Acela Express

[bill white]

  Can someone please tell me how to couple the passenger cars in the Acela Express HO kit?
The engines have extensions out the back but the cars only have female links. I wanted to set this up with my Christmas display. Also, those long cars will not navigate around the 42" radius they supply.
The detail is great but the instructions and the DVD say nothing about the Acela. The nose cone fell off, the pantograph won't stay down. You need to buy a separate controller and a decoder to make it a DCC...
Don't like to rant but Damn!
Thanks,
Bill

[train guy]

Well ,what brand is the train?

[the Bach-man]

Dear Bill,
Check out the photos on my pal David Harrison's site:
http://web.mac.com/msibnsf/iWeb/Acela%20Express,%20The%20Need%20For%20Speed/Modeling%20Techniques.html
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[bill white]

I checked out your friend's site. It does not solve the problem. The cars are missing the long drawbars. Please send me replacements or authorize my hobby store to give them to me: Great lakes Hobby in sterling Heights, MI.. This is so frustrating. Your phone tech, I think her name is Angela, told me to replace the couplers with EZ-Mate couplers. It will not work according to your friends site. Am I the only one on this merry-go-round? The box has a great big DCC logo and a proclamation that the set is complete ready to run. This is simply not so. The engine should at least have a decoder to make it a legitimate DCC set.

Is there no one at Bachman who knows how to remedy this? I am going to take the set to the hobby shop where I bought it and see if anyone there can help me.

[jonathan]

Bill,

There were two Acela sets produced.  The early version was DCC ready:  meaning the set is DC, with DC controller.  The locomotive has a spot to plug in a decoder should you wish to operate it in DCC.

The newer set is "DCC Onboard". The locomotive already has a decoder in it.

I have the DCC ready (DC) set.  It came with extra couplers ("long draw bars") that connect between the cars and locomotive.  If you are missing a few, one can order extra couplers from the parts dept.  They are inexpensive.

As I recall, I did have to fiddle with one of the pantographs a bit to get it to stay down.  Didn't take long to remedy.

Be aware:  there is a switch, up high in the roof, in the back, that switches from pantograph to track power.  Some have reported that the switch was set to "Pantograph" when new from the factory.  This was a common report from threads in the past.

Regards,

Jonathan

[bill white]

Thank you Jonathan.
I found the couplers stapled to the side of the foam packing. It's easy to miss.
Thanks for the heads up on the switch. It's still a beautiful looking set.
Bill