Right on.  You really have to watch the shipping.  I was looking for a scan of the repair manual for my oscilloscope.  One seller had them on CD for $.01 while another had the same for $10.00  I asked the $10 guy why his was worth $10 and he told me to email the $.01 guy for shipping charges and at the same time ask for a sample of the scanning quality.  He also emailled me a scan of the operating manual, which was indeed a good quality scan.  The $.01 guy quoted me $18 shipping and refused to send me a sample of anything.  In the end, I paid $10 plus $1.50 shipping and got a good, useable manual.

Just goes to prove the old adage - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I have found you usually get what the seller claims he is selling.  But you have to read exactly what he/she says.  I bought an Atlas/Kato RS-3 advertised as "new in the box, never run."  And that was exactly correct.  The motor had a burr in one of the brush holders which prevented that brush from touching the armature.  It had never been run, because it could not run.  A few strokes with a round file fixed the problem but I am not sure most buyers would have been willing to take the motor to pieces to be able to do the filing.  I emailled the seller about this, and he was immediately willing either to refund what I had paid him plus shipping plus return shipping or to give me a good break on the price.  I did a little soul searching, decided I had a brand new 25 year old locomotive in exactly the colours I wanted, and that the fellow had acted in good faith.  In the end, I told him to keep his money and I gave him positive feedback.

I have even had a seller wait six weeks for my money order to show up.  I am sure part of his patience was my keeping in close contact by email, and even offering to send a replacement money order after about 3 weeks. 

It sounds good, Stan.  Effectively replace one through-the-rails command station with a number of through-the-air command stations, each linked to a particular locomotive.  Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Ram, I am curious.  Did the seller claim it ran, or ran well?  Or did he/she claim it was untested?  I am also curious about what you find.

JIM, if you cannot find instructions for you particular locomotive/decoder combination, perhaps someone from of the the local clubs can give you a hand.  I am not thinking in terms of the club memeber doing the job for you as much as watching you do the job and offereing advice.

In our modelling group here in Saskatoon, we do just that.  Or we will install one decoder with the person looking on, then watch them install the second one.  Once in a while, we hear from someone who has learned from someone we taught, and then we know that the hobby of model railroading is working as it should - sharing information and ideas, not hoarding them.

Quote from: chuff_n_puff on March 21, 2007, 02:57:01 PM
1-Is the contoller in this set the same as the one without the train?

Not sure what set you are referring to, but Bachmann makes only one version of the E-Z Command control centre, part no. 44902.

Quote
2-How many DCC trains will it control?

It will control 9 DCC trains.  It produces enough power to run 3 or 4 simultaneously.  With a booster, it will run all 9 at once.  It can also control one dc train at the same time.  If you use the proper dc power pack plugged into the control centre, you can control 10 DCC trains and one dc train.  With the booster, you can run all of them at once.

Quote
3-Does it have the IO port?

Yes.

Quote
4-Does it have on track programming capabilities?

Yes.  The programming capabilities are limited to setting the address and the normal direction of travel.  The latter is used when you want to run two locomotives together with one of them travelling backwards.

Interesting thought.  I have seen H0 used outdoors.  N-scale is not that much smaller.  Some suggestions if you want to try it:

Start off small the first year.  Limit yourself to perhaps a 2' x 8' area.  This will give you a chance to try things out and see what works or does not work without a large investment.

Dirt, leaves, blades of grass etc. are more of a problem at ground level than they are even one foot up.  In N-scale, you might want to keep everthing on a table or shelf 2 to 3 feet off the ground.  I have some of my large scale hung on the side of a fence, and this has worked well.  I have even added a backdrop in places and intend to add more.  This could be the solution to wind problems.

I assume that you would take your locomotives and rolling stock inside when you are not running it.  Plastic buildings will stand up sunlight if you paint them properly - I use Floquil either as a finish coat or as a primer and it works for me.  If I were using small scale buildings outdoors, I would consider painting the insides of the windows dark grey or black, then filling the buildings with concrete to keep them from blowing around.

Track may be a problem outdoors.  The rails should be okay, but I doubt there are any N-scale tracks made with ultra-violet resistant plastic ties.  However, a coat of black paint sprayed on will take care of that.  Just remember to wipe the rail heads before the paint dries, then give them a good cleaning before the first use.   If you want "concrete" ties, spray the ties black, then spray them grey.  You will want to leave your track joints unsoldered to allow for expansion and contraction, and will then need feeders to every section of track.

