I recently installed a Rx, on/off switch, and charging jack from RCS Australia, a 12v, 2000Mah NiMh battery pack from All-Battery, a couple of LEDs for headlight and rearlight, and a MyLocoSounds sound board in my 4-6-0.  It sound is pretty good, but I do have a question.

Should I enlarge the slots cut in the bottom of the tender to allow more sound and less vibration?  The slots appear to be done by the molding process and I was thinking maybe running my Dremel thru them a few times to let more sound out.  Good idea or bad?

I placed a plastic cover (it's was actually a cut down plastic hamburger press/mold).  It's not air tight, just sitting over the speaker with some electrical tape holding it in place.  Should I run a bead of hot glue around it to make it air tight and secure?  This may be where the vibration is coming from.

The 12v battery provides plenty of power for the engine, I haven't run any tests to see how long it will run on a full charge though.

BobD.

Anybody know what the stall current is on this engine with 2 motors?

I'm considering installing the BlueRail board for battery powered remote control.

BobD.

Can this be powered by DC?

Also, does the chuff work off a cam or off varying voltage to the circuit?

UPDATE---is the chuff even part of this circuit board, or is it bell/whistle only?

I think I've got an answer for my 1st question, I did see where a S-scale guy put one of these in a couple of his steamers, S-scale is DC correct?

BobD.

I've read on here the screws used to secure the rail joiners are 2mm and that it takes a 2mm hex wrench, is this correct?

I've been using an old, worn out standard hex wrench (forget what size) and want to order some ball-end hex drivers from Micro-Fasteners.  They carry both metric and standard just need to know what size to get.

Bob D.

I know what analog means in electronics, but what does it mean when associated with the 4-6-0 Annie?  What are the differences between an "Analog Annie" and a "Digital Annie", if there is such a thing?

BobD.

I bought a nice looking Aristo-Craft flat car at a local train show back in September.

Today was the first time I put it behind my other (Bachmann) rolling stock and couldn't keep it on the track.  The couple knuckle has a slightly different design than the Bachmann knuckle and they don't seem to mate very well.

Anyone know of a Bachmann part number for a truck with coupler that I can use to replace the Aristo-Craft assembly?  The Aristo truck is plastic with plastic wheels and all my Bachmann trucks have metal wheels.

Or can the Aristo coupler be modified to work with the Bachmann coupler?

Bob D.

From what I can determine from looking at the blurb Loco Bill provided, my 4-6-0 is a version 5.

The engine has both working headlight/backup light LEDs (still v5 or is this an upgrade?).

What I'm seeing is that when the engine moves forward, the backup light is still faintly lit, when the engine is in reverse, the headlight is faintly lit.  It's just enough to let you know they're on and never get any brighter as speed is increased.

Is this normal, has the engine been modified to include working lights, or do the resistors in the circuit need to be increased?  Or, do I have the plugs on the rear of the engine (or the switches on the smoke box) reversed?

It doesn't seem to be a problem, the engine is running fine.

Bob D.

Which brands of turnouts are compatible with Bachmann brass track?

From the photos I've seen, they Bachmann turnouts look like they have a radius for the diverging (?) track, is that correct and what's the radius (I have 8' diameter curved track so far)?

Anyone make turnout kits that would match the 8' diameter (4' radius) track?

Bob D.

I recently bought one of these 8-wheeled cabooses:

http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=255_443_463_464&products_id=2975

I'm getting ready to paint it and have taken it apart.  This particular model has rubbery plastic hand grabs, does anyone make metal parts to replace them or do I need to roll my own?

Bob D.

Is the 4-6-0 the only engine offered in this "scale"?  If so, why?

Bob D.

What exactly does the NMRA STD/LARGE SCALE switch inside the smoke box door do?

Is it needed and/or can it be removed?  If removed, do I need to jumper anything?  I'm using an old Aristo-Craft Train Engineer set along with a DC power supply.

Also, I doubt I'll ever use smoke and plan on taking the smoke unit and switch out as well.  Any issues if I do that?

Right now I have the engine stripped down, getting ready for a repaint.  While I'm at it I'm redoing the leading truck mount to one I found elsewhere on the internet (the design does away with having to use the slot as a guide and uses a bent brass pivot arm) and I have filled up the area where the slot is with styrene for strength.

I have also reenforced the area just aft on the chassis (at the 90 degree bend). just behind the rear wheels of the leading truck.

My only "fear" now is that I hope I can remember where all the parts go and in which order they need to go on 

Bob D.

Do any of the current starter sets come with the anniversary (metal components) engine?

Need it to verify clearance for bridge.

Can you guys at Bachmann give us a peak at any new sound modules (like in the upcoming GP30)  for steamers (like the new 4-6-0) that may become available?

Thanks,
Bob

Which one?  I like the looks of both, the Mogul sounds like it might be a little sturdier with the metal chassis, but the 4-6-0 looks just as good.

Anyone have both and can you give me any advice?

Bob D.

Is the "L-Shaped" mounting bracket just a bracket or does it also serve as a path for electricity?  Does it need to be isolated from the board if not used as an electrical path?

I'm trying to decide if I want to get the Mogul, but I have some questions before I do.  I've been asking on the OGR forum but thought I'd fire away here too:

1) Is the 2-6-0 DCC Ready? I suspect not, so how easy is it to convert to DCC Ready at a future date?

2) I see Bachmann sells a working front coupler/pilot (29908), is that necessary or is it a simple matter of putting in your own coupler?

3) How is the 2-6-0 non-DCC slow speed performance? If I can't perform switching I'd be wasting my $$$

4) What needs to be done to a DCC Ready or DCC equipped engine to make them run on a regular DC power supply?

5) Is there anything I'm not asking that I should LOL?!?!?!

Thanks,
Bob

There's a SAL NW2 in the Golden Memories Line that, while nice, the paint job is very un-propotypical.  Instead of blue/orange in ought to be black/red.

I'm not sure about the rest in the line but there may also be others that have "fantasy" paint schemes.

I suggest adding a correctly painted SAL NW2 to the Traditional Line.  I've seen a number of posts on other forums saying they would buy one IF the paint scheme was authentic.

While it's fairly easy for someone to repaint an engine, it's not so easy when it comes to finding the proper decals to apply once the paint job is complete.

Thanks,
Bob