A quick and rough sketch in paint of what I think Jim is suggesting...

I tested it on both brand new NS E-Z track and new NS Atlas snap track that I got from sets. This was a few years ago. I took it to my friend who owns one of my LHS and he could not find anything wrong with it. It is just because there are some quirks about Bachmann locos where the wheelbases do not all have the same rigidity.

Isolate the reversing section from the rest of the layout at which place you would also want to connect your automatic reversing module like you said. Others can probably go into more depth for you.

My 4-8-2 heavy mountain pulls great, but will not run at all on 18" radius, although his may have run fine of 18" radius, that does not necessarily mean yours will, no two locos are exactly the same. There are many reasons why one could have two seemingly identical locos and each have a different tolerance for sharp curves.

Quote from: tigerthelion on January 04, 2011, 10:46:37 AM
All curves so far are 18 degrees, and works just fine.

18 degrees or 18 inch radius, 18 degrees means you would need 20 sections of snap track to make a full circle, 18 inch radius means the track from center to the center of the circle will be 18 inches (radius) or track center to track center will be 36 inches (diameter). There is a difference, also 18" radius track is not 18 degrees, it takes 12 sections of 18" radius track to make a full circle, which means it is 30 degrees.

It depends on what the loco is made of, who made it, the condition, and when it was made.

Nickel silver (grey roadbed) has all the pieces offered by E-Z track, whereas the steel (black roadbed) has a limited selection.

Quote from: DoubleDAZ on January 03, 2011, 11:23:30 PM
Thanks.  I decided to submit a service request form instead of fighting the phones after the holidays.

That often takes longer than if you were to call.

The smoke is not reliable in this engine, try running it at full speed for 15 minutes then you should get smoke, but once you turn down the speed, you will lose the smoke.

Many DCC with sound locomotives these days come with a dual mode sound decoder, it will have some sounds on DC, but you will need a DCC system to set it up for DC operation before you can use it on a DC layout.

They tell you the minimum radius for a reason, so to answer your question you should stick to the manufacturer's suggestion or even have slightly wider for more reliability. There are a couple exceptions, for example some HO Rapido passenger cars need 26" radius with all detail parts present, but if you remove most of the detail parts and add long shank couplers they will run on 24" radius.

They sound like they are from the late 90's or so. Also, there are no diagrams supplied by Bachmann for maintenance of these locos. The decoder you choose depends on a variety of factors...like if you want sound, how many functions you want, the amount of current the locomotive draws, if you want special lighting effects, and the amount of space available. If I were you I would not mess around with the DC locos and sell them and buy 2 new DCC locos. The newer locos run much better and already have DCC, and they have working lights on the tenders. But if you want to keep them some more knowledgeable forum members can give you some guidance.

From ebay and online dealers, you can get On30 pretty cheap, but some people prefer to give the business to their LHS or cannot buy online for another reason. In a brick and mortar shop, an On30 loco is twice as much as an HO loco of the same quality, whereas online, HO is only slightly cheaper or the same price as On30.

I have never once seen any On30 locomotives or rolling stock at any of my many local hobby shops, 3 of which only stock model railroad "stuff." Sure you can find them online, but if there is an issue or you need help there is no one there for you. Also, I am aware that the "scenery" is a good amount larger, they use regular O scale buildings and people, but the actual locomotives and rolling stock is not much larger in my opinion than HO. No matter what, HO is the most cost effective scale for model railroading. You can buy a DCC Spectrum HO loco for less than half the price of the cheapest DCC Spectrum On30 loco. Ultimately though if you like narrow gauge and logging steam then On30 is an excellent choice because the object it to do what you enjoy; not save money.

That is probably still a while off...but many other systems currently have it.