Those darn flimsy little orange plugs!

[Hoople]

I dislike those little plugs. Wires come undone easily... When you pull on the side to get them out, you rip the socket they go into out. I'm tired of having problems with those little things.

Could you condense the wires to one large plug, that is easily removed? This also would help in the issue of falling, if the locomotive did fall, the plugs would unplug and not rip wires out.

Either that or remove those darn lugs on the end. They don't really need them to stay in.

Thanks for listening to my rant.
It's over.
Mark

[SteamGene]

You don't remove the plugs with the wires, but with a small flat bladed screw driver to lever theme up enough to then pull the plug itself with your fingers or a pair of small needle nose. 
Gene

[Atlantic Central]

Mark,

I will offer one thought, they where not intended to be continuiously plugged and unplugged. Plug them up, arrange the wires, put them on the track, run them and leave them there - no problems.

Sheldon

[r.cprmier]

Micro Mark sells those plugs-M/F-on their site. 
As Gene and Sheldon said, you don't yank on those plugs bt the wires.  As I say,  don't yank on ANY plug by its wires!  That is just plain dumb!  In the case of those Bachmann plugs, thier innards are a form of Molex@ connectors, and as their size will show, are not the heaviest duty thing in the world.  A little common sense will go a long way here in working with this stuff, and will save grief untold.

Rich 

[Hoople]

I do as Gene says. It winds up with the socket the plug plugs into being removed from the circuit board. They need to be stronger, is all I'm saying.

[rogertra]

EVERYONE should standardise on the Life-Like P2K tender coupling. 

Drawbar that gives a realistic distance between engine and tender, that works on toy train, 24 inch and less, curves and is a drawbar and electrical connection all in one.

By far THE best ever tender drawbar.  Period.

Mr. B., you listenin'?

[Atlantic Central]

Roger,

What a good idea, and a dreamy thought.

Next you will want Ford and Chevy to use the bolt pattern on their wheels!

Neither is likely - but we can dream.

Sheldon

[TonyD]

Hench my much criticized rant about -if not nmra, them some sort of standards...OK us old guys will bear with the 'experiments' or 'evolution' and adapt our own ideas around the dumb stuff...after we hunt down surplus neuro surgeon eqiupment.. I am not physically affected by these expensive moustraps, but MY BIG concern is that it furustrate newbies and they toss the trains out and buy a Wii thing insted of helping us get new products churned out....these wires are all the weakest link, but the sickest thing is the p2k switchers where the wiring connection IS the drawbar...  oh, btw, my dodge pick up has ford rims and a chevy cap..

[Atlantic Central]

TonyD,

You don't like the P2K drawbar? Why? I have no problem with any of this stuff, all seems to work pretty well to me. Sometimes a little ajustment or modification makes it work better.

I do add weight to most tenders, but I would do that even if we had no wires. Drawbar forces are different from coupler forces and steam locos backing up with long trains nned to not push the tenders off the track ina curve or turnout.

One of the basic principals of this hobby is that it is about learning to build/operate these little machines. As I have said before - it is not a hobby for the instant gradification, give it to me now, cell phone addicted, ADHD, Ipod, spoiled brat crowd.

If one whats perfect, ready to play toy trains one should buy Marklin, where everything is "perfect" out of the box and carefully designed to work with everything else since they make the whole system and don't have to worry about theire perfect trains comming in contact with any inferior products from some "other" manufacturer. But that's what they are - toy trains not model trains - I build model trains.

Your Dodge will take Ford rims because for decades they both bought their brake systems from Bendix.

Sheldon

[Pacific Northern]

I myself quite like the electrical connections on the new "Mantua Classics", I would be quite satisfied if these were the new standard plugs and adopted by all manufactures.

Probably are patent protected............

The Spectrum connections are to say the least problematic. Only a matter of time before one or more engines get returned to Bachmann for replacements or repairs.

