Chris

It is very hard to diagnose problems remotely.  We can offer general suggestions.  This is why I think you should try to find someone locally who might be able to help.  

Battery power is another choice, but it has its own set of problems.  It needs to be installed.  It depends on your skill level how easy that will be.  I have several battery powered engines.  I had help to get them up and running.  I can do a lot of things, but I wasn't comfortable doing the wiring.  I prefer track power, but I run trains at places that don't have track power, so I needed some powered by battery.

From my experience, over 30 years in the hobby, track power is the easiest.  All power systems have advantages and disadvantages.  This is another place where local contacts will be helpful.  You can ask questions, and see what others are doing and find out why they made those choices.  When I started, there wasn't a pool of help.  We were few and far between and mistakes were made and we learned from our mistakes.  The help is out there, you just need to find a local group.  Most if not all of the people I know in the hobby want to see beginners succeed.  They are the future of the hobby!

Don't give up, there are solutions.  It just may take some time.

Chuck

Andrew

I've never seen track with the "verdigris" you describe.  That track has to have been subjected to some unusual conditions.

We have some yard sculptures that are made from copper pipe.  They have a very heavy verdigris patina.  I asked the artist how he created the patina?  He said that he washed his sculptures in "miracle grow" to get the heavy green effect and it took a number of washings.  Is it possible that your used track came from a railway that was from a garden that was heavily fertilized with miracle grow?  As an aside, he said that one of the owners of miracle grow once asked him the same question.  He now gets all the miricale grow he needs.

There are many ways to clean track, everyone has a preferred method, they aren't all the same, but if they work that is all that matters.

Chuck

I' m confused.

All I can say is that the green pad on a sanding pole does the job.  I can clean and polish my 90' mainline in about a minute.  The passing sidings will take another minute.  Many of my friends use the same system.

Chuck

Andrew

There are two different things that show up on the track.  Tarnish which darkens the surface of the rail and the fine grained black dust.  The tarnish comes from the metals in the brass reacting with gasses in the air, primarily oxygen and sulphur and some of its compounds.  This tarnish is an insulator and can effect the electrical contact with the engine and the rails.  The fine grained black dust is ground up brass from the friction of the harder wheels rubbing against the softer metal, brass, of the rail head.  If you have plastic wheels on your cars, some of the black dust is from the flanges being ground down by the harder rail.  I have heard of people, who run the same cars a lot, having their flanges on plastic wheels being entirely ground away.

All of this grinding is more pronounced with the smaller curves (4'diameter).  

Chuck

Most of us gave up on sandpaper years ago.  No matter how fine the grit size, it seems to leave scratches in the rail that will collect dirt.  Brass track needs to be cleaned every couple of days.  

For the wheels, I use a smaller green scotch bright pad, the size that you can get in a grocery store for cleaning pots and pans.  You will need a hardware store for the larger size.  Or you could cut one of the larger pads into smaller strips to clean wheels.

Or you could use a small power drill, like a Dremel, with a brass wire brush to clean the wheels.

I have two power connections for my layout which has a main line of about 90' in length. So your two for 50' should be fine.

Chuck

Chris

You might go over to one of the other Large Scale forums and introduce yourself and say where you live and ask if there are any formal or informal groups in west central Ohio.  This site is great for Bachmann products, but the other sites have more participation, because they aren't restricted to just one manufacturer.

I use <mylargescale.com>.  

Another one is "large scale central".  I don't have it's URL.

I agree with Bill and will add that your engine will last longer with larger diameter curves.  The tight curves put more wear and tear on the wheels, gears, and motor. 

This will also over time grind away the inside edge of the outside rail on your curves.  I have a friend who has to replace his track (4' diameter) every few years because of wear on the rails caused by the grinding of the wheels.  The drive wheels are harder than the brass rail.  He runs his train a lot.  Usually, 8-12 hours a day and
his engine is a 0-4-0 LGB Stainz.  An engine with a much shorter wheel base than your 4-6-0.



Chuck

It sounds to me that your track isn't level, side to side, and quite possibly dirty.  Make sure the rail joiners are tight.  When I put my track together, I use a small dab of conducting grease in each joiner.  I am now securing the connections with rail clamps or screws.  This will give better electrical connections from rail to rail.

I suggest that you go to a hardware store and get a dry wall sanding pole and some green Scotch Brite pads.  This is an easy way to clean the track.  Also check to see if the wheels are clean.

This is what I use to clean my track.











Where do you live?  It is quite possible that there is a local club or informal group near where you live.  They would be a valuable source for local help.

I don't recommend a lubricant for the track.  Most lubricants are an organic oil, which is an insulator, not a conductor.  It will reduce traction, reducing the number of cars you can pull.

If you must have a lubricant, there is a product called RAIL ZIP that is supposed to work.  Years ago I tried it on my rails following the directions and my engine just sat there and spun its wheels.  Now occasionally, very, I will put a cpuple of drops at the top of my grade and let the train spread it out.  I haven't done that for several years.

What diameter (radius) curves are you using?  If you are having a problem with binding on the curves go to a larger diameter curve.  Our general recommendation, is to use the largest diameter that will fit in the space.  Everything will run better and look better.  Four foot diameter curves are great for under a Christmas tree, but not for a more perminant layout.  It puts a lot of wear and tear on the rolling stock and the track.

