You should try here in Australia, where NO-ONE carries Bachmann or On30 stuff! 

My LHS (as you call them) went broke in 2004, and there went the convenience of just nipping down, and paying slightly higher than internet prices, but having a good selection of the stock readily available. (Especially scratch-building parts like styrene sheets, profiles, and adhesives, etc.)

Since then, nothing, Nil. Zip. 

The only online stores that are any good to deal with are USA based, and then one has to pay exorbitant premiums for mail delivery charges, and having to wait up to six weeks for an order from US is not unheard of. 

Even the possibility of returning a faulty Bachmann locomotive for repair is simply out of the question........

As I may have mentioned before, I really envy you modellers who are lucky enough to live Stateside, with all the next-day-delivery and free-delivery options that you have. Not to mention the super-cheap deals that you get from competition among your hundreds of hobby shops.

Maybe I should move to California. Or New York. Or somewhere in between....

I have found the excessive cost of postage from the USA to be a limiting factor in my purchases, as well.

It is better, IMO, to save all your shopping items until you can find one place to purchase them all in one transaction. That at least, spreads the cost of postage across a number of items.

I recently had a back-order filled by a reputable US company. It was a pewter O Scale figure worth about four dollars, which had been out of stock at the time my original order was filled.

Two or three months later, when I had forgotten all about it, the figure arrived by post, accompanied by an invoice for just over $30 US..........

The super-expensive little bloke now resides as fireman on my Bachmann Mogul.

So, a word to the wise - do not ask for back orders to be filled. Best to elect to cancel any item that is out of stock, rather than have them arrive in exorbitantly priced dribs and drabs.

Hey Bachmann, et al,

As this question seems to come up regularly, why not make it a 'sticky'?

Very nice, Peter....

Hey NM,

I like your source of braided wire.

Do they come pre-Timmed, or do you Tim them yourself? 

Hi Dusten and ebtnut,

Great job, Dusten - your 2-8-0 replacement cab looks good!  At least the driver would have some elbow-room in there.....

Thanks for the info ebtnut - that clarifies things a little more.  At least I can now see the reason that Bachmann opted to close in the rear of the cab originally.....

Many thanks.

Hello all,

I am currently making a few personal and local modifications to a Bachmann Rogers 2-6-0 Mogul.

I have removed the rear cab wall, so the innards can be seen, and if the proportions are correct, it is only 1' 6" from the edge of firebox to the cab wall, and 5' 3" from the elevated floor to the top of the cab window. (They must have been crewed by Leprechauns.... )

I have a few 'smaller' O scale figures, and I will eventually choose one to suit, but has anyone any information on these Rogers cabs? The firebox appears to be HUGE in relation to the size of the cab.

If anyone has any photographs that they can post, I would really like to see them. All the pix on the net that I can find show only the front and side exteriors of the locos, of course.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Yum!

I just LOVE Pannier Tanks!!!!

Hello all,

Just a couple of questions from an old bloke from Down Under.

Why is the rear of the cab of the Bachmann 2-6-0 Mogul closed in?  Is this prototypical for the driver and the fireman to be segregated as suggested here? Or, is it just to disguise the rear of the motor?

Secondly, does anyone know where I can source a shorter tender for this loco? (A four-wheeler would be acceptable.)  The thing is a mile too long to fit on my turntable, and the Mogul certainly doesn't need such a 'mainline' sized tender when working in the hills and bush of the Great Southern Land.

I've tried all the usual internet sites with no result. The Backwoods Miniatures one that goes with the Forney conversion would be fine, but it's a little bit TOO short. And I don't want a slope-back.

(I may have to remove the pilot too, in order to get it all to fit onto my HO sized TT.)

Thanks, fellas.

Many thanks guys.

As usual, I am delighted with the support that my fellow On30'ers all afford me.

pjf....a reverse loop is a good plan, but I just don't have the space.  My whole layout is only 5 feet wide, with three existing mainline loops. This only leaves 2' 9" between the inner tracks.....

Hunt, I especially want to thank you for the link to Dallas Mallerich's Atlas N Scale turntable 'bash......that was more or less what I was thinking of - at a much less grand style, though.

Boy, that guy does magnificent work.....talk about a perfectionist! 

(He IS a perfectionist of course, and it shows through in his wonderful range of BVM kits 'n' bits...)

I used one of his kits to convert a Bachmann Spectrum HO 3-truck Shay to an On30 'Giplin' style 2-trucker just recently, and I am very happy with the conversion.

His quirky writing style is always a delight to read, as well.

Thanks again......

Hello all,

The new year brings new ideas, right?

Well, not so much in my case. I'm still struggling with the old concept of trying to fit a gallon into a quart pot.....

I really wanted to install a turning wye on my latest layout - which is still in the planning stages, but I simply don't have the physical space.  Wyes are HUGE in On30!

Even smaller radius types, that would enable one to turn a Porter, Davenport or a rail-truck, still have to be of 14" or 15" radius, and that comes out to about 32" x 38" when one adds the extension at the fork of the wye, that enables the loco to reverse clear of the points.

As I said, I don't got the space!

So, now my only option is to install a small turntable, which will take up much less space. I only need it to have a 9" deck.

Rather than building one from scratch, it occurred to me that I may be able to fit 16.5mm track to a proprietary N Scale turntable.

Has anyone else tried this, and could I possibly gain some pointers from your experiences?

Comments welcome.

Many thanks in advance.

Many thanks to all,

Now I know what I need to do.

All I need is a couple of donor turnouts, with the switch rails removed, and run the second set of rails parallel to the original set.

No wiring problems, as each circuit is isolated, and no moving parts.

Now, where is my junk box?

(GANTLET / GAUNTLET)

Hi Guys,

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and turned a few steel wheels....

I wonder if any one of you can give me some thoughts on how to scratch build a
gantlet track?

I have an idea coming up for my next (and hopefully first DCC) layout that
involves a pair of interlaced tracks sharing a length of viaduct.

The actual construction doesn't appear to be very intimidating, until I get to
the part with the crossover-track-frog-or-switch or whatever it's called.

Anyone have any ideas??


(Apart from "Forget it" - which I have already considered.) 

Hi Royce,

Many thanks for the link to Clover House.

As well as dry transfer lettering, the range of scratch building bits that he carries is amazing.... 

He only takes orders via snail mail and fax, however.


Time to fax an order or two.....

It's 43mm across the roof, which is it's widest point, and 53mm from rail top height to the top of the exhaust stack.....