Not to burst anyone's dreams but ....

According the NNGC On30 breakout meeting summary, per Lee Riley as relayed by Chris Lane and posted on the Conspiracy list, there is no Heisler, Mason or DCC Mogul in the foreseeable future. The Mogul is cash cow for custom paint schemes.  No explanation was given by Chris for the Heisler  and Mason.

I'm disappointed at the Heisler news ... but not shocked. 

-John

True.  I look at what living steam I can.  I also look at modern diesels, semi-trucks & trailers, my own car, etc.  Dirt and grime cling to vehicles of all sorts in pretty much the same ways.  I was fortunate to see  Durango & Silverton #473 fresh from the paint shop at the line's 125th anniversary celebration 3 years ago.  Even the short trip from the roundhouse to the station was enough to dust the top of the stack with soot and start soot streaks down the sides of the smoke box.  A couple days later, the stack was heavily sooted as was the smoke box.  The tops of the running boards along the boiler sides were also sooty.  Apart from that she still looked "clean".  Her sister engines, were quite grimey by comparison - soot and road dirt everywhere.

-John

Manager -

I agree that seeing locos like the Redwood Valley are good references.  These are 5"/ft locos and are very well maintained.  Even so, they still get dirty.  I hope you took reference photos noting where the dirt gathers.  I'm striving for the "scruffy cuz I've been working but still maintained" weathering look.

If you're still in the area, there will be a small 1:1 0-4-2 porter at Ardenwood park in Fremont this coming weekend.  There will also be some On30 operating.

-John

El Loco -

A 1/2" speaker is small but you should be able to get some good volume out of it.  Be sure that the speaker is sealed so that the front is isolated from the back.  Also, since you used Tsunami, you should be able to boost the volume via the individual volume settings and via the equalizer.  The Tsu manuals describe the various volume CVs as well as how to use the equalizer. 

-John

If you are referring to the Digitrax SoundBug product, my understanding is that SoundBugs are proprietary and only work with specific Digitrax decoders.  I could be mistaken but the Digitrax website has very little info on the product.

LokSound micros and Sountraxx Tsunami 750's will both fit under the Railbus' roof.   I have a Tsu-750 in mine and a friend has a LokSound micro.  If I were to get another, I'd probably go with LokSound because they run cooler than a Tsu-750.

-John

I've heard that the 4-6-0 landed in Philly last week.  If true, shipments to resellers and distributors may have started this week.

-John

I don't think the Heisler is being delayed by the Climax issues.  My belief is that Bachmann did a run of Climax's with good drive-line components, then got a batch of bad ones.  The bad batch went undetected and ended up in the distribution channels. 

There are a half dozen Climax's in my group - all with hours of run time and no out-of-box issues.  However, all were received before the drive-line issues surfaced.  We view the Climax as our work horse. 

My On30 fun isn't dependent on a Heisler.  I do like the loco though and would likely buy one no matter which variant gets produced.  For now, I'll carry on with what I have.

-John

I don't think the Heisler is a dead horse.  It's a sadly missed opportunity.

It has been requested here and elsewhere.  Politely lobbied for directly to Bachmann's booth representatives.  Begged for.  Pleaded for.  All this over a lengthy span of years by a lot of people.  I have no doubt that they've heard the request.   I know also that their product releases take 2-3 years (or more) from green light to delivery.  Even so, the Heisler continues to be a no-show on announcement after announcement.

I have a concern that Bachmann may be developing the attitude that we'll just take whatever they offer up so long as the quality is there.  I hope I'm wrong.  But there isn't any other big manufacturer in the On30 game.  They are the 600 lb gorilla.  Who's gonna produce a Heisler if they don't? 

Perhaps, the present negative undercurrent to their new announcements will cause the green light for A Heisler (maybe not Your Heisler).  Perhaps if it is on the schedule, Bachmann will take the bold (and risky) step to tell us well see a Heisler within 3 years. 

Our community is large, diverse and growing.  No matter what Bachmann's plans are for the Heisler (or any of our other 'pet' locomotive requests), they will never get 100% satisfaction. 

In the case of the Heisler though, I think Bachmann needs to resolve the request one way or the other - soon.

-John

The full NMRA announcement pdf doc is on the Bachmann Home page.  The caboose, 2662, and 460 w/sound are all that are listed.

Still no details as to whether the reworked 260 will be dcc ready (or better).  And for those wanting - Heisler, 3-truck Shay, 2-4-0, new little Porter, etc., I guess we continue to wait and hope that they are in the pipeline somewhere.

-John

Mr Bachman -

The photos on the site in Japan look fantastic.  When will you have packaging details (especially for the unlettered versions)?  I'd like to know if these are shipping with alternative stacks, fuel loads, etc as other locos in the line have been.

Thanks

-John

Do you mean the Rail Truck?  Or, do you mean the Rail Bus??

-John

Mr Bachman -

There is a rumor that the 4-6-0's are on the water and headed to the US.  Could this be true??  Is the long anticipated arrival of the 4-6-0 near at hand??

If true, when might we see production photos and packaging details?

-John

Check out this site -

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/mogul_dcc/

Any sufficiently strong and properly aligned magnet will work.  Note that the magnet's poles must be perpendicular to the rails.  (The Kadee magnets are designed this way.  With other magnets, you'll need to find the poles.)   I've used small button magnets in a stack ( ( ( ()  between the ties on Peco track with good results.

-John

Only some of the Bachmann locos have dcc-sound decoders.  The 4-4-0 does not.

I would suggest looking at the Soundtraxx Tsunami 750 dcc-sound decoders as well as the ESU Loksound line.  In both cases, the dcc motor functions will be a bit more feature rich than the basic decoder in your 4-4-0. 

-John