Its a sad day.

I've been busy with other things so I havent been by the train shop in a couple months, I found out today after 69 years in business Allied Model trains has closed its doors for good.

I bought from them as much as possible because I liked supporting people
In my hobby unfortunatly its had for a Brick & mortar shop to stay in business anymore.


Nm-Jeff

I see some incredible work here and at train shows.
Model Rail Roaders are some of the best miniture model builders there are.

I would just like to point something out that I see on just about every layout I see.

I call it "Time Warping" what is it? The simplest and most common form is a layout set in say 1940's and a 1940's truck with 50+ years of weathering & rust. It has the same visual effect to me as if you just dropped a modern day Diesel locomotive on the layout.

The second most common is run down buildings that are period for the layout but again have 50+ years of wear and tear.


Over all they look great and maybe no one notices  they give the layout some whimsy but they stick out to me like flashing beacons.

Imagine your looking down main street of your town today and you see a 2014 truck that is rusted dented and beatdown as if it were fifty years old, or a five year old building that looks 100 years old.
T
The funniest part of this phenomenon is it is most prevalent on the strictest locomotive rivit counters layouts.

Just my two cents

NM-Jeff

Ps Im guilty of it also at times because its visually pleasing to people.

Just thought I would post a reminder fro anyone who might be in the SoCal area.

Ive missed the last couple big shows here...

NM-Jeff

I'm very happy to report that I saw the union pacific crew working on the Big Boy today
They are working on drive rod bearing in preparation for the move to the restoration shop, talking with one of them he confirmed that they plan to have this lovely lady running on her own steam in five years or less.

That standard 5gal bucket gives some perspective of the size of the loco for those who may have never seen one in person, it would drop in the bearing hole with plenty of room to spare.

NM-JEff

I was lucky enough to Meet Jackie Hadnot today when he came by my work he does great train carvings

Believe it or not he does this in his spare time, he works a regular job during the day.

I thought some of you may like to see these.

http://www.silverrailsgallery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=4

NM-Jeff

Seems like every dcc on board loco i have runs quieter with Dc then when running with Dcc I have tried tons of settings and nothing seems to make them run as silent as when on dc only

Any setting suggestions? With ho and up i have just bought better decoders but i just got a couple n scale switchers and dint want to spend money on decoders.

Nm-Jeff

I recently decided to do a N scale layout I started looking at what Bachmann had to offer by going to the Product Info button, this lead me to all the tabs I have been clicking on for a while.
I also took a look on Ebay, there I found the Spectrum N Scale Train Diesel GE 70 Ton DCC Equipped Southern Pacific 82055, then I went back to Bachmanns products and couldn't find it... what the heck?, typed in the Product ID and it popped up in "spacial products" along with other Bachmann Items I had not seen before.

My Long winded Point... I never have clicked on the Spectrum Icon because I figured all the products could be found in the tabs that come up when you click the "Product Info" Icon.

So Bachmann You may be able top increase some sales a little if you as a "Spectrum" tab to the other tabs navigated to from the "Product Info" tab at the top of this page.


NM-JEff

So I have heard a lot of people describe a problem getting a signal with their Dynamis System, I have been lucky with mine and only have had issues when the batteries in the hand held control are low, Until last Night...

I hooked everthing up to run the G-Scale trains I always run with it around the tree, turned it on to enjoy the train hauling presents around and DANG! wont get a signal... changed the batteries... no signal,

The green LED on the base is flashing rapidly, and no matter what I do I can't get a signal and  the Green LED is still flashing so I put it away and hooked up the old trusty DC power pack and let one train run around.

This morning I get up, hook the Dynamis Up to another section of track plug turn it on and its fine, so I connect it back to the tree layout DANG! no signal... Whats differant? the layout and the Receptacle I am using, So I unplug it and run an extention cord from the other receptacle and YES it works!!!

So what the difference ? the problem plug has a dimmer switch on it that was not turned on fully so the plug in power supply was being starved of power,  because I have read others describe the same condition I tested it and found issues starting at about 105vac input to the pack.

So if you have this problem put a meter on your Receptacle to see what the output voltage is and remember to turn on anything that may run on that circuit your voltage may drop to the point of causing  problems under load.

Even a Poor connection in your house circuit could cause issues.


NM-Jeff

Who here would like to see Bachman package their Locomotives in a kit form?

Toss the completely unpainted body in a box with bags of screws, detail parts, a little wire, and everything else for us to paint and assemble as we like!

Who else would like to see this done?

I know I would love to get a G-Scale K27 this way and assemble it, as well as many  On30 locomotives that I like.

NM-Jeff

I hope the bachmann doesn't mind me posting the image links for those who dont go to facebook.

Has anybody been to one of these? is it worth an hour drive?

NM-Jeff

A  Semi truck ran the crossing today and collided with a Amtrak train in Nevada 200+ passengers on board, the train caught fire.

Idiot!

NM-Jeff

Hey Mr.bach-man,
Or anyone else have a close match to the yellow Davenport 0-4-0
I built a MOW car with extra electrical pickups to plug in and  pull behind it and I want to paint it the same color or close to it.

BTW the tsu1000 sounds great and only resets once in a while even when going over turnouts.

Thanks
NM-Jeff

I'm Lost, Ive done a search, are the 1:20.3 Baldwin Industrial 2-6-0 Mogul Steam Locomotive with Tender available?

Thanks

NM

I recently Bought one of these Little powerhouses on-line, sight unseen, I figured for the price I could not go wrong, when it arrived I was VERY pleasantly surprised the quality and detail is great and it pulls like a champ.

If you haven't seen one of these, next time your at your LHS take a look.

NM

While searching for a big hauler headlight I had laying around to mount on my Davenport, I grabbed a mini-mini maglite, the one that takes two AAA batteries, Of corse it didn't work so I left it on the work table, I found the bighauler headlight and set it on the table, then I noticed they looked the same diameter, and even better the reflector and lens matched the front headlight on the davenport,
I disassemble both the set the new lens and reflector in the base... They fit but are tight, when I tried to put the top of the big hauler light assembly on it was too tight to close completely, so I placed a piece of sand paper flat on the table then placed the reflector assembly face down and sanded it until the ring was half as thick, then I used a exacto knife to bevel the inside edge of the bighauler headlight assembly, reassembled and it is perfect! 

I'll post pictures shortly for those who may be interested, I'm writing from my iphone due to a computer crash so please excuse the worse then usual spelling etc.

NM

Hi,  I'm thinking of building a layout for under my glass coffee table, I want it to have 3 levels, like a double folded dog bone layout. anyway. I'm looking for loco's that can pull about 6 of the altas 70 ton ore cars. I will run two in a consist if need be so heres my questions, thanks in advance for your input.

How well do these locos run?

What is the minimum radius?

Is the coupler change easy? (they come with dummy couplers)

how well do they handle switches/turnouts (I may do a out and back with a siding for passing)

what has been the biggest maintenance issue with them.

Thanks again

NM

Anyone know whats up with this site? I get no images and 404 error messages...

NM

Has anyone else got a good laugh out of the sight of "Super Bachmann" with the cape in the new catalog.

Sorry I couldn't help but Laugh...

NM

I'm building a new little circle layout for someone and was searching the web for an interesting bridge, Love trestles but wanted something differant, while googling I ran across this site, thought  someone else may find it useful.

www.bridgehunter.com

NM