For the first year, just run the trains on dc, unless you already have fancier equipment that you already use in the house.  No use making a larger investment until you see if it works.

I think a lot of readers would be very interested in hearing about your experiences if you do try N-scale outdoors.  I don't know how much testing you can still get done this fall, but by next fall I expect you will have lots of answers and advice to give us.  I for one will be watching for a full report about a year from now.

An Atlas #4 Snap Switch is an 18" radius curve tangent to a straight.  A #4 Customline has a variable radius curve.  I seem to recall that the minimum radius through it is something like 20".  With your 24" radius mainline, I think you would be happy with #6 turnouts.
 
A #6 or even a #8 would be more compatible with most big steam, depending on just how big.  Keep in mind that much of the really big steam was articulated, and that same articulation is what allows a Bachmann 2-6-6-2 to navigate 18" radius curves and #4 turnouts.  Not elegantly, but reliably. With 10 and 12 coupled steam, even #8 turnouts might not be large enough.  Some of them, particularly in brass, have trouble with 36" curves.

Jake, those extra connections are probably extra functions. The DH163, for example, has 9 wires coming out of the 9-pin socket at one end and you can add up to three more wires out of the other end (the blue + connection is available at both ends.)  Have a look at the linked PDF below:

http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/dh163d.pdf

Quotewhat is the functional diference between 8 & 9 pin decoders ?

None.

Quoteare all bachman equipment 8 pin?

No.

Quote from: SteamGene on March 20, 2007, 11:08:10 AM
I've heard the Mantua sound system.  Toy train.  Those who dislike current sound systems would probably get sick.  Clear it out and put something new in the tender.
Gene

The sound system is a novelty that will probably not see much use.  To my ears, all sound in small scales is "toy train" sound.  Large Scale sound is a lot closer to the real thing, particularly if played LOUD, somewhere near the threshold of pain.  Having said that, I suspect those who do not dislike current sound systems would find the sound from this system very similar to the cuff sound in a Big Hauler.

Sheldon, thanks for the link but I enjoy the challenges and unique solutions, much like I enjoy scratch building.  I must admit that I did spend some time on the NorthWest Short Line website and finally decided that if I was going to spend that much money, I might as well just buy a new locomotive.  But I had more fun this way.

To others who have helped identify this locomotive, I am embarassed to report that when I went to remove the bottom cover to look for brass bushing, I found, with the help of a good magnifying glass, that the "paint run" on the bottom cover was actually the word "MANTUA." 

Thanks, lanny.  Actually, the sound system is now working.

Hoople, there were two considerations in putting the motor so far back.  One was the cavity inside the body is wider at the back.  Keep in mind this is a die cast locomotive, basically a large lump of metal with just enough taken away to allow room for the original motor and shaft.  The other consideration was that the farther forward you move the motor, the more you have to tilt it to keep the worm and pinion in mesh.  If I moved it forward a bit, the top of the motor would hit the top of the motor cavity.  I would have to grind the cavity bigger, but would still require the steady bearing.  If I moved it forward a lot, the top corner of the motor would be sticking through the top of the firebox.

An older die cast Mikado, made I believe by Mantua, has just received a new lease on life thanks to a Bachmann motor salvaged from a damaged F40PH.



There is more information on this remotoring job at this link:

http://members.shaw.ca/the.trainman/Mantua-mike/

And if anyone has any information about the sound system in this locomotive, I would really appreciate hearing from them.  I have never seen one before, nor have I been able to find a reference to one.  Maybe it isn't Mantua? 

Quote from: HOplasserem80c on March 18, 2007, 07:19:35 PM

It had Boxpok wheels to make the ride comfortable

Did it also have light weight side rods and main rods?  "Light weight" being a relative term, of course.  As I understand it, roughness was a result of dynamic imbalance between the wheels and the rods.  Making just the wheels lighter would not seem to be a cure.  For a smoother ride, I would think you would need lighter rods as well.

There is an excellent set of drawings of a boxpok wheel at this link:

http://www.5at.co.uk/Drawings/Wheels/Driving_wheel_Boxpok.pdf

The older Bachmann LS couplers are sensitive to any track irregularities.  If you cannot fix the track, fix the couplers.  The link below explains one way of doing this.

http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/construction/lsbuild/coupler.html