Very nice work with the layout. I'm happy to see you kept that Vollmers kit in working order.  I also love the terminus that you modelled. Very nice indeed! 

The Well Wagon I had no idea was discontinued, but the other sets and the 6 ton wagon are for probably obvious reasons... a lack of sales. Why keep a product when profits aren't up to par? As for the express coaches, I am still unsure as to why this happened.

Maybe a replaceable body for those savvy modellers. I could see a shell going for well under $50. Just look at the prices of James' outer body in the "Parts and Service" section of the site.

I find it interesting that all three new engines are priced the same when they are different sizes. Is there something special about Diesel that puts him out from the rest? 

Quote from: Jamie the engine on March 19, 2011, 06:26:21 PM
I reckon Diesel will have the black side-rods since Bachmann base the newer HO characters from their recent appearance in the model series.

Well, based on the current pictures of the model, silver side rods he has.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=3771

Beautiful model. I now have 5 models on my list. (I still haven't purchased Bill and Ben.  )

Not sure if you are still interested in this, but I wanted to see for myself.

I decided to check this out with Percy. I didn't fasten it or anything, but if you really want an easy way to add a front coupler to Percy, you have just glue/fasten the square spring box to Percy's motor housing on the front of his undercarriage. If you notice the back of the model, there were two stubs that lowered the coupling hook. you need it at the right height so by gluing it in the proper spot, you can avoid this.

You can also attach a coupler to James and Thomas. Their fronts are at the same heights as are the backs of the engines. With Thomas, you can just attach it to his body, but with James, your best way to do it would to attach it to the front bogie.

PerfectPercy

Quote from: AJWPRODUCTIONS and OzzyWoodStudios on February 19, 2011, 04:13:56 AM
who here has got a youtube account so I know I can subscribe and give you a friend request also please post a link to one of your videos I will delete the thread when everyone answers (or at least everyone with a yt account) has given me a link so don't waste your breath 

I have found a flaw in your mindset: how will you know when everyone has answered?

Technically, they are all Bachmann 0-6-0s  (Thomas, Mavis, and your third engine). It is all because of the short wheelbases. I'd bet Percy, Toby, Edward James, Salty, Bill, Ben, and even Emily all have there same problem here and there.

Quote from: JJ96 on March 23, 2011, 07:02:28 PM
http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_93_156&products_id=881
So say I bought the complete chassis shown here in the link above, would that mean if I put that on a track and gave the track power it would run with out its shell properly?

The pic shows the entire motor, so I would suspect that it works.  

Quote from: the railway series fan on April 10, 2011, 08:07:12 PM
i would love to help but dont know the height and the measurements for Crankys base. so, sorry.

So why even post?

_________________

Anyway, the dimensions of the gray plastic base are about 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches. Not sure if you use the metric system or imperial, but I hope this helps.

I had no idea that you had a quarry. Was this recent?

I like it overall. Not too complex, but still looks good all the same.  So is this 4 feet by 8 feet?

Quote from: S.A.C. Martin on March 29, 2011, 08:37:12 AM

Quote from: nzr1in24 on March 28, 2011, 03:31:45 AM
Hi,
Don't know if this is any help but have just done a G Annie conversion with Claribel due for the workshop in the near future.
http://afr.nzcan.com/thomas.htm
Cheers nzr1in24

That is superb work - however, one minor critique. The buffer shanks should be black - the Bachmann models all seem to perpetuate that the buffer shanks are red on coaches. This is probably due to the latest CGI having them at some point in the promotional pictures for the first CGI special. All coaching buffer shanks, unless otherwise noted exceptions, should be black in colour.

Not your fault mind - it is a livery error perpetuated, sadly, by the show.

This error originally came about when Annie and Clarabel were refitted in that Season 5 episode with Lady Hatt. If I'm correct on what you mean by buffer shanks, then they have been red since then. Personally, I have taken the season 3 approach. Before that, Annie's buffer beam was lowered to cope with Thomas. Not sure how I agree with that on the TV series' part, but I'm not doing that to my model.

As for the nose that I am leaving behind... what do I do? If I sand it away, the original plastic mold will show with a different color. I don't know if I can find a paint match either. This is frustrating.

NOTE: I don't intend on making the red coaches because of the hopefulness that Bachmann will produce them soon enough, so a suggestion to paint the whole body red will be of no help.


Thanks

Well, I had no idea that when I said snap track switches I was saying something different than what I have. I run with the Atlas #4s. I have yet to see a problem with them.

Any of you recall the time when James was in need of a bootlace? What about the TV episode? Well, I am here to speak of the transformation of Annie and/or Clarabel into a common branchline coach, which is much like that of the branchline red coaches.

I have no pictures to share at the moment (I am at a time crunch). This task is fairly simple if you aren't planning to change the way the side of the coach with the face looks without the actual face. All you need is some kind of decal remover. The name labels come right off and the tan color stays in place. As for the face, all comes off the same way. The whites of the eyes take a bit longer but they eventually wisp away all the same.

I am now at the point of what to do with the nose. I have a question: concerning the color of my model and whether or not I will need to paint the nose after sanding it away, is the original plastic of the model the color of the outer body or was it later painted in a factory?

I understand that many have done this task of converting the coaches, so I figured that someone could give me a helping hand and some advice.


Cheers to All

PerfectPercy

Quote from: revrik on March 19, 2011, 10:04:41 AM
I am new to model railroading. I had Lionel O27 as a kid but now that I am retired I want a real train layout and am going HO. I also have a new grandson so I bought Thomas Fun With Freight set. My plan is to use Thomas around the Christmas tree until he gets old enough to play with it. My plan is to let him run his train on grandpa's layout. I have done some test runs on old stuff I acquired from a friend and Thomas jumps track when going over an Atlas brass code83 snap switch turnout. I have seen people say to grind the flanges on Thomas' wheels ro to modify the turnouts, etc.

I say all that to lead to this question.

I am planning on using Atlas code100 track snap track for my layout but am concerned about Thomas jumping off rail at the turnouts. Has anyone used Atlas code100 snap track snap switch turnouts to run Thomas? How successful was it? Any modifications needed to Thomas, the turnouts, etc.?

Thanks in advance for taking time to read and answer.

Rick

BTW - I know that Atlas code83 snap track is more prototypical but I am concerned about being able to run some vintage HO equipment and heard that code100 track is easier to use with older cars and engine.

I have been using HO Atlas Code 100 from the beginning. I have had no problems with it. In fact I basically prefer it. In terms of being prototypical or not, is apples to oranges. It looks good either way. I have noticed that quite a bit more is available for Code 100 anyway. I have had no problems with any of my Thomas engines on Code 100 track and switches. Technically, the only Atlas Code 100 snap track I use is the switches. I prefer flex-track and I will with little doubt always use it.

My only small concern is that if you ever expand your grandson's train collection into the larger engines, their bogies tend to jump switches a bit if you get them flying at max. speed. Hopefully, you won't do that. I also say to back the engines as slow speeds, especially tender engines, because the tender's wheels on most Thomas engines are fragile in this case. The tender almost always derails unless you are at a decent backing speed.

I wish the best to you with your modelling future.