Min track radius confusion

[Sunbeam2]

I am looking at a 84013 K4 4-6-2 the web site says min radius track is R18  but the Model train stuff website says min is R22

I see that engine is DCC ready, does the tender come with a speaker installed?

Is there another Bachman Loco around that size with DCC, Sound and Smoke that will run on 18R track?

I currently have a Mikado 2-8-2 that runs on my track but I want a larger engine that will also run on my track and track is all R18

[Len]

Exploded diagram of the K4 is here: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/H844X-IS00.PDF

With the tender close coupled I would use 22" radius, or larger. Opening up the tender spacing may let it get around 18" curves without hitting the loco cab, but it will look strange.

Len

[Rod in PA]

Hi Sunbeam2,

I have the Bachmann K4, item #84014, which was DCC equipped.  The tender does not have a speaker installed, but the floor had an area moulded for a 1" speaker.  The minimun radius of all curves on my layout is 18" and my Pennsy 4-6-2 operates just fine.

Here is a video of my steam engine roster that I posted awhile back.  The K4 appears last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADa0EU7p-3Y

I hope this helps.

Rod in PA

[Hunt]

The K4 4-6-2 Pacific Bachmann Item No. 84013 is the older production DCC ready model, which per Bachmann, " Performs best on 22" radius curves or greater."

[Trainman203]

Even though a minimum radius is advertised for all steam engines, my 2-8-2's just don't look right even on 26"r curves.  The 4-8-2's and 2-10-2's make it around but look even worse, all have really bad "hangovers" both front and rear. I don't  run anything with a trailing truck on my layout in regular operation anyway since I have a short line.  The big engines are for the club.

In my opinion, anything with a trailing truck needs at least a 30" curve to "look" right.  If you have really sharp curves, it's good to consider realism in your choice of motive power which then literally dictates what kind of railroad you will have.

[Sunbeam2]

Hi Sunbeam2,

I have the Bachmann K4, item #84014, which was DCC equipped.  The tender does not have a speaker installed, but the floor had an area moulded for a 1" speaker.  The minimun radius of all curves on my layout is 18" and my Pennsy 4-6-2 operates just fine.

Here is a video of my steam engine roster that I posted awhile back.  The K4 appears last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADa0EU7p-3Y

I hope this helps.

Rod in PA

Wow you have a layout to die for, thanks for sharing

[ACY]

Bachmann's suggested minimum radius for the PRR K4 (4-6-2) is 22 inches, I would not suggest going lower than the manufacturer's advised minimum radius.

To answer your question about if there is a speaker in the tender, the answer is no, and most runs of the PRR K4 do not have any "accommodations" for a speaker either.

And for the record Bachmann does not have any locomotives whatsoever that meet the description you are seeking. Bachmann has no locomotives with DCC & Sound AND Smoke. However there are a wide variety with DCC and Sound or just smoke although the smoke is more of a novelty feature and unreliable and it is inadvisable to use it since it will leave an oil based film on the track that attracts dirt and makes operation more difficult and to produce smoke you must run the locomotive at full speed. 

My suggestion for a DCC & Sound locomotive that will perform well and look good on 18" radius is the Bachmann Sound Value ALCO 2-6-0.

[Sunbeam2]

You can see how confusing this gets, on one reply a 4-6-2 is running on 18R track and on another reply it says you cannot do that, I saw a BLI 4-6-2 that says 18R, DCC, Smoke and all kinds of sounds perhaps I am confusing two brands here.
It seems to me that if these 4-6-2 are to HO scale then both should run on the same track and be the same size or am I confusing apples with oranges

[Sunbeam2]

Hi Sunbeam2,

I have the Bachmann K4, item #84014, which was DCC equipped.  The tender does not have a speaker installed, but the floor had an area moulded for a 1" speaker.  The minimun radius of all curves on my layout is 18" and my Pennsy 4-6-2 operates just fine.

Here is a video of my steam engine roster that I posted awhile back.  The K4 appears last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADa0EU7p-3Y

I hope this helps.

Rod in PA

Rod, that Tsunami Sound really make the trains come alive
Curious but when you buy a sound decoder do they come with a speaker installed

[ACY]

Some Bachmann 4-6-2's may run on 18" radius but it will not look very good and some Bachmann K4's will not run on 18" radius.
Every company that makes model trains has different things they implement into their models. Some may alter the locomotive such that it is no longer completely accurate or to scale to allow it to run on 18 or 22" radius, often times without these modifications radius sizes of around 30" would be required to run these size locomotives.

