As was stated before measure the time over a given section. On a previous layout I used a 6 foot section (two lengths of flex track is 1/10 of a scale mile) and multiplied the time by 10. If the resulting time is 60, 60 scale mph.

Here is the chart I used for reference.

240 sec     15 smph
180 sec     20 smph
120 sec     30 smph
 90 sec     45 smph
 60 sec     60 smph
 45 sec     90 smph
 30 sec    120 smph
 20 sec    180 smph
 15 sec    240 smph

On the contrary. The wye in the electrical diagram is exactly what the isolated reversing section on your railroad should look like.

It would be best to leave the mainline tracks along and insert your gaps in the rails of the curved sections. That way, the entire "tail" of the wye will be your reversing section.

The GP35 should give no trouble on 18r curves. The SD45 will derail shorter cars like ore cars that are coupled directly to it, so you'll want to make sure to couple a 40 or 50 foot car to the locomotive and any ore cars to that.

There is probably nothing wrong with this locomotive. The decoders used in some of the DCC OnBoard  locomotives make the locomotive sound like a coffee grinder. That is normal. It is not indicative of anything wrong with the locomotive itself, and lubing the gears will not quiet it down. I don't know how to quiet the noise other than replacing the decoder with an aftermarket one.

This grinding sound is different from the high pitched squeal of a non decoder locomotive on DCC track power.

NCE Bach-Dsl decoder is a drop in replacement for the pc board in most Bachmann diesels.

First I need to ask if it is an actual short circuit, as in it trips the circuit breaker on the controller? Or is it a situation where the locomotive stops running or will not run at all? If the circuit breaker does not trip you have an open circuit somewhere and troubleshooting is going to be ALOT different than an actual short. I say this, because I have several of the 0-6-0s including one from the Pacific Flyer set, and there seems to be very little inside of them that would actually short out. I suspect that you have an open circuit.

Quote from: trainman203 on June 22, 2024, 03:29:50 PMAnd go back to X2F?

😳😮😱🤯

I agree that is a little out of the ordinary. However, the OP has stated he is not physically capable of changing all his equipment over to knuckle couplers. I do not know whether it's poor eyesight, or a condition like arthritis or tremors that make this difficult, but I assume he has a good reason to state this. As a result, a conversion car seems to be the best solution for him. I say this rather than changing couplers on the locomotives because freight car couplers on something like a Silver Series car or Roundhouse kit are far easier to deal with than changing a locomotive coupler. On these freight cars, it is a simple matter of unscrewing the coupler cover, changing the coupler, then replacing the cover. On a diesel locomotive, the same conversion involves threading the replacement coupler through the locomotive pilot and holding it in place while dropping the coupler cover into position in a tight space, aligning it, then dropping a screw into the same tight space. It's not that hard to do for somebody like me, but it is infinitely harder than a freight car conversion.

It doesn't surprise me that something like this exists in SOuth America. The railroads down there are fascinating. Argentina ran Baldwin SHarks at least until 1980. Ecuador retired GE diesels in favour of bringing back steam because it was easier to maintain. Chile itself supposedly has boxcab electrics on a mining railroad that are close to 100 years old, and when CN abandoned the its narrow guage network in Newfoundland, many of the locomotives made their way to Chile where they are still in operation.


In addition to all of this, the Andes are home to some of the most incredible mountain railroads in the world.

I wouldn't expect a 4-4-0 to pull much. It is what it is. If you're looking for a steam locomotive that will pull a respectable number of cars you'll have to go bigger, like a 2-6-0 or 2-8-0.

The problem here is not that the locomotive isn't powerful enough, it's that the grade on the pier set is too steep. Maximum recommended grade is 3-4%. The pier set is almost 6%. It really doesn't matter much what locomotive you use, it isn't going to pull well on a 6% grade. You could try to make the grade less steep using the foam risers from Woodland Scenics. They come in gradients of 2%, 3% and 4%. alternately, you could get another Bachmann pier set, double the length of the upgrade section by using both pier sets, and shim every other pier with cardboard strips to get a smooth grade of under 3%.


I have quite a few of the GP40 locomotives as used in the Rail CHief, and on a reasonable grade they pull well.

Quote from: VTBob on June 15, 2024, 11:23:49 PMI have the 3rd generation of NYC 4-8-4, & all I need is an axle gear to make it run again -- finding the gear? Almost impossible. Went round & round with the guy from Shapeways, but his gear is for the pancake motor version - 1st gen. It does not fit this one.

Parts used to be available all over, but as time marches on, less & less of the parts are produced, because we seem to be living in a "It's broke? Throw it away & buy a new one" generation.

I'm old school -- if it breaks, fix it, but even I'm not having any luck getting parts.

Rob

Have you tried Northwest Short Line? They have many gears in stock. Hopefully you can find something that fits there.

I do not know much about the pancake motored steam locomotives. But if they are anything like the diesels, you're going to be much better off with something else. There's not much you can do to overcome the many shortcomings of this design, other than to find something better to put the old body shell on.

Back in the 1980s, I worked for a many who ran a portable display layout built in a semi trailer. He had connections within Bachmann, so we used alot of these old pancake motored locomotives on the layout. They didn't hold up well under heavy usage, and we the only practical way to fix a pancake motored diesel was to swap out the power truck.

In your case it may be easier and cheaper to either make a conversion car with one coupler of each type, or change the couplers on the locomotive. I don't usually recommend doing this except as an interim measure while converting a big fleet of cars, but in your case if you have to pay somebody to convert all your cars it can get expensive. You didn't mention what scale you are working in, and that matters alot in how you approach this.

It would appear that this set predates the pancake motor era. These locomotives were built like tanks, very heavy. I believe the drive itself was good enough to be used in some brass diesels of the era. The drive is pretty similar to what Bachmann uses to-day in the way it was laid out, except that the trucks were held in place with a metal pin through both the chassis and the truck itself, rather than the bolster screw on top of the gear tower Bachman currently uses.  I'd imagine parts are almost impossible to find.