stay away from the above mentioned "economey Walther's 90' kit" it's worth  just about what it costs. The Bowser is more work to build but when you're done you will have something that works, I have never seen the Walther's rtr turntables so can offer no opinion on them but as one previous poster points out, there must be a reason for the big price difference between the price for the 90' kit and the rtr one.
If your turntable is somewhere that you can see it well and you have good eye sight you don't need an indexing system, just power it with one of your old power packs left over from before you switched to DCC and you should have no problem stoping it where you need to

Clear Block  hits the nail on the head with his suggestion of PRR H series Consis, since the Pennsy had several versions that could be built on the same drive, many Pennsy modelers (myself included) would buy several of these. About 10 years ago Sunset Models did this in brass and included alternative detail parts in order to allow the modeler to model specific prototypes (like the Spectrum Baldwin 10 wheeler). I have one of these but I sure can't afford $500+- each for a whole fleet.
Also a streamlined version of the PRR K4 Pacific, this would seem like a no brainer since the mechanism already exists, and would only need a new shell.

Rich...as far as BLI is concerned, I now take all their product announcements with a grain of salt, I'm still waiting for my P.R.R. 2-10-0 (I know that it is from P.C.M., but they're the same company) that was supposed to be out over a year (or two) ago. They need to start announcing less and work on getting the models they've already announced out. They make excellent products but what good are they if they don't really exist beyond magazine ads?

Did any ever notice that Bob, the dim witted next door neighbor on That 70s Show's hobby was model trains. On one of the shows he was feeling down so his daughter said " cheer up dad, I'll take you to the model train store, some of the little trees in Finciaottiville are looking a little drab" and that cheered him right up. If you go back to the shows of the 50s and 60s we were treated with respect but in more recent ones we seem to be portrayed as rather dimwitted, oh well, we know better.   P.M.

could somebody please explain to me, A VERY internet iliterate guy, how to ho about posting photos on my postings here (I use a Mac, if that makes any difference) thankyou. P.M.

The first Berkshires that any road had were the Boston & Albany ones, hence the name Berkshire as they were used to pull trains through the Berkshire mountains, The last steam locomotive built by Alco in 1948 was a Berkshire numbered 9401, built for ...the New York Central I've got a builder's photo right in front of me as I type this, the tender is lettered New York Central System.
The book "The Steam Locomotive In America" that I mentioned in an earlier posting here says on the subject "It is of interest to note that the last to be built by both the American Locomotive company in 1948 and the Lima Locomotive Works in 1949 were 2-8-4 type engines. The former were built for the New York Central with 63-in. drivers and the latter for the Chesapeake & Ohio" This, along with the builders photo is pretty much proof that the N.Y.C. did, in fact, have Berkshires on it's rooster, although probably not for very long as they came along at the very end of steam. These, by the way, are some of the most beautiful looking, modern steam locomotives I have ever seen, I'd love to get a model of one of these, I've never seen any evidence that any brass models were ever imported. I just got a new scanner and I'll try to scan this picture and see if I can post it here.

is the A3 the last N.Y.C. Berkshire? (and the last steam locomotive Alco made) if it is then it's my second favoriate berkshire (after the B&A one) I'd like one of each

I can't imagine how there could be a demand for these things, I don't think they could have come up with a worse locomotive to model if they would have said "let's see now, what locomotive will be the most not in demand locomotive in the history of model trains?" just my own opinion, maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I doubt it.

but even a diehard Erie fan, if he wanted to operate one of these things (or 3 of them) protypically would have to model that grade that they were used on as they were only run on that one part of the system, and his layout would have to be set in the few years that they were left in service.
Rich- I remember seeing these things in the Blum's Hobby House ads, but maybe the reason that they were advertised for so long was that they were trying to sell out the initial run.(the locomotive I'd like to get from that same time period that was often in the same ad as the Triplex, was the B.&A. Berkshire, the first Berkshire ever made, I wish someone would come out with a modern version of this very sucessful locomotive)

Hey, I actually know the answer to something asked here, will wonders never cease! Matt Shay was the name of an outstanding engineer on the Erie and they gave that name to loco #2603 (and lettered it on the side of the cab) The Erie only made three of these and they were never duplicated as they were not very sucessful (the Virginian made one similar 2-8-8-8-4). "The engine was a six-cylinder compound, all cylinders and drivers having the same dimensions. The firebox was locoted entirely over the drivers of the middle engine unit and in consequence was greatly restricted in depth, as was the ashpan for the same reason. But since the engines were intended only for operation on a grade 11 miles long, it was thought that enough combustion would take place to meet the requirements. Unfortunately, the grade was just a little too long for consistant and satisfactory performance....These locomotives exerted the maximum tractive effort (160,000 lb compound) over short periods ever exerted by a steam locomotive with reciprocating pistons, but they were soon retired from active service." This info is from the book "The Steam Locomotive In America" by Alfred W. Bruce, which also has a photo of it (and about 200 other locos, mostly builders photos) and is a treasure trove of information on the development of steam locomotives.
Although I like the Pennsylvania, I didn't think the K-4 was a good choice for M.T.H. as Bachmann and B.L.I already had it covered pretty well. I know that they claimed that theirs was more accurate, but considering the huge number of these locos that were made I think it's possable that they both were right. When i saw the ad in this month's M.R. showing the Erie Triplex I couldn't believe it, I just can't believe that an expensive model of such an unsucessful and obscure locomotive will ever sell enough to pay for the tooling.  P.M.

except that, in the cases where you don't need the extra power of two powered locomotives, the cost would (should)  be less (in the case of Athearn, the only maker of dummys that I know of, it is) and also you could mount a much larger speaker, or two, in a locomotive with no drive gear, making for a much better sounding sound system.

also check out the Heljen highrise building, the Walther's number is 322-1713 and if you look it up on their site you will find a picture of it, it is a little small for H.O. but makes a good background building, I have one and it was an easy kit to build and looks good when done, I can't find a spot for it on my layout for it now but I will at some point.
Also, those  Bachmann buildings you asked about... some months ago someone else asked Johan about them and he said that Bachmann didn't own the tooling for them so that if they ever were rereleased it would not be by Bachmann, but by the company that had made them (I think it was Pola, but I'm not sure). About a year or so after they came out they were on closeout at Model-Expo very cheep, now I usually see them at large train shows, but the prices are high.  P.M.

Go on to E-Bay and look up Halsam Skyline building sets, these were made in the 60s and were HO scale sets that could be made into any number of different skyscrapers of any size there always seem to be a few listed there and the prices arn't too bad.

actually if the Mantua metal passenger car is in good shape it is worth more then that.  P.M.

Radio Shack sells a low priced set of flush cutters that are fine for parts off of sprues but don't have enough leverage for rail, I have both the Xurons (don't know which number) and the Radio Shacks and whichever you usen make sure that you practice a bit before you try to do any critical cutting with them.