Also Broadway Limited is a different company, they make a 4-6-2 Heavy and Light Pacific, I own a BLI Erie Heavy Pacific and I can attest that is does not have smoke either, it only has DCC & Sound. And the paperwork for my BLI Heavy Pacific has a suggested minimum radius of 22", however it is possible there were multiple runs and they later made changes to better facilitate running on 18" but I don't know really.

My suggestion to you is to either use 22" radius which most layouts can accommodate or to use a little smaller locomotive such as the Bachmann Sound Value ALCO 2-6-0 which looks great and runs great on 18" radius.

By the way the PRR K4 was generally a passenger engine and most passenger cars require 22" radius unless they are roughly 60' or shorter so that would be another reason to go with 22" radius, not to mention some 89' passenger cars require 24 or 28 inch radius.

At the end of the day it is your railroad and you can do what you want, I just gave you my opinion.

And Rod I just checked my K4 and it does not have any area for a speaker, perhaps mine is an older run than yours.

[Hunt]

Sunbeam2,  the differences between a BLI 4-6-2 locomotive and a Bachmann 4-6-2 locomotive are significant and many!!!


An aside,

. . . to produce smoke you must run the locomotive at full speed. 

ACY,
True for DC and its use of variable voltage for control.

You are missing the fact there is full DCC system voltage to the decoder. Thus the smoke generator is getting what the decoder function output connected to the smoke generator provides, which with most decoders is constant full voltage when a smoke generator is installed.  The decoder provides PWM DC at full voltage to the motor to control its speed.

[Len]

I have four Specturm K4's, two I got when they first came out, two about a year or two later. The early ones don't have the speaker grill, the later ones do. So it looks like something changed during the production run, or there were two seperate runs.

On the BLI's, some current production has smoke units, some don't. It seems to be connected with the boiler diameter.

Len

[ACY]

On the BLI's, some current production has smoke units, some don't. It seems to be connected with the boiler diameter.

Len many BLI steam locomotives have smoke but the Heavy and Light Pacifics do not due to insufficient space pretty much. I was just pointing out to the original poster that no one makes a 4-6-2 with DCC, sound and smoke in HO scale.

ACY,
True for DC and its use of variable voltage for control.
You are missing the fact there is full DCC system voltage to the decoder. Thus the smoke generator is getting what the decoder function output connected to the smoke generator provides, which with most decoders is constant full voltage when a smoke generator is installed.  The decoder provides PWM DC at full voltage to the motor to control its speed.

I was speaking with regards to the Bachmann analog locomotives which have smoke as the original poster was inquiring about a Bachmann locomotive with smoke. Thank you though for the clarification. It is common sense that a BLI locomktive that has DCC receives constant voltage and does not require being run at full throttle. Sorry to all for any confusion since I did not specify or state anywhere that I was referencing analog locomotives only.

[Sunbeam2]

Good Morning all, sorry to be the new guy causing all this confusion,
let me explain my situation. I wanted a larger steamer then my Life Like Mikado 2-8-2 smoker because I like to watch it run and see the drive rods working, but I wanted to run it either DC for now and DCC later when I have the money and yes I have to run it fast to make it smoke
I was looking at a BLI Paragon K4s 4-6-2 which has Smoke, runs on DC or DCC, and has full Tsumani type sounds and will run on 18R curves. I just assumed other manufacturers would also have similar locomotives. So I answered an ad on Craigs list for what I thought was a Bachman 4-6-2.
The seller, (an old belligerent type) told me he had sent his Bachman 4-6-2 back to Bachman for repairs and they sent him back another but better brand new Locomotive that was slightly different then his original and it was still in the original sealed shipping package and he did not want to open it until he had a firm buyer. He said it was DCC equipped and thought it smoked.
I drove over to see him and we agreed to his firm price of 160 bucks for this new DCC Locomotive
I cut open the sealed box and inside sure enough was a brand new Bachman DCC Western Pacific 4-8-4 #50206. we were both surprised and to my untrained eye it looked like it would work.
I thought I had made a killer deal
I took it home, put it on the layout, hit the throttle and it moved to the first turn where it promptly de railed. A few tries later I gave up and figured I got screwed. I looked it up on the Bachman web site and saw it was a 285.00 locomotive that I cannot use.
So here I am, the owner of this beautiful locomotive wondering what to do.
I just want a loco that is actually larger in size then my Mikado and does what I want it to do.

[Bucksco]

Perhaps buy some 22 inch radius curves?