As the title says, the 3 bay EBT hoppers we've been patiently waiting for are finally here.  A bit pricier than I expected, but today what isn't?  They look great-time to star filling the consists..................

Old Pilot, sorry to hear about engine #2. After having done some exploratory surgery on mine, I totally understand your frustration. Looking forward to, hopefully, positive news in the future. Thanks for keeping us in the loop. And the saga continues....

If Bachmann isn't ready to bring Edward to N Scale yet for technical reasons, then other safe options to fall back on are Duck, Oliver and Spencer. Any of those would be more than welcome to join N Scale. We may even get Duck and Oliver announced together. Since Toad already exists in N Scale, the sooner we get Oliver, the better. Duck and Oliver are top sellers in HO Scale, and it will sure be like that for N Scale too.

There's technical concerns regarding Edward because he is a 4-4-0. James is a 2-6-0 and was more doable. Emily has a more complicated configuration with the small wheels in front of her big driving wheels also being powered, and she was still doable in N Scale. Bachmann may have to close off Edward's cab, which would be a small sacrifice to make his N Scale model work.

As for the N Scale special coaches, provided we get Spencer, we can also get a special brake coach, unlike HO Scale. They'd be made based on the model series design. Modified from the express coach tooling.

N scale Edward is a necessity for the range, but I fear Bachmann will really struggle with making it a reality. I believe it was said in a recent stream that their new N scale 4-6-0 came about because the 4-4-0 was proving to be too difficult.

Granted, the 4-4-0 was intended to have DCC and sound on board. Edward would not.

I'm sure Bachmann knows there would be massive disappointment from modelers if they didn't make Edward. I'm sure he'll be made one day, but I can't imagine it'll be easy.

Maybe a closed off cab to provide more space for the motor?

Good morning Fred and any other interested readers.

Continuing with my saga, I am going to admit defeat with my second gas mechanical engine. I have been unable to make any progress toward repairing it to running condition. I could find only one defect on the tear down inspection; a split gear on one of the axles. Two problems were encountered on making possible repairs that were not encountered on the first engine. I have no knowledge on how to pull the wheels from the axles to replace the gear. These Bachmann engine axles are different from my HO scale engines which only require some hand power to remove wheels. Unfortunately, it appears a tool called a wheel puller is required for these axles. Checking the internet prices, I decided the cost of the tool was not worth it for one or two repairs. The second problem is testing the motor to see if it is still operational. The videos did not address either issue during the discussions of the gear problems and I am unable to find any other internet videos on these two other areas.

Since I am out of ideas, wanting an operating engine, and the cost of the wheel puller appears to be more than Bachmann's service fee ($99), I sent the engine to their factory repair department ($10.80 postage)for repair. I will report on this phase when the engine is returned.

Old Pilot

I got my N Scale express coaches earlier today. Three, with one of them being the brake coach. Now Gordon can finally do his favorite job. I also got two red open wagons and the Sodor Scrap wagon. I reckon the red express coaches are also not that far off. I should preorder those too once available, and have Henry pull them.

The October stream should for sure show the full painted sample of N Scale Henry. Very good chance we'll also be shown the packaged samples of N Scale Diesel, Paxton, LBSC Thomas and Origin James.

With this much backlog cleared up for N Scale, the 2027 catalog has to announce an engine. Please be Edward. Duck would also be welcome, along with Spencer. And if we get Spencer, we'd then need the special coaches for N Scale as well. He would make the most sense as the third big engine for N Scale, while Edward is a medium-sized engine, and Duck can be the next tank engine.

Yes

I have read older posts that attribute this thumping noise at higher speed to a cracked gear, but cannot find any diagrams that show power truck gearing or how to access it.  Further, I note that the noise only occurs when the Doodlebug is running on the rail, not when wheels not touching rail, so not sure if this is cracked gear.  I've converted to DCC sound and couldn't test on DC analog so now am hoping to find a solution as the thumping noise really detracts from the ESU gas electric sound.  Thanks in advance for any help.

671 here,

Yes it can be wired to go only forward.

See the June 11 2026 posting "Can a dual motor .... be wired to only go forward"
I wired a disabled older SD 45 with a faulty motor control circuit board many years ago. It is still working well.

                        Good luck ... 671

Now that retools aren't out of the question, I'd love to see these in OO as well. They look fantastic! I think Bachmann have gotten plenty of mileage out of the current OO express coaches to justify retiring them and replacing them with an accurate update.