I wasn't even born 80 years ago. But as a 6 year old, I can remember eating lunch with my uncle at his Great Northern freight station new the New Haven yard in New London, CT. While we ate we could watch early ALCO switchers working the yard as I-4 Pacifics relegated to fast freight service passed, while ALCO PA's had taken over passenger service. Once or twice a week there would even be a Pennsy passenger train headed to Boston.

Len

Quote from: bbmiroku on August 09, 2024, 04:22:54 PMIt's been a while since I've been on it, but the Kadee website has instructions for most trains to convert to their couplers.  I assume some careful thinking would get you the reverse.

The problem is the way the knuckle couplers mount to the 44 Tonner. There's just no way to fit the Bachmann hook & loop in the space available. It does look like something could be done with the Marklin E218420, or similar, hook and loop coupler though.

Len

I can't see any way to install the Bachmann hook & loop coupler on the 44 Tonner. What might work is using Marklin E218420 couplers to replace the knuckle couplers on it though. You might have to adjust the length and width a bit, but it should work.

Len

It would be easier to use a freight car with NEM coupler pockets to make a transition car. Replace the hook & loop coupler on one end with an NEM shank knuckle coupler available from Bachmann or Kadee. Couple that end of the car to the knuckle coupler on the loco and the rest of the train to the hook & loop coupler.

Len

The next size down from 26" radius is 22". If you want to maintina 2" spacing, and alternative would be someone elses Code 100 24" radus curves on cork roadbed, or flextrack. The next size up from 28" radius is 33.25" radius. Again, Code 100 flextrack on cork would be the way to go if you wanted to go with a 30" radius on the outside.

Len

Might be one of those situations where you have to lay a 1K Ohm resistor across the tracks before the decoder gets recognized.

Len

If you can find them, some of the Mantua loco chassis's are adaptable to On30 use without having to build a complete loco from scratch.

Len

Motors are not available from Bachmann to upgrade manual turnouts. If you are mounting the track to a permanent layout, I is possble to adapt them to one of the many under-table motors available from other mfg's. For termporary layouts, the manual EX-Track turnouts have to be replaced with motorized ones.

Len

If your existing layout uses blocks, all you have to do to convert it to DCC have some DCC equiped locos, turn all the blocks, except any where you want to store DC locos, to "On" and connect the DCC system of your choice. If you have not already programed the DCC loco addresses on a seperate track, put them on the mainline one at a time and set their addresses. Once that's done, put them on the track, select a loco, and start operating. You can even put a DPDT toggle switch between the DC power supply and DCC system to switch back and forth when you want to operate the DC locos.

Personally, I use the NEC Power Cab because the add-on throttle is the same as the original, which cut down the learning curve for my grankids. The Zephyr is also a nice starter system, but the button layout on add-on throttles is not the same as the base unit.

Len

Both should be able to handle 18" radius curves, but will look better on larger curves. Especially the SD45.

Len

Tap drill for a 2-56 screw in plastic is #50. Use a #49 for a self tapping #2 screw.

Len

There's no wiring per se involved. The 'Universal Smoke Unit' sits between the to halves of the split frame and contacts on each side of the smoke unit get power from each side. And exploded diagram of the same loco with the smoke unit can be found here:

https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/50701.pdf

You can see how it fits in the more or less square opening at the front of the chassis.

Len

I've used an MRC AA370 Railpower 1370 DC power pack to run a similar locomotive, with 4 cars and a caboose, around a 15 ft x 20 ft elevated display track in a store with no problems. That layout was level and used brass track with feeders from the power pack every 5 ft. Adding elevations would up the power requirements.

Len

These trucks should be adaptable to those cars:
https://www.walthers.com/heavyweight-6-wheel-passenger-trucks-type-2411-1-pair

You may find them available from other on-line retailers at lower prices.

If they are from the 1998 production run, Kadee #5 or #148 couplers should work. If not, use the Kadee #27.

Len

Technically, the site where all that stuff is located is a museum. Unfortunately, it appears to be unfunded and unmanned.

Len