  to be very  easy,

2 Bells  & 1 Horn  are  enclosed  for  user  fitting,  there is  a driver in the  cab,  the lights  are  directional, but  the  rear  one  remains  on  but  dims slightly.

Pulling  power   will be  exceptional  I have not  got  enough  rolling  stock  here to  test it!!!

The loco  runs very smoothly  from  a very slow  crawl, to  a Maximum speed  which  is probably  just  below a scale 40MPH

There  should be  no problem  with  tight  curves,  the  bogies  (sorry  Trucks!) have a lot  of  swivel ( turnability)  the minimum radius on the layout I have been testing it on  is  17"  but when  I  stopped the loco  on the  17" curve to check I found that   there is still a little more turn available  in the  trucks  so 15" radius should be no problem.

Over  the  years  I have  fitted  decoders  to  more  engines than I  care to remember,  I have been given  the  job  of fittng a decoder to an 0n30 2-6-0   today,  I did one years  ago  but  I  have totally  forgotton  how  the  chassis  is  removed  from  the  body.

Would appreciate  if  someone  could  enlighten  me!!

Many  Thanks

Steve

I notice  that  on  Bachmann Europe website, the  estimated  delivery is now  shown  as  Jan/Feb!
This update was dated 01/01/2014

When  first  announced it  was  shown as  October 2013

I notice  in the  Bachmann Online  store  section  the  expected  delivery date  for  the   Whitcomb Diesel Locos  is quoted  as  being  31st january 2014.

I bought  a  couple  of  2-6-6-2  Mallets  a  couple of weeks  back as  the main retailer had very few left in stock, one  is  a sound one  the other a 'silent' one ( in fact the  sound  one  was the last one in stock)

The sound  one  ran perfectly on initial  testing  but  the  'silent' one  was not up to expectations certainly not as good  as our  other mallets,  I did the  usual  tweeks  with  the   decoder altering  CVs etc  and  whilst  this  improved  perfomance quite a lot  It  still wasn't as good as it  should  have  been.

This  afternoon I was  removing some decoders  from  a couple of UK locos I had  sold. So I had some  decoders  going  spare!

I  had  noted  that  the 2-6-6-2  I was concerned about  had  a 21 pin socket  but  was  fitted with an 8 pin decoder via  a  8 to 21 pin adaptor  cable.

So I  removed the  8pin decoder and cable  and  fitted one of my  spare 21 pin  decoders ( this is a  Bachmann 4  function one)  I tested  the  loco with  the  relacement  decoder  and  the  running  qualities  were  perfect!

I have no idea  why  this  should  be  but  I am  quite  happy  with  the  situation,  some of  our earlier 2-6-6-2s have  8 pin  sockets and 8 pin decoders they run  fine!!

I have been  using  digital  for many  years, ( since '98) and  I have  become very  aware  that  strange things can occur  sometimes, which are not always  easily explained

I notice  that  no one  has  posted  anything  for  almost 10 days in the 0n30  section!!

Is  this  because  everyone  is too busy  building  layouts?

Or is  everything running  fine  so  there  is  nothing  to  report!!

I received  4  boxes  of the 18' Freight  cars  today  and  very  nice  they  are too!

They are a lot  heavier than  I thought  they  would  be so no  extra  weighting  will be  needed.

They roll extremely  well,  so longish  trains  should  not  be  a  problem,

All I have  to  do  now  is  weather  them, they look too new!!

The Heisler comes with an alternative OIL  TANK  would this early Heisler ever have been converted to use oil instead of coal?

Which of the 3 supplied smoke stacks is correct for Oil firing? ( straight, Onion or Diamond)

Incidentally no wood fuel load is supplied with the loco.

I received a Heisler today from my UK Supplier,  I am very pleased with the loco  it runs cery smoothly  and is powerful,  I await delivery of the sound module so it can be brought to life aurally!!

Just  one query though,  the lights are bright ( far too bright for  an early Heisler) according to the instruction  sheet the lights are dimmable using  F1, however  this does not work and the lights remain bright!

