wmwalker I noticed in your video your video that your locomotive revs up or down depending upon how much throttle you give it. Mine is a constant rev could it be the transformer I am using??

I am using one of the lionel 80 watters.

I am glad to know the lights are LED's. They are really bright!!!

We have a lot of train traffic in our area over 30 a day. At night is when you notice the extreme brightness of the train lights. The LED's are the way to go and have a similar brightness to them.

I hope to replace the lights in my WBB F-3's and GG-1's if that's possible!!!

After reading what you wrote I checked out and noticed the lights DO reverse when you change directions. Thanks for the input.

I am really liking this locomotive!!!!

I did order the ACL version but shipper told me it won't go out till Monday so I won't be able to report anything till end of last week
BUT
your video "says"a lot in a short time!!!!

My mistake thanks 3-Rail.

I read the instructions once and was going on memory and didn't bother to run downstairs to double check!!!

Thanks for the clarification

an addendum

Regarding the switch on the ventral(bottom) of the engine. WBB describes it as a "Lockout Switch" just behind the fuel tank.

You can "lock"the locomotive to operate in the forward direction only.

Thanks roGruth !!!

O. K. I will be doing this in bits and pieces as time permits As Little League is in full swing and the boys have 2 games a week to make up for a bad March and April.

PART 2 "Moment of Truth" or "GP-30 Gets the Juice"

Joey asked if he could have the honors of being the first to put the throttle to this new engine. He has been acing spelling tests and I said lets do it!!

When voltage begins to flow in the rails the engine seems to come alive. Right away the  diesel motor can be heard. If sound can be scaled I am thinking the volume of the motor is enough to be noticeable but not loud or overwhelming it appears appropriate for the size of the engine. Keep in mind this is only my "subjective" observation.
In addition ALL the lights illuminate!!! I was happy to see the lights distinctly illuminated instead of being dully lit. The I.D. board on top and front can be clearly seen and even the 2 lower yellow lights lite up. The headlights are there and light up
and the cab lights up too!! The lights maintain their same intensity no matter what the position of the throttle. This feature was very satisfying to see as I had been disappointed by the dull lit lights on the F-3's and GG-1's. I think Joey and i were high 5'ing each other when we saw how nice the lights worked -Thanks WBB!!!!!

Got to go

To be Continued

Loco Bill

Thanks for making mention of attracting the youth. What I saw happen with the plastic model industry was they catered to the "older" modelers to a point where the young kids were priced out. What parent is going to let his kid drop 50, 100 or more dollars on a model kit with all kinds of detail that may not be put together very well or not appreciated.

I appreciated what Jack had said at York Show, they were concentrating on affordable introductory "sets" where kids and parents had all they needed to set up and run the train all in one box. Within minutes of opening the box one could be enjoying the train experience and having fun with family and friends!!!!

Then as interests and finances permit more pieces can be added to the set and eventually a permanent place can be built for it.

Thanks Doug for the videos

The Leg0-Trains are incredible and I can see why they are popular. My son Joey has a friend who besides a big O-Gauge layout also has a Lego-Layout.

WMwalker a big THANK YOU for showing that ACL GP-30 I am glad I ordered it !!

It looks really good in those colors!! Can't wait to get it

Good question

Tomorrow we have a party and a bunch of nieces and nephews over I'll try it out and post later

Sorry for long delays . A lot of activity going on around our home kids, family etc.

I will put up pieces of my review a little at a time please bear with me!!

Got a few questions asking about the Union Pacific Color scheme.

I have a model airplane background primarily World War 2 I mention that fact because when modeling aircraft(a/c) WW1 and WW2 color camoflage  and paint schemes are really important Sometimes even having the right color but when applied to a scale model may not look right. There are so many factors, shadowing, scale effect, color pigment types etc. What about the Railroads? From what I have been reading Rail companies take pride in the unique designs and colors they come up with, and they do their best at standarizing colors. As a kid my Dad bought me a few shares of UP stock and every year I get a calender and I have come to appreciate the type of yellow U.P. uses to paint their locomotives.

now, how does that translate to the O-Gauge world. My "impression" based on looking at photographs and seeing the real deal up close over the years I venture to say WBB got it to an acceptable range. Paint varies as you bring down to scale and I think WBB took this all into consideration as the color looks fine to me not too light or not too dark. The hues and shadowing look very fitting for this scale. Please understand I have no knowledge so far as to how WBB matches colors or paint their locomotives and rolling stock!! Just on observation it has the, "right look"" to me and as I have said before I like how they did all the decaling and painting. I hope this helps.

I am sure there are experts out there who may want to chime in and I welcome it as I am always open to learning about these things.

Impression: So far based on what I have related without even putting the "juice" to the GP-30 I like what I see and am impressed and yes would encourage anyone sitting on the fence to go for it. In the couple of weeks we have had this engine Joey has been running it when he gets home from school before baseball practice and we run it together 10-15 minutes before he goes to bed at night.

I hope to move on without too much delay to the "workings" of this engine.

And yes I have gone forward and ordered the "Atlantic Coast Line" version and will give a review of it too when it arrives.

Thanks for putting up with my time delays. I really hope this helps folks who are thinking about it or waiting. I tend to be a "waiting" type but I had good vibes about this WBB GP-30 and am glad I took the plunge.

to be continued!!!!

I am going with Seaboard too that WILL be a nice Christmas gift!!!!

It's for real.

Saw it on U-Tube Bachmann review with Jack Lynch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wmwalker

I just saw the Jack Lynch review on another thread and was thinking to get the RS-3

Seaboard too!!!!! When he held up the add on insert I could barely make out the Seaboard colour scheme and that cinched it for me!!!!!

I hope I can add something more to the review of the GP-30. I am really impressed and excited for WBB they really did a great job on that engine. If they want to make any improvement, and Jack Lynch alluded to it, we are getting spoiled with the sound systems, they could have the motor rev up or down as you accelerate or decelerate. Also add a volume control. This is not a deal breaker for me I am grateful for what these guys are doing and I plan to support the efforts by purchasing these engines. I  am guessing some day they will have sound boards with much improved sounds etc that we can purchase separately and upgrade on our own!!!

In the meantime I am saving up for the ACL GP-30.

wm you may want to take a look at WBB E-Z track in O-Gauge they plan to release it is supposed to be compatible with Fas-Track- it looks good we will have to see how it performs. Thanks again!!!!

Thanks Yardmaster!!!

I saw your presentation last year when you came out with the GP-30's and based on the presentation threw my hat in the ring and bought one and am glad I did.

Never thought about the RS-3 before but once again based on your presentation and the nice looks and construction I am going to go for it.

I also like the 4-6-0 Green really sharp and will look good pulling the Madison cars I now have.

THanks for all you do . I also dabble in other scales. We have large scale for around the Christmas tree and this Summer we will have a set up outside to be used for my daughter and son's graduation parties should be fun.

We also have HO so I  think we will try the red box Santa Fe F-3. We also have a N-scale on our O-Gauge layout which we call our KiddieLand which is a place my parents took me and my brothers and sisters just outside Chicago.

Thanks again and keep em coming!!!!!!!!!!!!1

wm

Those green Santa Fe Heavyweights look great. What radius of curve do you use.

Ditto on those F-3's!!!!!!!!!!

Now you making me regret I didn't pick up the set of Santa Fe F-3's at the Hobby Shop in Ft Lauderdale. When I called they have closed out all their trains and only plan to sell sets!!!!!!