I looked into that, but the problem is that Bachmann only seems to offer this warranty to the original owner. Although this locomotive is new, I bought it on eBay.

Are you the same Sheldon that's on the trains.com forum?

There was a greasy joint something like that across the driveway from the place I used to work.  There was always cats around the back all the time.  The joke was, those cats better look out. 😮🫨😱😂

" DCC friendly" switches are a myth that needs to stop being perpetuated.

I'm in HO but I have a good many EZ track switches on my layout. If yours are anything similar to mine, there's a little jumper wire underneath to, when plugged in, powers the frog. And eliminate stalling if all of the wheels from rail's  pickups sit on the frog at the same moment.

It's quite possible that your switches currently don't have the frogs powered.  If your locomotives are diesels that only pick up on one side of the truck, it could be that unpowered frog completely isolates one of the trucks from picking up on one of the rails..... if that makes sense.  A powered frog eliminates that tissue.  See if there is some little jumper wire under the switch to power your frog.  It's an entirely possible that N scale switches only have an unpowered frog, period.  Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer that question.

At the risk of talking about the competition's products, I also have some Kato Unitrak switches that have the same power/unpowered frog capability.  Except with their switches, there's some little set screws underneath you can change around to set the switch the way you want it, achieving the same end result.

Reminds me of a place I used to work.  Just not so close to the railroad. 
On a couple of pics, it looks like someone is inside ?  Or is that just my poor
eyesight ?

Like all the 'small' wood pieces, can't wait to see all of it together.
Work faster !

Ken

I bought a modelling mitre box for cutting HO scale lumber I found online. Making a Deck for my snack shack. Laser cut stair kit is nice when you have a jig to hold it.

Since the locomotive is brand new and therefore under warranty, try giving Bachmann support a call. Hope this helps.

I have a brand new Bachmann N Scale Santa Fe SD40-2 #5043 locomotive I'm trying to run on a Bachmann EZ Track layout. I can hear the motor grinding and the lights are on, but it rarely moves. And when it does it only moves an inch or so whether that be forward or backwards. I'm not sure but I think the wheels aren't aligned on the track. Any ideas? Thanks in advance to everyone that replies. BTW: I am running (or pulling) it through a rerailer section of track.

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on April 15, 2026, 10:01:35 PM

Quote from: Mulfred on April 10, 2026, 01:50:14 PMSomething I've been thinking about alot is vans within the range. Unfortunately at the moment in N scale and Large scale we have the 12 ton van however in HO theres both 12 ton van and the GWR vent van but there's an ever growing number of van variations being ticked off year after year and this leads to N and Large having one tooling for a van and their HO counterpart being a different one. But that doesn't need to be the case. We can still have a GWR vent van in N scale and maybe even Large (although N in my reason for this post.

Alot of goods trains in the show have multiple vans making up a train. See here the Mr Jolly's chocolate factory train where theres both 12 ton vans and GWR vans. Which leads me to my point. What if Bachmann introduced the GWR van into N Scale as a new tooling that they can add onto consists. I know some may say "its just rehashing old vans. Why introduced whats already in the range" but its not, its doing exactly what we do with things like Road numbers or having variations of different coloured wagons like for example the high sided wagons in NG line or Gondolas or even the gunpowder wagons.

I'm a bit late to the party on this, but here are my thoughts. While I think it would be cool to see the GWR Vent Van tooling in the range eventually, I feel like there are other types of goods stock that should be prioritized first, such as the Mail Vans, Flatbeds, and maybe even a new tooling for the Tankers before adding a 2nd Van variant, just so the range doesn't get immediately cluttered with vans. The other wagons would also provide more variety in a train than the GWR Vent Van. However, I do think this or the Salt Van would be a good option for a 2nd type of van later on, once the other types of wagons are made.

Tbf the only reason I said the GWR van is because of how much its used in the HO range. I do worry that things that are used less like Mail vans, Flatbeds, Cattle wagons and Salt Vans may suffer due to how little and infrequent the tooling is used in HO. I'm very aware Bachmann in 2026 wants to get the most out of new tooling and they love releasing multiple versions as right out the gate. In an ideal world I'd love everything from the HO line in N, I just worry about things like the Mail vans where the reuse is more limited.

https://nwsl.com/products/bevel-gear-ho-bachman-2-truck-shay-81907-80-ton-3-truck-upgrade-bevel-gear-6

I'm also anxiously awaiting results.

Jeff Moore
Elko, nV