Hi
Any one know if the Thomas windmill and light house can be taken apart.
easily I have been thinking about getting both.
Painting them in more realistic shades of colour.
Possibly fitting interior lights while I am at it, no mention if interior lights are fitted to these operating accessories  on web site or catalog
All of this so that they can be used on an exhibition layout
Why because at exhibitions you cease to be a railway modeler and have to be more of a showman and the public want lots of trains and operating bits any thing that keeps them interested in the layout is good.
Unlike us a lot of the public at exhibitions don't seem to be, as interested in prototype Fidelity or realism they want to be entertained.
regards John

Hi
I know a lot of train manufacturers HO and OO scale (Bachmann do both) make loco crews specifically designed to fit their locomotives.
Bachmann don't seem to do this does any one know why?
Can any one sugest a brand of crew that is suitable for
Bachmann steam locomotives.
Is the demand out there to justify a top notch crew to fit bachmann locomotives
Perhaps they could base their crew on the Bach-man image that we have all become used to right down to a legible bachmann cap badge and big mustache for the driver
(I did say top notch crew)
Thats my thoughts any others got thoughts on this??
regards John

Hi
What year where the prototypes for these two locomotives first built??
And when where they scrapped or are there still some out in the real world??
I need to know so I can see if I can stretch time things a bit to include these small locos.
Not sure any one makes anything earlier in the way of small diesel locos
as RTR or easy kit.
regards John

Hi guys
Could you suggest a few buildings (four seems a good number not counting RR structures) for hicksville and a better name
Its a one horse town where even the horse is thinking about leaving.
Because he is fed up with that ###### banjo music and smell of moonshine still's.
Not really sure what I need to produce a town with the above image
Do have a woodland scenics flag stop which I hope is the right kind of depot.
regards John

Hi
Does any one other than Bachmann make dummy signals.
I am looking for some to make a load for an S&T train.
I am trying to find dummy search light signals and so far the only dummy's I can find are the Bachmann ones and a company called Knightwing.
neither of which are searchlight signals.
regards John

Hi
Did the US railroads have dedicated loco coal cars IE there only reason to exist was to move coal from the supplier to loco depots to fuel the locos.
They would presumably be marked XYZ RR LOCO COAL or something similar
Or is this a thing peculiar to the UK.
regards John

Hi
I cannot find any reference to the Desert King set it is defiantly made as I have lay buy-ed two sets.
It is a BHP iron ore train an Australian one
What I am trying to find out is are separate sale iron ore cars and loco made.
Two locos and eight cars won't make much of an iron ore train for me to run on the rare occasions I can attend the club I belong to.
Given the loco type and ore car design I assume it was manufacture
by Bachmann USA.
Does any one know anything about the set.
regards John

Hi guys
I need a lot of over grown track on my layout including parts of the main line.
Any one got ideas how to do it so it both looks good and doesn't get picked up by loco gear trains .
regards John

Hi
Today I received a Pegasus set.
I am very impressed with the set just being able to get a HO loco that small
to work is pretty impressive.
And coming with nickle silver track even better
But I am also disappointed as well.
The source of that disappointment is the coupling on the Loco and coaches
it looks very prototypical but looks very fragile and is not compatible with other Bachmann stock
How would I go about fitting knuckles to it to have that compatibility.
Reading the box I wonder if it would be worth doing a UK version of the set
after all the loco is already made all it would need is a set of UK freight stock of that period just to make the set different Oh and a different box.
I was unaware Norris locomotives had been exported to the UK
regards John

Hi guys
With Bachmann making a few Dawn of trains, model trains. but no freight stock of the same period.
I wonder does any one actually model that far back and if they do what they use for freight stock.
Why is the freight stock  not manufactured?? or is it and its obscure manufacturers making it.
regards John
PS this was prompted by a discussion on another forum bemoaning the lack of UK trains of that Dawn period.

Hi
triangles, Wye's I think you in the US call them.
are generally on the not interested list due to the complex wiring that goes
with then and they are space hungry.
however I need a small fold down one to turn locos around.
I seem to recall some one published a simple wiring method for a triangle,
using diodes.
The trade off was it could only be operated in one direction for me this is not a problem.
Does any one know what the cct for doing this is.
regards John

Hi
I have Henrietta on order does anyone know how  I get it apart
to paint it as the buffett car in the Titfield Thunderbolt.
also who does club car interiors that I can rearrange to get a nice
interior in the coach.
regards John

Hi all
Recently I read a 1950's publication.
That stated you need three train lengths between stations so your train appears to be going somewhere.
I have seen this in more recent publications as well.
I can see this working with train set three or four car trains.
But today with houses getting smaller and real trains longer.
And lets face it a seven car train looks better than three.
( note I have deliberately kept to very roughly train set sized trains)
Can this rule still be practical today.
What ingenuity can take the place of three train lengths of space lets face it unless you live in or get an old house you are not likely to have a large basement or large loft to play with.
regards John

Hi all
I know way back in time, in the UK old passenger cars have been turned into quite comfortable homes and also holiday shacks.
I don't think it would stand up to todays building regulations.
but was this ever done in the US in times past
regards John

Hi
Having seen a rather nice Cat log loader in HO scale.
I wondered what else would be needed for a modern log loading siding.
And if a modern fit for mainline railroad as opposed to log line
log cars are manufactureed by any one.
This struck me as a simple easy to add business for a model railroad.
A siding, a pile of logs and the loader.
Or is there more to it than I think, unless the delivery point is
off world so to speak.
regards John

Hi Mr Bachmann
The pictures of Emilie's coaches and
Henrieta in the product section are not as big as I would like them.
Could you please tell me if they have faces on the end.
As these are just about the only very short coaches on the market
in OO/ HO scale they will have to do.
I can live with them being toy coaches on the layout but not if they have faces.
regards John

Hi
Does any one have any ideas for maximizing staging in a small space.
I am building a very small layout and without some hidden staging at the
back it just will not work.
The whole layout is only 4'6" square and I would like to try and get 4 staging tracks plus the mainline at the back, without taking to much valuable scenic space from the front.
regards John

Hi
This may not be the proper forum for this as it is more to do with the UK trains and is very semi Thomas.
Is there any chance Bachmann will manufacture a model  bogie (with trucks) Wisbeck and Upwell tramway coach ie what I think henrietta should have been instead of the 4wh Wisbeck and Upwell coach.
The railway concerend had both 4wh and bogie coaches.
At the moment I have Henrietta on order for a non Thomas project,it would be nice if I could get models rather than very popular (with good reason) toys as a starting point
regards John

Hi all
I have some perspex that I plan on using for making high rises out of
both as flats and semi detailed background buildings. have done this before
on an it looks right so it is basis
However this time the buildings will be closer to the viewer so I need to know the correct floor spacing and floor thicknesses on high rise buildings to enforce the looks right part of it.
Can any one assist.
regards John

Hi alI
Am trying to come up with a tiny station that can be got together quickly.
Provide passanger traffic and very limited freight traffic,
as the first station for a large by my standards layout.
The reason the station has to be put together quickly, is its the has to hold the interest long enough for the rest of it to reach the hold the interest on its own stage.
Every thing I come up with seems overly complicated for the task required of the first station.
regards John