I recently purchased an HO scale Union Station.  Nice kit with a little paint and a few added details. But, it seems rather small, almost N scale. The main station building is about 20' X 20' and 22' high. I was wondering if anyone knows the size of the foot print of the O scale Union Station.  Maybe it will be a closer match to HO than I tought.
LIRRMAN

My new GS4 American Freedom loco was supposed to run on DC right out of the box, according to Bachmann customer service.  It didn't.  The engine would hesitate and the headlight would blink on and off.  On a second call to Bachmann customer service I got a rep. who actually knew what to do. The fisrt rep. didn't.  I had to remove the small PC board and replace it with a "dummy clip" that came with the engine.  It's in the instructions in a small circle at the bottom but it's not very informative and locating the correct holes is a challenge.  Once the "dummy clip" was installed it ran fine.  The locomotive box said "DCC On Board" which is apparently a lot different than "DCC ready".
LIRRMAN

Several years ago I bought a Lionel American Freedom Train (steam GS4). It was in the original box, unopened, but it was 30 years old.  The locomotive ran great but only for a short time.  The motor burned out (a flat motor similar to an old Tyco) and then a side rod came off the drive wheel on one side.  It was beyond repair.  It has since been replaced with the Bachmann GS4 which runs much better and has a better paint job.  I have used the old Lionel shell but the old guts remain.  Don't know if what's left of the guts will help you but you are welcome to it for the cost of mailing. Problem: I hesitate to put my e-mail or mailing address on a site like this so I don't know how we can get in contact.
LIRRMAN

Thanks to all who replied.  Beats me how we got on to hot wheels.  Anyway, I finally realized there are two ways to look at the 1/8 scale stated on the box. (1) The way I first figured it, 1/8 the size of the prototype.  That would make a 40' box car measure 5 feet long, a shade bigger than HO.  (2) The way it should be figured.  1/8 inch equal one foot.  Then, a 40' box car would measure 5 inches, a little smaller than actual HO scale.  My Union Station is probably about 10% smaller than actual HO.  Thanks again.
LIRRMAN

Well, I went ahead and bought the Uion Station kit on e-bay.  It arrived, I assembled but I thought it looked a little small.  The 2 story building, with out the adjacent platforms, leaves a 2.5" (18') X 4" (29') footprint.  The 2 story height is 2.75" (20').   The box, which appears to date to the 50's or 60's, says HO but it still seems rather small.  (I also bought the
switchman' s tower which  says HO and also "built to 1/8 scale".   There's a BIG difference between 1/8 and 1/87).  I guess the station looks small because today's newer plastic kits are closer to scale and quite large by comparison.  This station could easily be used in "N" scale and nobody (well, almost nobody) would notice.  What really seems to give it away - the doorways are 7' high.  Thats HO.  Thanks for your replies.
LIRRMAN

Just bought this station on e-bay.  When assembled it looked knid of small, almost N scale, but doorway height seemd prettey close.  Box said HO but also sais\d 1/8 scale.  Can any tell me if this kit is actually HO?

Have found several Plasticville Union Stations on e-bay.  All were listed in the HO section of Toys & Hobbies.  However, when I looked at the shipping information it stated "O" gauge.  Was this station actually made in HO scale.   Actually I was trying to find out the size of the footprint when the seller indicated it was "O" gauge even though it was listed in the HO section.
LIRRMAN

I recently purchased Bachmann's new American Freedom Train GS4 locomotive.  It's advertised as DCC On-Board.  Since my 25 year old railroad is standard DC cab control, I contacted Bachmann to be sure this new loco would operate properly on my railroad.  I was assured it would run just fine out of the box with no adjustments.  However, it ran very poorly, had no pulling power and the headlight kept blinking off and on.  I contacted Bachmann (customer/technical service) again (different person this time) and then I was told I had to remove the on-board chip or PC board and replace it with the two dummy clips that came with the locomotive.  The instructions that came with the locomotive were a little "thin" on how to do this and finding the pin numbers on the plug was not easy.  Bottom line however, when the dummy plugs were finally installed it ran great on standard DC.  Based on two separate phone-call answers from Bachmann tech. service, I can only conclude the even Bachmann is having a tough time with all the different terminology and technology and needs to provide additional training for their customer service.
LIRRMAN

Thanks to all who replied.  It was a big help
LIRRMAN

Yampa Bob:
If you were REALLY a nice guy you would have discreetly mentioned that Gene accidently reversed the over and underset information so the guy won't buy the wrong couplers.
LIRRMAN

As I look through various hobby advertisements for Bachmann HO locomotives, both old and new, I see 1) Bachman PLUS  2) Bachmann SPECTRUM, 3) Bachmann STANDARD LINE,  4) DCC ON-BOARD and 5) DCC ready.  What's the difference?  Is STANDARD LINE the original Bachmann mechanism.  How can you tell the difference when buying used locomotives, like the original Daylights and F40PH and the newer, better, units.. 
LIRRMAN

I was selling a Rivarossi steam locomotive at a train show.  A prospective buyer asked me "how many hours of service" the locomotive had.  I can't print my reply.  Does anyone actually keep track of this.  If operating a model railroad creates more paper work than my job it's time to quit.
LIRRMAN 

I had the same problerm with the HO Freedom Locomotive.  I finally found a small #8 on the board and the instruction sheet had a little box in the lower corner showing the angle of the clips.  I used this as a reference and it worked fine.  At least in HO scale I could see the number.  Maybe N scale is different.
LIRRMAN

I'll try calling tomorrow but I just didn't send an e-mail. I used the "contact us" link on the Bachmann website. That shouldn't be spam.  The posting by John Z who has been waiting for his repaired locomotive since December is disturbing.
LIRRMAN

Why can't I get a response from customer service?  An e-mail I sent about a month ago was never answered and I'm still waiting for an answer to an e-mail I sent a week ago.  This is customer service??
LIRRMAN