I have a question about O gauge rail joiners. It doesn't involve Williams, so I may get kicked off this forum. I want to join Atlas Industrial Rail O36 sections with Lionel O36 "FasTrack". They both have attached roadbed and are the same height. But they have different shape rail cross sections, and consequently the rail joiners are much different. The Lionel is a fat blade and the Atlas is a pin. Does anyone make a hybrid rail joiner to mate these two types of tracks? Or is this a hopeless endeavor, and I should just bite the bullet and buy more of one type or the other? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Hi, I want to make an N scale oval with approx 19 " radius curves, to run a 2-6-6-2 loco. I'm using EZ Track for the straights, but I can't find 19" radius EZ Track. I know they make it, I just can't find any. My question is: can N scale flex track make a 19" radius? What is the minimum radius for flex track? Thanks for the help.

This is really a question for The Bachmann, but anyone who has something to offer is welcome to jump in. I want to know if the locomotives in starter sets are of the same quality as the (apparently identical) units offered for sale separately. For example the N scale Empire Builder set (160-24009) has a 4-8-4 Northern loco in it, while offered for sale separately in the Bachmann catalog is a 4-8-4 Northern (160-58052). They have the same tender, judging from the pictures. Neither loco is a Spectrum, so unless Bachmann makes lower quality locos specifically for the sets these should be identical items. Right, or wrong? I ask because I often see starter sets offered at hobby stores for not much more than the cost of the loco alone. Thanks for any help on this.

My grandson & I are lusting after a 2-6-6-2 loco. He's only 6 yrs old, but boy can he lust! The only new ones I can find have Tsunami sound. (I want to stay with Bachmann). Can anyone recommend a book from which I can educate myself about sound for model trains. For example, do we need DCC to use Tsunami sound? We run DC, but we're willing to consider going to DCC if that's absolutely required. I seem to remember reading somewhere about using sound under DC. Thank you

My grandson & I have had an HO layout for some time, and he's urging me to start an N layout. I've learned (the hard way) some of the basics for HO; eg, metal wheels are better than plastic, and knuckle couplers do not work with horn hooks. But N is another world. For one thing, the darn things are not much bigger than my thumb. What are some of the important gotchas for N scale? For example, are there different N couplers out there. I keep reading about Rapido couplers - is there any other kind, and if so, which is better? Any general advice you could give us (like "don't do it") would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I just bought a new Acela set, The powered unit appears to be DOA (no hum, lights, or movement). Before I send it in for warranty service, I thought I should check about this switch. I seem to remember reading that there was such a switch. Not a shred of useful documentation came with this expensive set (the DVD is just std newbie advice), for which Bachmann should be embarrassed. Anybody who knows whether this switch exists, and its location, I would appreciate the help. Or, anything else to check out that I might be missing  before I send it in.

A little appropriate whining and complaining is in order. I have 3 DOA locos in for Bachmann warranty service right now, I hate to add a 4th. Besides which, the postage is beginning to mount up. I have a lot of Bachmann stuff - in fact most of my stuff is Bachmann. I'm beginning to wonder whether I've bet on the wrong horse.  I know complaints on this forum about Bachmann quality have met with the rejoinder,"Well, you didn't pay top dollar". Gee, I'm not complaining about the quality of the running - I'm unhappy that, fresh out of the box, so many don't run at all.

I got very tired of rubbing this blue-ish fluid on the tracks, then rubbing with a t-shirt. We have n/s ez track. So I bought a Silver Series track cleaning car, #160-16301. It has a rectangle of some dry material hanging underneath it. No info on how to use it came with it.
Questions:
1) does this really work?
2 how long should it take to get the average dirty track clean? minutes, hours, days? I ran it for about 20 minutes and a t-shirt rubbed on the track showed as much black as when I started.
3) can I hurt the track if I run it too long?
4) should I put the blue fluid on the rectangle, or leave it dry?

I understand that, once I get the track clean,  if I rub a little Wahl clipper oil on he track that will help keep it clean. But I need to get there first.

Thanks for any help you can give.

On a previous post I learned that a 2-6-6-2 will run fine on our 22" radius track. On the Internet I find DCC-ready Mantua 2-6-6-2 locos at 1/3 the cost of Spectrum 2-6-6-2's with DCC & sound. We are not ready to go DCC/sound for quite a while, so we don't need the extra features of the Spectrum right now. I've already gotten a glowing recommendation for the Spectum 2-6-6-2. I know this forum forbids criticism of other manufacturers, but can anyone stay within the rules and tell me of their experiences with these two models on a DC layout?  Mr. Bach-man, if I am out of line I will go quietly.

We have 22" radius ez track. Will that work with articulated locos? My grandchild has a plastic model of a Big Boy. He wants a working one. I have very low sales resistance with this child, so it is likely he will get one. What radius would you suggest for him to be happy while running it? Thank you.

I took our new Gordon engine out of the package and started to break him in. My partner in railroading, my 6 yr old grandson said "Look, Gordon is limping".  Sure enough, he has a little hitch in his stride, more evident at low speeds, but present at all speeds. It's evident when in a cradle also. So, I lubed the external linkages lightly with Labelle, but the very regular hesitation is still there. I can't see any binding in the drive linkages, so it might be internal. We have other 3 axle engines; namely, Spencer and Henry, and they run smoothly. Gordon is still under warranty, but I would rather not send him back if I can fix this easily. My questions: 1) might it smooth out if I ran him some more?, and 2) is this a design quirk of Gordon's?. Appreciate it if other Gordon owners could tell me if they have experienced this with Gordon.

