Messages

The only 'bump & reverse' Dept. 56 ever released under their own name ran on HO track. The trolley itself was sort of between HO and On30 scale. Other 'bump & reverse' trolleys were O27 (1/50) size, made "for use with Dept. 56" and ran on 3-rail Lionel style track. Bachmann also did an On30 trolley for Dept. 56 that operates on HO track and used their electronic reversing unit, rather than 'bump & reverse'.

It's probably not worth the effort, but Athearn motor brushes can be cut down to fit.
https://www.athearn.com/product/ho-motor-brushes-24/ATH90037.html

Len

A-Line has metal stanchions in various lengths.
https://ppw-aline.com/collections/handrail-stanchions

Len

On a DC layout a decoder equiped loco will generally require around 5 volts on the track before it even starts to move. This is due to the voltage drop through the decoder electronics before any power reaches the motor. Replacing the decoder with a dummy plug eliminates that voltage drop, so the loco will start moving at lower voltages, the same as a DCC Ready loco.

Len

Went an looked at one of my old magnets and it has chamfered eddges on one side to prevent that. I wonder if the newer ones dropped that, or did you possibly install it upside down? If they've dropped that feature, you should be able to file or sand the corners of the magnet down to clear the rail clips.

Len

I had an 0-6-0 that would sometimes hang on a terminal/rerailer section. The 'gear bulge' was just large enough to drag on it. A couple of swipes with a flat file on the bulge fixed that. I didn't start installing magnetic uncouplers until a while after that, and the rest of my locos had more clearance underneath.

Len

The Scotch doublesided tape is about the same thickness as regular Scotch tape. It's never given me a problem with the uncoupler height.

Len

I just use Scotch 2-sided tape. The package says 'permanent', but a bit of Goo-Gone loosens the sticky stuff to allow removal.

Len

In case you missed my answer in the 'General Discussion' area.

This is the only 'N' 0-6-0/2-6-2 drawbar that appears to be currently available:
https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_115&products_id=313

The number it mentions for the old style, with seperate contact strips, comes back as not found.

Len

This is the only 'N' 0-6-0/2-6-2 drawbar that appears to be currently available:
https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_115&products_id=313

The number it mentions for the old style, with seperate contact strips, comes back as not found.

Len

Unless you can find one someone made on their own somewhere on-line, there are no "official" wiring diagrams of Bachmann locos. Unfortunately.

Len

One nice thing about the NCE Power Cab 'trainman' mentioned is the available add on throttle is identical to the original throttle. So there is no learning curve for a different button layout you run into with certain other systems.

Len

Team,
How many linear feet of HO track can I run before I need a 5 amp booster? Can running a booster on too little track damage my layouts Locos or switches?

It's not how many feet of track you have that determines if you need a booster or not, it has more to do with how much current the locomtives on that track are drawing.

If you only have one locomotive, just running power feeders from your current power supply to points where it tends to slow down is all you need to do. As you add additional locomotives, and lighted cars, the current pulled from your power supply goes up. When that current draw starts getting near the power rating of your power supply, that's when you need to look at adding a booster.

Len

I've had some success drilling out the rivets on older Mantua equipment and replacing them with screws and nuts. I super-glue the nut inside the unit, then run the screw in from outside.

Len

Sounds like the drive shaft to that truck may be out of place. Only way to be sure is to pop the top and look.

Len