Quote from: Limey on May 29, 2012, 09:56:03 AM
Hi old vet,
                  Yes it is a bit confusing when you first get started in this hobby and some of us forget we were in your shoes once.

                The numbers you refer to apply only to steam locomotives, and refer to the numbers of wheels and the arrangement of them under the locomotive.

          To start with the  4-8-4 has 4 relatively small wheels in the front ( 2 each side)
they are mounted on a movable part of the loco called the PILOT.
         Next we have 8 large driving wheels ( 4 each side )
         and lastly 4 more smaller wheels ( 2 each side ) on another movable part called the Trailing Truck. This is usually under the cab.

         As for the 0-6-0  it is a much smaller loco and does not have the Pilot or the Trailing Truck just the 6 large driving wheels.

      Hope this helps.  From another once very confused old vet.

  Regards, Limey.

Since when is the pilot of a locomotive moveable?

Quote from: Dutch livery on May 13, 2012, 03:34:21 PM
I'm thinking of buying Bachmann's 4-6-2 Sea-Eagle (32551 DS) but can't find to much info on it.
Can you tell me what the sound are like on your 4-6-0 model? Are they any good?
What sounds are included?

Sorry for my not so perfect English but I'm from the Netherland and new to this form. Hope to improve soon 

The engine you are enquiring about is a very nice looking engine.

http://www.bachmann.co.uk/image_box.php?image=images1/branchline/32-551DS.jpg&cat_no=32-551DS&info=0&width=650&height=185

Unfortunately only North American engines are imported by Bachmann with a couple of exceptions a few Chinese engines were also imported but that is not usual.

Rob,
The engine you are asking about is not normally imported into the North American market and will not be listed on this site. You are welcome to participate in the forum as to advice on model railroading but you need to checkout the uk Bachmann site.

http://www.bachmann.co.uk/

The CPR mainline first built through British Columbia contained a stretch of track know as the "Big Hill"

This section of track had a 4.5% incline. CPR built a siding just to store pusher engines to help with the various trains passing through.

At the time of the construction, most railroads were still using 4-4-0's as their main engines. In 1884 CPR ordered two 2-8-0's from Baldwin just for pusher duty. At the time these engines were built they were the largest engines built. In 1886 CPR ordered two more of these engines and in 1987 started building their own in their shops.

In 1909 this stretch of mainline was replaced with the "Spiral Tunnels" which lowered the incline to 2.2%

Quote from: stirling34 on May 11, 2012, 05:32:23 PM
I am desperately looking for an HO Shay 2-truck and can't find one anywhere. Many listed HO's are realy HOn30. Can anyone help? thanks.

Bachmann did not make an HO two truck Shay, are you perhaps thinking of the two truck Climax. If you are these are rare.

I was out of town this week and visited the local hobby shop to see what was available. On the main shelf for the HO train section were two HO steamers for sale.

The first steamer was the Bachmann ALCO 2-6-0 with DCC and sound

On the second shelf

was a 2-8-0 steamer that has just been re-released by another manufacturer. This engine is extremely plain with little in the way of piping or other detail. It was DCC ready.

Both engines were listed at $129.99.

I asked the manager which of the two steam engine was he selling more of.  His response was he had one 2-6-0 left, which was on the shelf left out of an order for 20 and that he had sold 2 of the 2-8-0's.

He is on a waiting list for more of the Bachmann Alco's and can not be given a date when he can receive more.

Good point, that is why Canadian steam engines usually have small tenders in comparison to their USA counterparts.

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_153/f_06487.gif

What a monster

The BLI Blueline T-1 is DCC ready, the Paragon2 is DC/DCC compatible.

Some of the BLI engines are hogs on amps, My BLI Paragon Hudson would not run at all on by EZ Command, It ran fine on a Digitrax unit with a lot more amps 1 VS 5 for the Digitrax. The EZ unit would run sound Spectrum units with no problem, I could run 2 with no problems, any more and no movement, nothing.

Quote from: OGhoul on April 16, 2012, 10:41:00 AM

Quote from: Rangerover1944 on April 11, 2012, 01:45:07 PM
You are lucky if you can run 2 sound loco's with the 1 amp power supply. Some sound decoders are real hogs for power!

Im able to run three Atlas GP38AC's with QSI sound decoders without issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDqs3MSO8pw

I bet they are not BLI units. I have several BLI units and they all require more than 1 amp to run. I can easily run 3  Spectrum sound engines or 2 Intermountain or Proto units.

I had to buy a 5 amp DCC controller before I could run and enjoy my BLI units.

Trying to find more of the Spectrum Heavy mountains with sound in the SP livery with the Hicken tender has been futile. These units are just not out there. Must have been a small run.

These are the finest pulling engines in the HO Spectrum line of Steamers.

Rangerover

It is too bad the warranty was not longer. I have been using me EZ DCC unit for about the same time as you. As I bought more engines and switched to sound as well as DCC the EZ unit could barely handle my layout. So having to increase the power of the EZ unit I was surprised at just how expensive the booster units were. I also now needed to be able to read and write CV codes so I had to purchase another unit anyway just to be able to address the CV's.

I delegated the EZ DCC unit to my test layout which is mounted on a 4' x 8' plyood panel which is hinged and kept in the garage. No when I get something new I can let the unit run as long as I want and allow me to use my layout at the same time.

Quote from: Rangerover1944 on April 16, 2012, 09:07:59 PM
Note the EZ Controller is only covered by warranty for 90 days.


Not so, it's one year! 

Where do you get your information?

This is from the Service Section of this site
Items less than a year old are fully covered and will be serviced or replaced at no charge when accompanied with warranty card or proof of purchase.

For items more than one year old, there is a nominal service charge for repair or replacement (prices subject to change):
$15.00 - All standard non-DCC locos
(excluding Large Scale)

$25.00 - Standard DCC and
Spectrum® N and HO

$30.00 - Williams, On30, and
Standard Line large scale

$50.00 - Large scale Spectrum®


All accessories, power packs and speed controllers, and Plasticville USA® items are covered for 90 days only.

I was just at one of the on-line model railroad hobby shops and they indicate that the Spectrum 2-10-2 has now been discontinued.

Can the Bach Man give us an indication of which Spectrum engines are most likely to go back into production.

I have been looking for a Spectrum Heavy Montain 4-8-2 for some time now, it is another discontinued engines, another engine I would like to purchase is the Spectrum 4-6-0 in the low driver version. It is relatively hard to find as well.

Note the EZ Controller is only covered by warranty for 90 days.

The warranty period for the E-Z DCC controller is 90days. If it is still under warranty contact Bachmann Service right away to document it is covered by the warranty.

Just leaving the unit on should not cause a meltdown. I have left my unit on overnight a few times.

There is one sequence of events that will cause instant failure. Plug the power to the track from the controller with the unit plugged in to the wall socket. instant failure.

The proper sequence is to plug the unit into the wall socket last.

This wrong sequence is very easy to do.