Heard a lot about Thomas, but not much else in Large Scale.  That is expected; Toy Fair is usually about sets and Big Hauler in G scale and the 1:20 items come later.  But, there's a link above that tells people to click for photos of new things, and nothing since July appears.

Any chance someone could post what the photos would be of if they were there?

John Fitch

Phil,

The sound your'e describing is often caused by the unit picking up power from the track when turned off.  If you're using an earler verson of the manual it may not show the way to prevent this.  If you have a newer manual or use the one on the sierra website it's on page 16.  You use the unused side of the switch to split the wire going to terminal 8 on the board from the track pick up so when the switch is off the whole thing is off.  Otherwise you will get odd noises from the speaker.

John Fitch

Mr. J. D. Miller has posted the procedure for inverting the locomotive above, using the packing blocks from the box.  Once inverted in this manner, the chuff circuit is also thereby inverted.

Since your'e in Australia, though, this cycle is once again half out of phase, so once inverted, you'll have to re-invert the wheels to make it work properly.

(This response generated strictly for amusement purposes while you await a serious one.)

John Fitch

I too would be interested in a means of coupling these cars to my other 1:20 equipment that did not involve lowering all of the other correctly placed couplers in my fleet, or changing to lincoln pin couplers that also do not work with knuckle equipped pieces.

John Fitch

How fortuante for you, Jon.  You may very well be the only one in these United States to have one before the holiday, which of course one would expect might be a reward for all that "enthusiasm."

As to Larry Moe and Curley, you might check the definition of "Stooge" carefully before you go throwing it about, lest it hit too close to home.

Happy Holidays,

John Fitch

There was a discussion some time back on this board about the plunger contacts wearing out between the trucks and the body of the engine.  There have also been reported problems with the pickups in the actual trucks on some units.  You may be able to search it up.

As I recall, there was a guy who knew a lot about these engines, had several of them.  I think he was in Australia or New Zeland, but he visited this board frequently.

John Fitch

Happy, er, DECEMBER!

When the frost turns to ice and snow, the turkeys turn to elves in red and ermines, and the minds of Bachmann large scale fans turn to two words:  AVAIL NOV next to the dealers' renditions of the 2-6-6-2.

Any news?  Would hate to see anyone turn into a turkey.

John Fitch.

Welcome to November, when the dew turns to frost, the pumpkins turn to turkeys, and the minds of Bachmann large scale fans turn to two words:  AVAIL NOV  next to dealers' renditions of the 2-6-6-2.

Any news?

John Fitch

There are two "background" sounds on the Phoenix that are more or less continuous.  There is a generator whine, which you'll hear spool up shortly after applying any power to the track.  There is also a mix of hissing, boiling, sputtering, and draft rumble that kind of floats in the background, almost imperceptibly, just like on the real thing you hear it when everything else is shut off.

The programmer is sold seperately from the system, and consists of a cable to connect the female plug you noticed to your serial port, and a CD with the software which is updatable from the Phoenix website.  The three wires of the programmer plug share some of the trigger terminals on the board.

You will find wiring diagrams and instructions on all of this at www.phoenixsound.com in the "Support" section.

John Fitch

The 2-6-6-2 is certainly very nice looking in those photos.  I am anxious to see one in person.  I notice that some of the larger stores now show the Davenport as "in stock" so, whatever the hold up was with delivery it has now been resolved.

November is just a few short weeks away. Is delivery still a go to the regular folks, or will JD be the lucky exception again?  I must say his reviews are informative and enlightening.

John Fitch

Shawmut Car Shops would probably do one for you.

Theire email is www.shawmutcarshops.com

John Fitch

Check the gauge of the pilot truck wheels.  Should be 1.575 back-to-back.
That is usually the culprit.

John Fitch

Quote from: CCSII on July 16, 2008, 04:10:29 PM
A 2' radius curve would be 4' in diameter which in 1:1 would be 80' in diameter.

It would break the basketball court.

Thank you.  Fixed.  Point remains.

John

Quote from: vic on July 16, 2008, 02:49:21 PM

Steve, its a little called engineering 

I didnt ask for a R1 capable K, or a 3 truck Shay or even that the Connie be R1 capable because given the size and rigid frame I knew that was an extreme impracticality...all I'm asking for is that if the basis of this engine, the Uintah Mallet in reality was designed to take what in 1/20 scale would be a 5' diameter curve, its logical to expect that so would this engine if it were actually built. Now to jump from 5' to 4' in model train construction doesnt take that much extra engineering when the product is in development, and it opens the engine up to an even larger market, LGB knew this when they introduced the 1/22 mallet and that engine really helped them expand here in the US.

Now if this engine ends up R1 capable, it could help Bachmann  do overseas what the Mallet did for LGB here, open up to new markets. Afterall there are a lot, A LOT, of layouts that still use the R1 curvature not just here but especially around the world. Not everyone has 1/2 an acre to devote to a garden railroad, hence the name; GARDEN railroad, not Giant Open Field railroad

Now that said, what am I expecting the answer to be? Lets just say I'm not holding my breath...

Before you dig yourself in any deeper check your math. 

Hold your breath, stomp your feet, have a full blown tempertantrum if you like.  The difference between an R1 curve (two foot radius) and the five foot RADIUS curve of the Morro Castle is more than "a little engineering."  The five foot diameter curve that LGB produced to run parallel curves with the R1 is only half as large as what you need.

A two foot radius curve (R1) makes for an approximate 40 foot circle in scale.  That means you could set up a 1:1 (not model!) railroad that made a figure 8 on a hockey rink with room to spare! (85 x 200) There's no mallet alive that would ever manage that kind of curvature without being hinged in the middle, or perhaps chopped into three pieces and chained together. 

R1 curvature, in 1:20.3 is best suited to mine carts, field railway stuff, and amusements.  And perhaps the new diesel you insist on calling "Davey" if you grease the flanges a bit. 

To expect an articulated 2-6-6-2 to navigate that kind of curvature is preposterous.  Please sit down and be quiet before you get the project killed, Ok?

John Fitch

Quote from: Kevin Strong on July 15, 2008, 09:49:06 PM
A 60-degree curve is around 5' radius in 1:20.3--still quite wider than R1. For comparison, a 2' radius (R1) curve equates to a 141-degree curve! 

Later,

K

Math aside, a Uintah mallet on Morro Castle Curve looks like this:

http://home.bresnan.net/~bpratt15/images/UintahMallet75.jpg


John Fitch