[TonyD]

To the operating dept of Atlantic Central; No I do not like p2k 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 tender couplers/wiring plugs. More than 11 cars, the engine rolls away from the train-and tender as far as the flywhell will take it. Now, with sound, that was $220, 11 cars, that's $20 per car, retail, ready to run, top of the line, etc etc...I rest my case your honor.... I, as do many others on here, do know how to re-engineer, rebuild and redesign model locomotives, thanks for asking, but I prefer to do that on old junkers from the bargain box, not out of the box....I chime in on this site to pick up new ideas or info, hopefully help new, or fellow modelers with the experience I picked up since Christmas '65.... especially keep new people interested and not frustrated to the point they do put the trains on ebay and buy a Wii game. absolutely not to get in urinating contests..... some of us are presuming the professional engineers who come up with new models will read these threads and take the ideas, gripes and concerns to the drawing board..... obviously all model manufacturers have done just that in the last 10 years, wouldn't you  agree?

[Atlantic Central]

TonyD,

Do you mean to say your Proto 0-8-0/0-6-0 locos come uncoupled from the tender while running? If so they are broke! I have pulled as many as 40 cars with my 0-8-0 and never had a problem. It sounds to me like the little clips that hold the connector together are bent or broken. EVERYONE I know personally who has these locos loves them, they run great, pull well and are the most detailed models of these prototypes ever made, bar none.

Tony, I am not questioning your personal experiances or modeling skills, I don't know you. But I will stand by my first post on this thread and the position that many people to not have the proper appreciation for how fragile well detailed models can be.

You are not alone, many have disagreed with me and others like me who except the fragile nature of these products. To me it is not a problem, I never expected them to be rough and ready toys. I too have been at this a long time - as long as you give or take a year or two.

And I will repeat my view that the manufacturers did not intend for these plugs to be repeatedly and constantly pluged/unpluged but rather invisioned them being removed from the box, carefully assembled and put on the track - to stay there and run. Not to be packed and unpacked like an eight year old getting his toys out of the toy box.

I am amazed at the number of people who break things by being rough with them then say it was poorly made. That assumes it was intended to be treated rough - not a reasonable assumption in this case.

Again I say they are models not toys, if you need or want toys Lionel and Marklin are interested in your business.

And I would give that advice to a new person in the hobby as well. I used to work in hobby shops and started lots of new people in the hobby, helping them with their problems and teaching them how things worked.

But this hobby is not for everyone, people should honestly evaluate their skills, interests and abilities - and be ready to learn if they want to do something new, not expect everything to be easy or perfect from the start.

What is the reward in something if it is always easy? That's what's wrong with the world today.

Sheldon

[rogertra]

Proto 0-8-0/0-6-0 locos.

What Sheldon said, in spades.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

What is the reward in something if it is always easy? That's what's wrong with the world today.

Sure enough, but not everyone is looking for the same thing from the hobby.  I'm sure some folks can find it very relaxing to spend hours fiddling with something mechanical about a model locomotive. Others--like me--would find that stressful, or just the opposite of what we want out of a hobby. If you like trains, I don't think the answer isn't to find a different hobby.

Me, I'm scared of the flimsy little plugs that couple the tender to the locomotive of my new Richmond American. I'm so convinced that the first time I try to uncouple the tender from the locomotive I'll pull out a wire that I'm actually investing in a display case to store the engine when I'm not running it, so I won't have to put it back in its box.

[Atlantic Central]

Jeff,

I understand that not everyone wants the same thing from the hobby. But that does not make the product wrong if it suits most of those in the hobby and the long established standards/conventions/practices etc.

I would ask you one question though, why would you put the loco back in its box when not running it? Why not just leave it on the layout? This is really the cruxt of my original point in this thread.

And, there are companies out there that cater to that more "ready to run"/"durable" market - and their prices reflect the difference. I'll amitt, I am selfish. I don't want you needs to drive up the cost of my hobby when I am perfectly content with the products as they are.

Sheldon