I justed received one of the newest versions of the low side gondola. But unlike all of the older versions in my collection, neither the end or side boards will slide out. Is Bachmann now glueing these pieces in place?
Lee

If you use Krylon paints and seal in the decals with their matte, beware of their change in paint formulas. The new paints, Indoor/Outdoor, are in the cans with the taper cap and the new spray nozzle; these are enamel paints. If you use Matte Finish to seal in the decals, this is a lacquer base. The results can be wrinkling to the point of ruin. Krylon now only makes the enamel clear in a gloss (useless to me) --- no flat is currently being made. The only possible matte is their water based matte finish but I haven't found it on the shelves, yet. So be careful and do a trial spray first, I didn't and I am sorry now. Lee in Tucson.

I know that couplers have been discussed previously but I have not seen a number listed for Bachmann EZ Mate over shank couplers. All of my Bachmann rolling stock have the overshank model ---- some with the coil knuckle spring and others with the flat spring. And by the way, I use Kadee No. 5 for my scratch built cars since they have their coupler boxes. But I need to replace several of the Bachmann couplers due some accidents over the holidays.
So what is the number of the Bachmann over shank couplers and are these called medium or long shank length (I doubt that they are short)? Lee

Now I realize that a smoke unit is not favored by many, but I like smoke coming out of my engines; perhaps just trying to relive that childhood AF train set. I have been trying to improve the output of my USA Trains mighty moe 2 axle switcher. I was using a locally available 'Mega Steam' scented liquid smoke. The smoke output wasn't impressive and the 'lumber mill' smell was thin to me. I found a bottle of Bachmann Smoke Liquid laying around so I cleaned out the smoke unit and put in 20 drops of the B-man liquid and let it run. What a difference! Real smoke production! And since it was un-scented, I put in a drop of spruce pure essential oil. And now a spruce smell too boot! Probably it is not the smartest thing to put that oil in with the smoke liquid but it was only 5% and now I know which smoke liquid to use from now on. I would have never thought that there would be such a huge difference in smoke production from similiar viscosity liquids. Lee

I just got my first no-cupola / flat roof caboose. Okay, so Bachmann forgot/eliminated the smoke stack; the full interior has the stove just like all their cupola cabooses. But what is that bell-shaped / lamp shade thing in the middle of the roof supposed to represent? I'll add a chimney pipe but that 'vent' thing is nothing I ever seen and I am thinking of getting rid of it. Any ideas? Lee in Tucson.

I happened to see that Micro-Mark has a Cupola Kit for the Bachmann combine. It says it is a laser cut wood kit, so what does that mean? Is it one of those box-of-pieces that you start from scratch? And what about the ladders and handrails? It would appear that the hardest thing would be to develop a template for the roof --- unless you are supposed to cut the cupola into the roof. So has anyone worked with this kit? Lee in Tucson.

At the garden railroad open house the other weekend, there was a 2-6-0 running at one layout; the outdoor garden railroad group had open houses at 8 different homes around the city ---- no snow to push off the track here. Now the guy was just running the trains for the owners as they had to be out of town so I can't blame him for his answer. But he told me this engine was a Bachmann and only cost $80. It definitely was not a 1:20.3 scale but something smaller (in size). I haven't seen such a Bachmann product anywhere. So could it have been a Bachmann or some other company's loco? Any idea of the loco and for just $80?
Lee in Tucson

I finally got myself a Bachmann baggage car. I am going to letter it for my fictious branch of the C&S and have been looking for some prototype photos with little luck. So here goes: !) Would a baggage car normally have a heating stove in it? To me, the answer would be no as no one would normally ride the car to keep it stoked; I am thinking of eliminating the smoke stack. 2) Would a baggage car typically have regular doors on the end with the steps and railings? I think that all of the car end detail is just a carryover from the passenger/combine series and should/could be removed. Thanks for any help. Lee in Tucson

Has anyone found a paint match for the green color used on the C&S and other Bachmann passenger cars? I need to do some touch-up work on an observation car 'modified' by somebody else.

I am thinking of having a reversing track segment like the Village Street Car set but I don't want a trolley car. Much like the Bach Man's layout with its reversing mine track, I would like to have a MOW engine with a flat car or two running back and forth using the street car controller electronics. I know I can get the reversing track sections separately but can I run from 10 to 12 feet between the reversing points? And do I need that 'trolley barn'? And if so, what function does it provide? 

Has anyone attemped to open the doors on one of their Bachmann reefer cars? With the opening hatches, it would be nice to have the doors open too. I have seen an O scale reefer with opening roof hatches and doors, but I think it was an Atlas. If you have accomplished this feat, what was your source of hinges and latches? Lee

I noticed that certain scales seem to have Spectrum series and a 'regular' series from Bachmann. But On30 only has Spectrum. So what is the difference? And is there such a thing as regular Bachmann On30 cars, engines, etc.? Thanks, Lee.

I am nearing completion of a cupola-less Bachmann caboose; yes, I started it before Bachmann came out with their version. NMRA suggested weight for a caboose of this length is 5 ounces but right now, my version is only at 4 ounces. I need to decide now before final assembly: so should I add an ounce of weight? Will I have problems pulling a short (4-5 cars) length of flat cars which will likely be very under-weight? Will the lighting of the caboose be improved? And if I weight the caboose, do I have to the rest of my cars? Thanks, Lee.