AMS will have )n30 tank cars before too long. Not as cheap as Bachmann but more than likely scale.. (That's Accucraft).

I agree with Woody on the complexity on the Grandt cars but if you want a frameless, that's the best bet these days. Now, you can build your own, Precision Scale and the Backshop offer the coupler/truck mount frame.

I will add that most of the real fun for us builders is to build what you can't buy.

Gene and other C&O fans: just picked up a BLI C&O T-1. It is nice. Not overly detailed but a great appearence, actually much better than many of the brass imports of it from the past. DCC and sound included. It will do 22 inch radius and higher. It may have some problems with #6 turnouts, remember, the minimum these usually saw was #12.

I'm still waiting for a Kanawaha to appear.

One area that cxauses screeching are the motor bearings. This is especially true of olde open frame motors like the old DC-71. Just a single drop of LaBelle #108 on each motor bearing will do it.  The same for the axle bearings and idler gear.

One thing Gene didn't mention is that the smoke unit, if your locomotive has one, can also be a problem. To access the inside of the 0-6-0, the screw at the rear of the frame must be removed. (That's with the locomotive upside down). Pull up on the cab  bit and then p[ry the boiler shell from the frame. Insert a small screwdriver between the boiler and fram just behind the cylinders.

The axles may be lubricated without disassembly by pullign the wheels side to side to put a drop of lubricant on the axle.

I'm too cheap to pay for a Proto 2000 USRA. These are inexpensive and after a little fiddling run very well. Adding a front coupler isn't very hard. Write me if you want to do that.

Royce,

The best bet for a start on the old Colorado Midland engines are the old MDC "Old Timer" Consolodations.  While Model Engfineering works did them all in Brass some 40 years ago, those will be the closest. There are a couple of things closer but they aren't good runners, the Model Products 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 which were very cheap copies of the MEW locomotives, Those have tender drives but are pretty close in appearence.

I do agree that a turn of the century 2-8-0 Ma & Pa or the CM locomotives should be a nice locomotive for small layouts.

Mr. Bachmann

Any comment on a train set marked "Keystone" with Bachmann cars, track and power pack? I'd sure like to see the 2-6-2 available under the Bachmann name.

Mr. Bachmann,

Are there any plans to improve the PCC or Birney power trains like the nice system on the new Peter Witt Car?

This would be very nice for those of s with traction on our minds.

The use of other scales in On3 and On30 has been a practice many modelers have been at for years. You have to be selective on what you use and how you do it. I needed some gravel wagons for my railroad and wound up using a British prototype wagon for the basis of my moddel. It is actually a 2 foot gauge wagon used on the Welsh Highland Railway project in Wales. The actual origin may be South African.

I used a pair of Athearn double hoppers to build my two. I added a simple steel frame after removing the grab irons andd other scale specific things and then added couplers and San Juan trucks with four ounces of additional weight.
The result is reasonable enough that friends viewing the layout immediately look at the cars and want to build their own. Cost for each car was under $12. They track well and operate on 18" radius very well. I also have some log buggies done from scratch after I learned that my scale On3 Westside log cars were too long for my layout.

Write me for pictures at japasha@aol.com

I berlieve a railroad movie called "Northern Lights" or something like that had  pair of Northern Pacific Prairies trying to shove each other  in a contest. Those were branch line locomotives.

Notheless, a smaller locomotive in that vein would be very nice. Pres3nt 2-8-0 is very nice and I have a pair. Even a more modern 4-6-0 like a SP T-27 would be welcome (1930's configuration).

I went to a train show (Atlanta) and bought some old locomotives for the HO side of things.

I have three scales and five gauges to play with so I might be playing with one of those.  Just 'cause we don't write doesn't mean we don't care.

Kevin,

I like the conversion and the paint is great. Being an SPC fan, I left that one alone and purchased another for my own road.

What kind of lift out bridge are you going to build? Contact me directly at japasha@aol.com with dimensions, etc.

Kevin,

Bowser offers the valve gear already assembled for a small price. Using paper between the parts is an old trick but will give you proper clearence between the parts. I've done a couple of dozen Bowesr kits for myself and friends and after a bit of filing, they go together very well. Finished a Clinchfield version Challenger last year and it runs very nicely.
One tip: Make sure the drivers roll freely before and after installing side rods. There can be bind. A little filing on the rods, both in the holes and to make sure there aren't any burrs on the flat.

One more thing if you semble your own valve gear, make sure the heads of the rivets face outward.

More importantly,

how are you doing?

The Mantua 0-4-0 runs fine. Not all that detailed but a little fiddling and you can have a nice one. See Yardbird Classic Trains as Dan sometimes  has a a nice one. They use to have the little six mantua model which is an 0-6-0T as well.  The little Bowser Dockside is an easy kit and not too expensive.

I have a pair of MDC Santa Fe 2-6-2 s and they are a crude but nice running model. #1010 is on display at the California Railroad Museum.

The model took some time to get the bugs out of it an acquire a pair of rear trailing wheels that were closer to prototype and spoked. It is not an exact model of the #1010 as the boiler is shared by the MDC Sata Fe 4-4-2

I had something similar happen like this to my Converted Bachmann Gas-electric. I was going to show Lee Riley my work when I left the model in the back of my car. Seems the heat caused a plastic semi-meltdown. The guys gave me a kit to replace it.  This is not covered under lifetime warranty, either.  My rebuilt Gas-electric runs very well but I do not leave it in the back seat of my car on a hot day.

What was the guy asking for the 2-4-2 remains?