148's are the best drop in replacement for Bachmann, they are available in bulk. If you think 12-15 cars is long, last month at my local club I was pulling around 200 NMRA weighted cars with 8 Atlas H15/16-44s, unfortunately I had to sell 2 of them because I was low on cash for rent. Got my paycheck the week after my rent was due 

Quote from: Jim Banner on January 07, 2011, 08:38:39 PM

Quote from: ACY on January 07, 2011, 06:12:10 PM
... sound and regular DC locos draw more than a newer DCC non-sound loco.

ACY,
I am not sure what you mean by "regular" locomotives.  A dc locomotive that is converted to DCC by adding a non-sound decoder will not draw less current.  If anything, it will draw slightly more to power up the decoder.  Are you perhaps referring to older train set locomotives with less efficient motors than those used these days?

What I am saying is that if you have an old DC loco (with an inefficient motor like you said) it usually will draw more current than a newer loco that is equipped with DCC, at least this has been my experience. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

It could be both. so check all the connections and if that is not an issue, the track is likely dirty, which means the locomotives wheels are also dirty. So clean them both, and they may not appear dirty, but they likely are dirty. Also, oxidized steel track does not conduct as well as oxidized nickel silver.

If you are running sound locos then you may be drawing too much and need a booster, because sound and regular DC locos draw more than a newer DCC non-sound loco.

They have to rotate products as they do not have the factories to make everything they want to make in a given year. As an aside though 2 of my 3 heavy mountains will not run on 18" radius, but my newer one will...

Quote from: Doneldon on January 07, 2011, 01:51:04 AM
The Life-Like passenger cars are around but I don't know why anyone would want to run them. They aren't all 30 years old, though the ones labeled Life-Like may be. I did buy some once to remove the silhouette strips in the windows. Other than that their best use is as a train wreck scene or a roadside diner.

You completely misunderstood what I said, the streamline baggage and RPO haven't been made in at least 25-30 years as best as I can tell. All the other streamline cars were last produced for individual sale in 2006, and have since been discontinued, but the one set came with 2 ATSF streamline cars and that was made up until 2009 if I recall correctly.

The set up until this past year came with 18" radius track, it now comes with 22" radius, but it is extremely plausible that your set has 18" radius track. Incidentally, the 18" radius track is too sharp for the locomotive included in the set.

16 pieces 22" radius track and 4 sections 12" straight track should work okay if you put plexiglass around the outside to keep the loco from falling to the ground. OR if you choose not to go that route. use 12 sections of 18" radius. Turnouts can be added as desired later.

How can Bachmann remake something they never made?

If it is the set that came with 18" radius track that is your problem. If not then check to make sure all the wheels and track is in gauge with your trusty NMRA gauge. If that checks out alright then the front trucks may need a little work due to rough handling.

Bachmann turnouts are power routing, so only one route gets power, depending on your layout and what you want to do, you may need to supply power to one or both of the routes.

If cost is a consideration and you are not running more than 2 locos then DC with possibly Cab control might be a better option than DCC. But you'll ultimately have to judge what set best fits your needs and budget.

There should be instructions with your system, if you read them and still do not know what to do, try watching the Bachmann video included with the system.

Be aware it may take longer than usual, because everyone else is sending their locos in too, I sent a loco in last December and did not get it back until late February.

If you wire the tracks in parallel, but then you will be diverting half the power to one track and half to the other. I would not suggest wiring more than 3 sets of tracks in parallel, because then you may be running low on power depending on the locomotives. If you are using sound equipped locos then 2 would be the max.