Darn!
 I just bought 100 of the 36-inch wheels thinking that was the size for freight cars.

Well, this saves me some money.   I really like the GP30 demo, but since from what JW states are swappable shells.  I'll have to save up some more money and maybe find that GP30 Demo with installed DCC.

I'm still in the design phase of installing a decoder in a ballast vehicle.  But for locomotives, I'll either buy it already installed, since swapping shells seems to be out of the question.

Thanks for responding, I will not be buying that GP30 Demo (DC powered) with the information you all provided.

Thanks for responding, Okay, maybe I wasn't clear.  I want to use the GP30 shell and put it on the GP7 chassis or the FT-A chassis.  The GP7 chassis already has DCC and sound.  The GP30 chassis is DC and I will either put the GP7 shell on it and give it away or sell it.  and
if that doesn't work, I'd be interested in swapping out the FT-A (DCC) shell and put the GP30 chassis in it. Remember the GP30 chassis is DC, the other two are DCC.

So basically, I'm asking does anyone have knowledge of these Bachmann chassis', will the shell of the GP30 be compatible with the chassis of the GP7 and/or FT-A chassis?

I understand the dilemma between plastic and metal wheels, but what I don't quite understand is the differences in wheel size. 

There are 28 inch wheels in plastic or metal
There are 33 inch wheels in plastic or metal
There are 36 inch wheels in plastic or metal
There are 40 inch wheels in plastic or metal
and even seen 42 inch wheels.

Do these different sizes make the cars roll faster, like a kids bicycle over an adult bicycle?
Does it make the cars taller or shorter, causing a coupler height issue?
Not to mention whether the actual axle is plastic or metal, which also causes me to question which one of those axles are better or worse.
And lastly, will I need to purchase a caliper to measure the different wheel sizes?
I've also damaged wheel trucks cleaning out the journals, maybe cause I'm terrible at it, but making the journal larger makes the wheels wobble, in my opinion.


Anyway, I have over the many years collected both sets of wheels metal and plastic, large and small wheel diameters, and in the past just replaced wheels haphazardly to keep the train rolling.

If anyone can elaborate on this, it will be greatly appreciated.

I've asked this question before, but didn't seem to get a clear answer. 
So this time I've found a Bachmann GP30 (DC, analog) that I could purchase, but want to determine if I can replace that shell and place it on the GP7 (DCC + sound) before I put down any money on it. 


If that doesn't work then would the GP30 shell be swappable with the FT-A (DCC) chassis?

I don't have the GP30 yet, and don't want to purchase it until I can determine if a DCC chassis is compatible and will fit on either the GP7 or FT-A chassis.

I'm open to other suggestions, and any ideas.  But basically, trying to keep within my existing locomotives without moving to purchasing entire new locos. 

Thanks for clearing that up.  I'm still building my layout and haven't needed the booster that I bought.  I hate to have bought something new just to have it discontinued. 

That reminds me of my 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT and just as I was having my wife punch out kids.  I was in the market to sell the GT (two-seater) when GM announced that they were discontinuing it.   Finally sold the car, but at a big loss. 

So, the train shows I've been to...the On30 wasn't typos.  Well bless my britches.  Okay, I understand that both can operate on HO scale tracks (code 100, I guess).  Then is the width of the loco/car body the same as HO or wider/smaller?  I ask this because I run my Bachmann tracks as close as possible, of course without the cars/locos hitting each other.  An if I obtain one of these On30 locos/cars will they operate on my track without hitting other cars.  Or should a stay clear of On30.

Okay, I understand the higher air flow from the NF-A6X25 FLX fan, plus the added benefit of better blade design.  You wouldn't happen to know the fan flow of the Original Bachmann fan, cause I'm guessing that the Bachmann fan runs/rotates at 2400 rpm (high noise-low flow) and you set the NF-A6X25 FLX fan at 1600 rpm and that produced better flow characteristics but much quieter.  True or am I misssing something?

Great video, but I need some education.  You state that the train is HO but is on On30.  What is the difference or is that a difference between HO an On30.  I've seen On30 but never questioned it thinking it was someone's typo.

I have a different take on couplers, Bachmann and Kadee to me doesn't matter.  It's the maintenance that run my trains.  For instance, I load up a train that consists of say, 14 cars, it runs around the track and say a car becomes uncoupled (coupler breaks, or some other cause).  That's when I send out my maintenance cars (team).  They perform switching to move that car from the mainline, say push it to a siding, then I will repair that car and put it back on that siding track for pick up later, or have the maintenance (team) transport that broken car back to the shop (I have a shop siding where all the maintenance is performed.  I call it the "Outer limits" although part of my layout (a single track to it) but it's where I actually perform hands on work/repair/fix on the train cars. 

It's all in how you look at broken parts.  If that's not realistic maintenance of broken couplers then what is?  Broken couplers is part of the fun in running the layout...to me. 

Quick question, Was the loud noise coming from the Bachmann power booster fan?  Or was the noise reduced
after the installation of the anti-vibration mounts?   

I am questioning whether the original Bachmann fan is the noise generator, or the fact that the Bachmann fan does not have the anti-vibration mounts that would generate the noise from the fan.

My understanding is that you replaced the original Bachmann fan with a quieter fan.  My experience is that by placing a heavy object on the booster it quiets the noise from the booster.  This makes me think that the original fan is just vibrating its entire frame against the body of the booster, thus making that noise.

I don't understand your post here.   Do you mean that Bachmann has discontinued "BACHMANN 44910 E-Z COMMAND 5 AMP BOOSTER", or am I miss understanding what you completed?

Never heard of TT (1:120) until now.   Old eyes have enough to deal with on HO.  If this TT catches on, I believe it'll be due to the younger generations not being able to afford the living spaces sufficient to support O and HO scale.   My oldest son just moved into a 1200 sq foot home, and the mortgage is 3 to 4 times my 2400 sq ft home. Let alone that home builders are making homes smaller, than when I left my parents home. 

So again, if TT catches on, maybe it'll be a race with N scale to be on top for scale modelers in the future! 

Okay, I may be wrong on this issue, but I'll let you decide:

The main reason the forum (i.e. entire Bachmann web system) does not or limits the photos and videos, etc. is basically data storage capability.  I believe that Bachmann although could provide storage space would eventually add unwanted or unnecessary cost to maintaining the data storage, which would require additional maintenance, with building space for cooling all the harddrives and power necessary to maintain that data storage.

Not sure why the Bachmann administrator doesn't state that this is a reason for limiting photos, but it makes perfect sense to use others webs data storage and the links are only bytes of storage instead of kilo and megabites of storage.

   By the way, if you use your own website or someone else's your files will only be deleted by you or your web provided.  There are a few Bachmann images that were missing after this new upload.  All of my images from prior to the new forum are still there in my queries. 

Also as stated earlier I'm sure Bachmann doesn't want to be responsible for or get into data mining and maybe not selling but ensuring personnel data is not divulge to others.

That's my take on this issue of uploading photos on this forum.  If I'm totally wrong, let me know.

Are they older than these?  Like you, they have kept well over the years, including the boxes.  Had'em since I was a kid, followed me around the country (US that is) and now I can actually put them on my layout now that I have retired.


I'm going to try to put lights inside them and also try to make them more realistic looking in order to keep up with my modern HO layout.  I'm just glad I'm not the only one with old Plasticville models.