I took our new Thomas Gordon engine out of the package and started to break him in. My partner in railroading, my 6 yr old grandson said, "Look, Gordon is limping". Sure enough, he has a little hitch in his stride, more evident at low speeds, but present at all speeds. It's evident when running in a cradle also. So, I lubed the external linkages lightly with Labelle, but the very regular hesitation is still there. I can't observe any binding in the drive linkages, so it might be internal. We have other Thomas 3 axle engines; namely, Spencer and Henry, and they run smoothly. Gordon is still under warranty, but I would rather not send him back if it can be fixed. My questions: 1) might it smooth out if I run it some more?, 2) is this a design quirk of Gordon's? If there are other Gordon owners out there, I'd like to hear if they have experienced this.

I have 2 Spectrum Decapod 2-10-0 steam locos. These are DCC ready, I think. I'm running DC. I tend to buy a whole bunch of train stuff at one time on the Internet, to save shipping. About 6 months ago I took these out of their boxes and found they did not run. After testing the rest of the new locos I tried these again. This time they ran OK. So, I put them aside to worry about some other day. Yesterday was that day. I took them out to run on my layout. Each one ran OK for about 15 minutes then stopped. One of them started up again and ran about a foot, then stopped again. Each time I've checked the track voltage after failing to run and found it shorted out. Anybody know what is going on? Is there an intermittent short? In two different locos? Seems unlikely. If the track or wheels are dirty the track wouldn't be shorted, would it? I found a post "HO 2-10-0 disaster" by Larry Smith with the same sort of problem. It was suggested that the tender trucks could be reversed. In that case it wouldn't run at all, would it? Larry Smith sent his back to Bachmann who found they ran OK and wouldn't replace them. Like the car that runs only at the repair shop.

Mr Bach Man: Do the Thomas locomotives have the same warranty as other Bachmann locos? Thank you.

I've noticed my Silver Series cars roll a lot better than my older stuff with plastic. I'm thinking of slowly going to metal wheels over time. Questions:
1) wheel sets are listed as 36" or 33". What do I measure on a particular car to determine which is needed? Cost to go this way would be $3-4/car.
2) Will simply popping metal wheels into plastic side frames give the smooth running of my Silver Series, or should I swap entire trucks?
3) If answer in 2) is new trucks are needed, any problems in attaching new trucks to old cars? There is a bewildering variety of trucks available. Which to pick? Also cost is now approaching cost of new car on Ebay.
4) Should I just bite the bullet and buy new cars slowly. Also I am not very handy, and I've noticed on past projects fiddling with old plastic produces breakage. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Just finished my track redo - 132 sections of n/s ez track. Try as I might, I cannot get rid of all the rough edges at the rail joints. I've very carefully made all the joints, swapped/replaced sections and rail joiners to get good fits, etc. Still have a few tiny burrs which trip up my steamie pilot wheels. Will sanding or filing the rough edges cause problems with the track? What is best to do the smoothing? Would  filler between the joints help? What kind of filler? Help please. I'm a rank beginner trying to build a knockout layout for my grandson, and I think I have bitten off more than I can chew.

Recently bought 2 new Bachmann Spectrum two truck Shay locos from Thefavoritespot.com. Don't ask why I bought them - I don't know why.
One loco runs fine (slow, but I expected that). The other just makes a whirring sound, like the motor is spinning. No wheel or gear drive movement.  Its not my track - happens exactly the same in a cradle. Any thoughts anyone? I seem to remember a thread describing this same problem some time back, but I could not find it.

Hi Mr. Bach Man. I'm very grateful to Bachmann for this forum.
A few days ago I bought a Bachmann B23-7 HO loco at Hobby Lobby. Impulse purchase. The warranty sheet in the box said "Lifetime Warranty for Bachmann Locomotives purchased in the U.S. and Canada". Several days later I bought an HO Bachmann DCC Onboard GP40, again at Hobby Lobby. Another impulse - I really should stay out of Hobby Lobby. Price was about the same. For the GP40 the warranty sheet said "One Year Warranty for Bachmann Products purchased in the U.S. and Canada".  Both sheets say underneath the first line "effective January 1, 2003 , this warranty supersedes all previous (and/or concurrent ) warranties."
What gives? Change of policy? Wrong sheet? What is the current warranty on locos?
Thanks for your help.

I just bought a new Spectrum DSH8-40CW loco with DCC. I couldn't help myself - it was just so beautiful, and a good deal. I don't run DCC yet - maybe sometime next year. Question is: should I just store this loco til then, or can I run it on my DC layout without hurting it? Will it run properly as a DC loco? Anything I should do to it to run as DC?  Will running on DC void the warranty? Thanks to all who respond.

I've purchased a number of new locos on Ebay, in particular from 2 sellers  with Ebay userid's "INTERNETRAILROAD" and "THEFAVORITESPOT", both of whom claim they are "factory authorized dealers" for Bachmann products. They both sell a ton of Bachmann stuff. The locos I received are obviously new, in Bachmann wrappings, and I've never had a problem with any of them. I see so many posts on this forum about sending locos back for warranty service, I just got to wondering if anybody has actually sent back for warranty service a new loco purchased on Ebay. If so, what was Bachmann's response and what sort of proof of purchase did they require? Thank you.

I would like to know if there are guidelines as to how long a stretch of track can be driven by one standard 16V/1A transformer? I plan to expand my 8'x4' layout with 2 more 8'x4' sheets forming a U around 3 sides of a 12x12 room. The track will be Bachmann n/s EZ Track. My partner in this venture, my 5 yr old grandson, isn't interested in switching - he wants to see long consists roaring down long straights at top speed. We will have a 22" radius loop at each end of the U, with 2  90 deg turns at the corners. About 56 linear feet of track. Will I need to break it into blocks with insulated joiners? Or can I just gang more transformers on, of course paying attention to polarity? Get a single more powerful transformer? Appreciate any help. I discovered this forum only a week ago and I've learned so much in that brief time. Thanks guys.