Chuck

PS too much lubricant and it will attract dust and dirt, which will not improve your engines performance.

Chris

Welcome to the "wacky world of large scale".  There are a lot of large scalers in Ohio. If you could mention your town or county, there might be some near you.

You will discover that your new brass track will not mate with the steel track in your starter set.  The starter set has a single steel pin that goes inside the rail.  The brass track has a rail joiner that goes on the outside.  If you are planning to put your train up outside, the steel rail will rust in a very short time and with a little longer time will disappear into a line of red dust.  It is great for indoors around a Christmas tree, or an indoor layout.

Our advice is to decide where you want to put your train and then make some measurements.  Use the largest diameter/radius that will fit the space.  Your engines and cars will appreciate the wider curves.

Think about what you want before buying a lot of track.  My railroad has 10' diameter curves and I wish I had gone larger.  Some trains look OK on those curves and some don't.  If you are going to stick with engines and cars similar in size and scale to your starter set (1:22.5/24) 8' diameter will be fine.   If you think that you might want to get some more modern, late steam to diesel, "standard gauge" 1:29 or 1:32 scale trains, then you should go with larger curves and switches.

Again welcome, and don't be afraid to ask questions.  As was mentioned earlier <mylargescale.com> is another site.  This site is largely devoted to questions about Bachmann products.  If you have questions about products that Bachmann doesn't  make and sell, MLS is a good alternative.

A little history.

I started out in this gauge of track about 35 years ago.  My first train was an LGB starter set.  It was European narrow gauge and the scale is 1:22.5 or meter gauge in real life.  I acquired a lot of LGB, and later Bachmann, Delton, and USAtrains.  These were based on American Narrow Gauge cars and scaled out to 1:22.5 and 1:24.  Later LGB, AristoCraft and USAtrains started producing more moden "standard gauge" engines and cars in 1:29 scale ( this is an incorrect scale, the proper scale for standard gauge trains on our track is1:32).  Later still, Bachmann and Accucraft started producing American Narrow  Gauge engines and cars in the correct scale (1:20.3) for the 3' gauge trains that ran and still run in parts of our country.

I ended up with all three scales; 1:20.3, 1:22.5/24, and 1:29.  I run them all, but not at the same time.

Sooner or later you will be reading about the 5 or more scales of trains that people run on our 45mm track.  It can get confusing to a beginner.

Remember it is supposed to be fun and we are here to help.  When asking a question, try to provide as much information as you can.  It will help us help you.

Chuck

If they are all code 332 they are.  Code 332, is the heigh of the rail in thousands of an inch.  There are other heights out there.  Bachmann "G" steel track does not easily match up and it will rust badly if used outside.

Chuck

The profile of the rail can be slightly different between the various manufacturers.  This might require some fiddling to put them together.  Matching up LGB and Aristo took a little effort, more than Aristo to Aristo, or LGB to LGB.  Removing the rail joiners and using rail clamps will give better long term connections, especially outdoors.

The different manufacturers have used different alloys of brass.  The rail sides will darken at different rates.  From my experience, LGB will have dark sides while Aristo still looks brassy.

Deleted, I was trying to modify it and things got messed up.  See post below.

Chuck

Could that wire be the antenna, in which case it would only be connected at one end?

Chuck

That is a great story.  I have seen, over the years, a number of BH cars and have never seen one for that road.  Loco Bill will probably add a comment as he is the unofficial historian of all things large scale Bachmann.

There are people out there who do custom lettering, is it possible that your parents had the car specifically lettered for your gift?  If so that, that is a very special car.

Chuck

I correct myself.  I just did a Google search on Bachmann LO&S cars and some showed up.  No pictures that I could find, but they appear to be real.  I saw mention of gondolas and box cars.  Is it possible that they were a special run for the museum in Strasburg, Pa?

Thanks, glad you like the cars.  There is nothing wrong with mixing yellow and green cars.  During the transition from green to yellow in the late 1940s I'm sure the D&RGW mixed them.  I may be wrong, but I think that the yellow colors were created for the Chicago Railroad Fair in the late 1940s.  I have a picture in a book that shows an excursion train on Cumbres pass with a mixed consist of green and yellow cars.  I think that it was taken in the early 50s.

I have three maroon cars and I'm going to mix them with my yellow ones.  The maroon observation car is called "RICO".  I'll keep it as it is.  I have fond memories of the town of Rico.  Some colleagues and I were doing some geology in the area around Rico.  We detected some anomalies in our data and predicted a potential mineral deposit at depth under the town.  Several years later a major minerals company drilled the anomaly and found a world class molybdenum deposit.  At the time we calculated the value at about $20,000,000,000.  One doesn't get a scientific success like that very often.  That is why I'll keep my maroon RICO maroon.

Chuck

Here is a picture of the excursion train, note the yellow and dark (green) cars.


I tried to recreate it a few years ago at a friends event, close, but not quite.

I think that the "Official color" is Pullman green.  If you have access to model train paints in a rattle can, I'd use that.  In the absence of that I use a dark green krylon, Rustolyum, or equilivant.  I think the name might be forest green.

I'd use a gloss finish as that is better for the decals.  You can always spray it with a matte finish at the end.  If you paint the roof, you will need a gloss letter board at the top of the side.

Chuck