I thought "Pearl Harbor" was a very entertaining movie.  It's main problem is that it was promoted as an historical film, which it certainly wasn't.

Lots of things were historically incorrect (too many to list here).  But, unless you went to the movie to get educated about an historical event (and who would), there was a lot of good entertainment in the movie.

After all, would you go to "1941" to learn historical facts about the US entry into WWII?

Les

In my experience the B23-7 was a sweet unit to run.  A little slow to load, and tended to rock at 19mph on staggered joint rail, but otherwise a very good unit.

The B36-7, on the other hand, was not so good in my opinion.  Slippery and with a cramped cab.  For some reason, some of the larger units had pretty small cabs.  SD7's and 9's were surprisingly cramped.

The Dash 9's corrected the earlier problems encountered in big GE's.

SD40's and SD40-2's were both good models.  The cabs were larger than earlier SD's, and they seemed quite dependable.

I liked running the old Geeps, too, especially the non-turbo models: GP7, GP9, GP18, GP38's.  They were better switchers and low-speed luggers than GP20's and GP40's.

I've run SD45's, and they seemed to be a lot like SD40's.  The 20 cyl. engine led to some reliability problems, but they never gave me any trouble, just four extra cylinders to blow down.

Something I would have liked to try, but never had the opportunity, would be to run a set with slugs.
I think they would have been excellent low-speed haulers.

Something else I would have liked would have been to run an F unit.  I've ridden in lots of them, but before I was able to run them.  Never even ran a CF7.

What I thought was really cool was running an ex-ATSF wide cab unit in red and silver warbonnet.  It was like a Lionel fantasy!

Les

I thought it was neat to pull an A-1-A locomotive for the last run.  It was the lead loco in a consist of C44-9W's.

The Dash 9's were my favorite loco to run, regardless of the railroad.  BNSF locos always seemed to be the best maintained and cleanest.

The Milwaukee Road SD7's with the light weight option had flexicoil trucks.  In an even more extreme example, we had a secondary line (ex-narrow gauge) that had bridges so lightly built that we had a special group of SW1's fitted with mu connections to run on it.  Four or five of these little guys would handle short trains.  I never operated a true switcher.  By the time I became an engineer, GP's were used for switching.  The smallest loco I ever ran was a GP7.

I remember working on small railroads where there was a controversy among the engineers over what was preferable, a Dash 9 or a SD70MAC.  I liked the GE's better, but I think I was in a minority.

Les

The Milwaukee Road in the 1960's determined it was more cost-efficient to have special light axle locomotives built than to upgrade the track on certain branch lines.  They had a series of lightweight SD7's built with special trucks and even extra-small fuel tanks.  These were 6-motor locos.

They later had  special model SDL-39's built with the same principle.

In the first generation, they had RSC2's for branch line work.  These were used into the 1970's.  These were A-1-A trucked units ( center axle was an idler).

The last loco I ran was a BNSF ES44C4.  This GE unit had A-1-A trucks with a twist:  the center (non-powered) axle could be raised or lowered to put additional weight on the drive axles when needed to prevent wheel slip.  Running one of these felt just like running a loco with 6 powered axles.

Les

So, the smell happens when the stove is being used, but the smell is in your parents' bedroom?

Do you have an electric stove?  Is the breaker box in your parents' bedroom?

Like with a model railroad, an overload in one place can cause a problem in another.

I would suspect the stove is drawing more current than the house is able to supply.  I would get a different electrician in to check out the stove and wiring.

If you do not have an electric stove, check for something else that runs at the same time the stove is being used, but not usually at other times (an exhaust fan, maybe)?

Les

You might be able to order a replacement motor from Bachmann.

Les

The original poster's problem was going on in a Rivarossi loco, but was by no means unique to that brand.  It can happen in locomotives of any make, including Bachmann.  I have had Bachmann locos that would do this.  So this is a generic model railroad problem.

This is also Bachmann's forum.  It is privately owned, and what goes into it is at Bachmann's discretion.  I think this is how it should be.  A private forum, open to the public, is different from a publicly-owned forum.

I have had no experience with DCC, but a screeching sound is often caused by poor contact between motor brushes and commutator.  Try getting some electrical contact cleaner with a straw applicator, and spray a little on the commutator.  Let it get back to room temperature before running it.

Once I sprayed some on a Rivarossi motor while it was hot, and the cold cleaner caused the plastic motor case to break.

You might also check the motor brush spring tension.

This applies to all small motors, including Bachmann.

Les

JDD,

It looks like you are coming along well with your railroad.

In my opinion, I think you should begin replacing your steel rail with nickle silver.  The difference in cost will be only a small increase in the cost you are going to incur anyway.

Nickle silver will not only give you something that is not going to rust.  It will also give you rail that you will be able to solder to.

I know what you mean about humidity.  I had a model railroad when I lived in Mississippi.

Les

Actually, Bachmann EZ Track seems to me to be as good as Kato.  I can't rate their track switches against Kato, as I have no experience with Kato, switches.

Bachmann EZ track is what I use for my mainlines and important side tracks.

You are going to have a bit of "culture shock" going from O to N.  Electrical contact is the biggest operational consideration in getting good performance in N scale.

I made the switch from HO to N in 1978, and never regretted it.  If you are interested in train operation and scenery, N is the best scale, in my opinion.

I really think you would be best served if you would learn to solder.

Les

This thing really blew me away.  After reading these comments, I was moved to ask myself "why?"

The creator said the layout was not intended to be a model railroad.  It was intended to be a representation of typical and identifiable parts of his nation.  The trains were there to provide action to the scene, as apparently were the moving vehicles.

There was a high ratio of scenery to track, something typical of real life.  There were lots and lots of mini-scenes that do not relate to the railroad.  Not only do the vehicles move, they pass each other.
Lots and lots of people, doing the things people do.  The filming of historical movies allow a chance to represent other time periods.  The whole thing was a bit overwhelming.  I am very impressed.

Would I build a model railroad like this, even if I could?  No.  My idea of an ideal model railroad is one on which I would operate the trains, or at least a train.  I want to be the engineer.  This does not reduce my enjoyment of this model one bit.

The European ideal is to have automatic train operation, to give the viewer the sensation of watching a real railroad in operation.  It is much like a museum display.  These are very enjoyable as details are found and picked out.

This fellow has fulfilled what many of us have as a hobby fantasy.  His crew are very gifted persons.  I really appreciated seeing this.

Les

This is absolutely fantastic!  Possibly the best ever.

I think all the readers of this site owe it to themselves to watch this video.

Les

I find it strange that this thing does not contain its own electric motor.  Would it then require that the car being loaded remain a fixed distance from the loco?

Maybe it could contain a solenoid-powered cow chucker, that could feed cows from a spring-loaded cow magazine.

Les

I like Skarloey's idea.

You may have to add an extra wire and two diodes as well as a resistor, so the resistor will work only on the direction you need to slow down.

Les

The dirt on your layout is probably sifting down from the floorboards above it.  The best solution would be to install a suspended ceiling. That is the arrangement I use in my basement and I have very little problem.  Dust accumulation in the house itself is worse than in the basement.

Suspended ceilings are very difficult to install above a model railroad.  You should try to move it out of the way so you can do the installation work.

Les