I have done the usual decoder re set a couple of times but still F1 has no effect,
I have of course  tried all the other available function numers ( 1 thro'16 ) but again  no dimmed lights.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?
regards Steve

Hi
I am thinking of  buying an Alco S4 with sound as  a  possible  chassis for an 0n30 conversion
Can anyone tell me  if the loco has  4  wheel or 8 wheel drive? ( The specification only  mentions GEAR TOWER in the singular)

Also any opinions on the  sound?

Thanks  Steve
Wales  UK

My 2-4-4-2 mallet arrived this  morning, its a very nice loco, overall a bit  shorter  than the  2-6-6-2  but  the  tender  is  actually a little longer  than that of the 2-6-6-2.

Runs  smoothly  and  is powerful  10 bogie cars  no problem  will pull more!
Both Lights illuminate  irrespective of  direction of  travel  but  the  trailing  light  dims.
speaker  already fitted in tender  so  sound module  fitting will take  30 seconds ( 21 pin  socket in tender)
I tried to post  phots  but the site rejected  them  but  I have  posted  them on www.rmweb.co.uk  if you  enter  Bachmanns surprise in the  search at the top of the forum page  OR goto trade/products Bachmann that  should  find the  thread.

The loco comes  with all the  usual  additional  alternative  parts!

Has  any one   any info  on the   long  awaited  Heisler  loco?

My supplier here in the UK,  advised me  that  there  is  no  information being  offered  by  Bachmann Europe.

Hi
Just  received a new  Forney, I would like to check that all the  additional parts  are   correctly  supplied,  I would appreciate  any info   on what   i should  have  received in the  box.

Many  thanks

Steve

Is there  are  updated information  as to  when  the  Heisler  will eventually  be  available?

It all seems to have gone  very  quiet on here.

The Bachmann  website  here in the UK  lists  it  as  'Out  of Stock'

According to information on the  Bachmann Europe website  Heislers 28802/3/4/5 arrived in the UK  in the last  30 days!

I have not been able to gain  further info from my supplier over  here  as they  have  closed for  the  day       ( we are +5Hrs over )  but I will phone  them tomorrow.

Bachmann Europe website is accessable from the Bachmann USA home  page  via  the  Union Jack Flag

Dave  at  Tower  Models  ( Blackpool)  has  advised  that  a delivery of  some  Porters  has  arrived,  however the  supply  is limited  and  there   are no Sound versions  available  (yet)

Details from       www.tower-models.com

Can any one  supply  info. on  sound  fitting  to  the  Bachmann 0n30  Railbus,

What  sound  decoder used etc  and  where it  was  fitted  in  the  unit etc

any information  welcomed.

Thanks

The  Railtruck has not  really  been high on my  wants  list, however a UK retailer is  having  a  sale and advertised one  for £49.95  ( Thats  around $75)  so  I bought  it!

It  arrived  next day at  around 1-00PM  It  was  all perfectly   factory sealed in its  carton, but  by  3-00pm it was heading  back to  the  retailer!

The  problem was that  the drive to  the  rear driven axle  was  faulty, the truck  moved on the  track but stopped  (with  the motor  still  working)  at  the  slightest up grade!
The  driven axle  would revolve by hand! So I  identify this  as  a  transmission fault at the rear  axle.

Has any one  experienced  this  problem at  all?

I am wondering  if  BACHMANN will ever  produce  a Narrow  gauge  BIG diesel loco?

I reckon that  such a loco  would  sell well,  I quite  like  the  look  of  Richyoder's GE 50 tonner, but  the price  is a  little  high!  Although I am  quite  temped  to  order one!

Has any one else  any thoughts on  this  subject??

Steve  Lewis

North Wales UK

I have  just  succesfully  installed  a  QSI  sound/decoder in  my  K-27.

The  installation  took  just  20 mins,

The  sound  is   superb,  a  vast  improvement on the  LGB/Massoth  combination  I had  installed until  the   QSI  one  arrived  here  at  my  supplier (www.dragon-gscale.co.uk).

Surprisingly  the  cost  price  is  far  less   by  about  £40 ($80)  than  a Massoth  or  ESU  sound  decoder,  over  here.