Mr Bachmann, it is not a water pump.  It is a syphon.  Steam is used to create a vacuum in the water hose, thus sucking the water from the stream into the tank.  Once the water starts flowing, the steam is turned off and the water continues to flow until the tank is filled.  

Jerry Kay, Portsmouth, VA.

Hi Merlin, most people do not leave their locomotives outside.  While your brass track and plastic buildings may remain outdoors, it is best to bring in your cars, locomotives, and power supplies.

Jerry Kay, Portsmouth, Va.

I just tried the link and it worked fine for me.  It does take a few seconds to load.

Jerry Kay, Portsmouth, Va.

Jerry, did you check the direction switch located behind the smokebox door?  It might be turned off.

Jerry K., Portsmouth, VA

Ventilated boxcars (like the ones available in On30).  I have a lot of watermellons that I need to ship!   

Jerry

The Tidewater Big Train Operators set up a Holiday display every December that is easily 50' by 100' long and we use only two wires for each loop of track.  How do we get away with it?  Every track joint is connected with Split-Jaw rail clamps.  All electrical problems are eliminated.  No need to add extra feeders.

Jerry Kay
President - TBTO
Tidewater/Hampton Roads Region, Virginia

Visit us at WWW.TBTO.ORG

Perhaps this is not totally off-topic, just slightly skewed a bit.  

Here is another man's approach to building a mallet (or a meyer as he calls it in the story).  http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/mallet.htm

He didn't start with a 1:29 2-8-8-2, but he did do a bit of kitbashing to build a very attrative 2-4-4-2.

One could probably come up with enough Bachmann parts to build your own 2-4-4-2 or even a 2-6-6-2.  Sure, they might be availble comercially, but where's the fun in that?  

Anyway, I found the link enjoyable and I just wanted to share it.

Jerry

Question 1 - Should Bachmann change the road numbers each time they rerun a car or loco?

Yes

Would you buy more product if they did?

No, but only because I have run out of room to store any more! Otherwise, yes!


Question 2 - After an initial run with numbers, should Bachmann run locos or rolling stock without numbers and provide numbers for application by the buyer?

Yes

If yes, what would you prefer, Waterslide decal, rub on dry transfer, or rub on vynil???

Rub on vynil


Jerry

MF5117

Use a large drill bit to drill out the dimple on the LGB rail joiner.  The rail will then slip out of the way and jou can remove the rail joiner without destroying the tie.

Or, just leave the joiners on and use over-the-joiner rail clamps available from Hillman or Split-Jaw.

Jerry

Mark, it is definitely worth it to use the rail clamps on your track.  I have experience with both Hillman and Split-Jaw clamps and they both work fine.  There are several variations of the clamps but they can generally be classified as either "in place of" or "over the joiner" clamps.  Over the joiner clamps can easily be installed on your existing track without having to take your track apart to install the new clamps.

Since you mentioned LGB track, be advised that in can be difficult to remove the LGB rail joiners, which of course you will need to do if you decide to use the "in place of" clamps.  I found the easiest way to remove LGB joiners is to drill out the dimple on the bottom of the LGB rail joiner.  The LGB rail can then be slid out of the way to remove the rail joiner.

Hope this is helpful.  Merry Christmas one and all.

Jerry

Hi Jack, I wouldn't say that my garden RR is 'recently built' but it is an on-going operation and I would be glad to talk to Bachmann about my experiences.  I have plenty of projects that keep me busy making improvements and changes to my layout.  I believe my RR is a good example of what can be built in a relatively small space as it has to share my backyard with my tool shed, my wife's vegetable and flower gardens, my hot tub, and my patio! The good news for me is that I don't have very much grass to cut back there!

Jerry Kay, Portsmouth, Va.
Home of the Virginia Railway Museum featuring N&W class M2 locomotive #1134 and (of course) my Big Sandy & Cumberland Gardern Railroad
eph52 "at" verizon "dot" net

It should be a relatively easy task to replace the LGB couplers with Bachmann couplers.  Bachmann sells packages of their knuckle couplers.  Ask around. You might find someone who has spare couplers to sell or trade.

Jerry

And don't forget, the "Indy" has trouble pulling itself around the track.  Add a couple of cars and your're maxed out.  I was out, running mine last Sunday, trying to pull one boxcar and a coach.  My railroad is essentially flat.  There is one little "hump" where the track has to cross a small rock.  It's not even a 1/2% grade, and the Indy would stall there every time.

So I switched it out with one of my shays, added eight cars, and had a grand afternoon runing trains.

Jerry

Thanks Vic, great suggestions.  Usually, I will just run on wider radius curves.  Minimum radius in my garden is 4'.  That should take care of most of the problems.  But I figured this would generate some interesting discussion which might be useful for the casual train runner. <G>

Jerry

It's Christmas in January!  Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel arrived today!  I got a great price on a set from TRAINS, PLANS, AUTOMOBILES via ebay that was less that what the major distributors could do for me.  TPA made me an offer I couldn't refuse!

There was one problem with Thomas as he came out of the box.  Thomas was cross-eyed!  I didn't pay any attention to it at first, but when I set up the track and ran Thomas for the first time, there was a very audible clicking coming from the area behind Thomas' eyes.  I removed his face, repositioned his eyes and reinstalled his face with the eye operators in the proper position.  Now all is well with Thomas' eyes.

Annie & Clarabel look great too, but they can barely get around Bachmann's 2' radius track.  That's because the couplers don't swivel.  Some type of swiveling coupler arrangement such as the swiveling trucks used on Lionel's original version of Annie and Clarabel would be preferable.  Anybody out there up to creating an aftermarket swivel truck or swiveling couplers for Bachmann's Annie and Clarabel?

Bachmann's Annie and Clarabel are very nicely proportioned, coming in at 13 inches long, two inches longer than the Lionel version, but it would be nice if they had some interior seating and lighting.

Jerry