When I had to remove the boiler and cab to replace the gears, there were three large screws.  Two under the cab near the rear and one  on the top in the bottom of the first dome behind the stack.  There is a fourth small screw that connects the linkage from the cab to the reversing mechanism on one side of the engine, that also needs to be removed.  This is very small (larger than the four on the pilot, but it is easily lost and it is non magnetic.

It will take some work to lift the boiler assembly off the chassis.  Separate it from the cab end.  There is a lip under the front of the smokebox that holds it in place.  There will be some sounds as it comes off.  They sound worse than they are, at least nothing appeared broken.  When you reassemble you will need to catch the front of the smoke box on the chassis and then rotate the cab end down.  This will take several tries.  At least it did for me.

Chuck

The Spectrum (1:20.3) version is about 18" long the big hauler version would be between 14 and 15 inches long.

Chuck

Oscar:

Did you mean Accucraft rather than AristoCraft?  Accucraft makes cars and engines in 1:20.3, while Aristocraft is primarily 1:29 with a small amount of 1:24 stuff.  I do not think that they make any 1:20.3.

Chuck

Quote from: Chuck N on July 10, 2011, 07:27:30 AM
Oscar:

A "G" Shay will be over a foot long and will run on track that is 45 mm between the rails.  An "On30" shay will be on the order of 6 inches long and runs on HO track.  "HO" track is about an inch between the rails.  One is really large and the other is really small.

Chuck

Looking at the Bachmann catalog on30 engines stock numbers begin with 2 and G numbers start with 8 or 9.

The 36 ton shays (G) are out of production and haven't been made for many years.  That is probably why you can't find it in a current Bachmann catalog.

Oscar:

A "G" Shay will be over a foot long and will run on track that is 45 mm between the rails.  An "On30" shay will be on the order of 6 inches long and runs on HO track.  "HO" track is about an inch between the rails.  One is really large and the other is really small.

Chuck

Looking at the Bachmann catalog on30 engines stock numbers begin with 2 and G numbers start with 8 or 9.

Mark;

I agree with what the others have said.  Start with a small loop and then expand.  Be sure to try to contact other Garden Railroaders in you area.  Most parts of the country have clubs that are very helpful to beginners. I'm on my third railroad.  I built two in Denver before moving to Virginia in 1993. The first Denver train was a small dog bone shaped loop on a lower terrace.  I then built a larger loop on the upper lawn level and then connected the two with a cog railroad.  My train in Denver made the cover of GR in the early 90s.  It had electric switches and signals.

My current train in Virginia has only 90' of mainline and all manual switches and no signals.  I learned to simplify.  In Virginia the electric switch machines all filled with mud and ants.  Your local climate can dictate a lot about what you can do and probably should think long and hard about doing.

Get some trains running and then with that experience you will have a better idea as to how much time is required to maintain your railroad. 

Remember this is a journey, not a destination.  Very few garden railroads stay the same after their initial installation.  I've modified mine in Virginia several times.

Several suggestions.

1. Use the largest diameter curves that will fit into the area,

2. Make your passing siding twice as long as you think that your longest train will be (I've had to lengthen mine twice).

3. Because of all the sunshine and fresh air, don't be surprised if you layout grows like the weeds you will the trying to control.

Most of all HAVE FUN!!!

Chuck N

We ran Percy at our Christmas show at the Colvin Run Mill Park in Great Falls, Va.  He ran very well and we didn't have any problems.

If you are going to buy Percy, I would recommend getting him as a single engine, not part of the set with the troublesome trucks.  The Percy sold singly has a polarity switch so that you can easily change the polarity from NMRA to standard Large Gauge.  This is necessary if you are going to run him with other Large Gauge engines not made by Bachmann.  He will run in the opposite direction.  Most Bachmann engines have this switch.

The Percy in the set does not have the polarity switch and if you want to run it with other engines, you will have to change the wiring, not difficult, but something I'd rather not have to do.

Chuck N

Bill:

Like you I'm 70.  I find that the pluses far out weight the negatives at MLS.  Like life, you have to take the good with the bad and the good over there is great.  I have almost 700 entries over there and so far I haven't been flamed or ridiculed (that I know of).  If you stick to facts and limit opinions you shouldn't have problems.

Chuck

Bill:

I agree there are times when there is some flaming and rudeness, on that site.  It isn't all that often and you quickly learn whose comments and threads you can skip over if you don't like that stuff.  Which I don't. 

I still say that they are an excellent source for general questions, like the one that you posed.  Just avoid asking about DC, DCC,  Battery/RC and which type of rail is better!!!

Chuck

Bill:

My suggestion would be to ask your question over at <mylargescale.com> and pose it in the public forum.  There are a lot of people over there who strip and repaint engines and cars, from many different manufacturers.

I have used brake fluid to remove lettering, and if it is left on the paint too long it will start softening it to the point where it can be rubbed off.  This has worked on LGB cars and engines, but I haven't tried it on any USA products.

Chuck

I agree with Mark.  Thomas and Percy were wired to NMRA polarity.  All other manufacturers of large scale engines are wired with opposite polarity. 

You are going to have problems as you add to your locomotive roster if you buy any other manufacturers engines. 

My recommendation would be to rewire Thomas and Percy.  It isn't very difficult.  I did it on Thomas last year about this time.

Chuck N

I strongly agree with Jerry. 

If you don't have a volt meter, get one.  They are the best tool you can have to diagnose electrical problems.  It helps you determine whether it is your engine, car, track, or power supply.  You can get one at Radio Shack for less than $30.00.  You don't need to be an electrical engineer to use one.  I'm a geologist and even with rocks in my head I find it very helpful.

Chuck

They have been out for several months.  I got one in late August (Star Hobbies, Annapolis, MD).

Chuck N

There are other "G" manufacturers who at one time or another produced "Beer" cars: Delton, LGB and USA Trains.

LGB even came out with a Jack Daniels car.  Delton and LGB are no longer with us, but I would imagine that their beverage cars come up on Ebay occasionally. 

LGB had: Budweiser, Miller, Pabst, Schlitz and Coors.  The also had a number of German and Swiss breweries (too many to list).

Delton had: Busch, and Strohs.

There are probably more, but these are the ones that I have.

Chuck N

I have one Accucraft K-27 and two Bachmann K-27s.  They are both well made, with a lot of detail.  The Accucraft is metal (I believe it is brass) and the Bachmann Ks are plastic.  Because of this the Accucraft engine is much heavier.

I haven't priced them lately, but I believe that you could get 3 Bachmanns for the price of one Accucraft. 

The one draw back on the Bachmann Ks is the gearing.  It is geared for a much higher speed than the Accucraft.  The result of the higher speed is less power for pulling longer trains and steep grades. 

The first run of Bachmann Ks had problems with the counterweights slipping on the axle.  There is a fix (shims) or getting the replacement counterweights from Bachmann.  If you are buying new, I believe that there is a red seal or sticker on the box to indicate that the counterweights have been fixed and are OK.

If you are buying used, make sure that they were fixed and make that part of the deal.

Bachmann produced a number of different locomotive numbers in the D&RGW and Rio Grande Southern K series.  Each model engine number is a very good model of a specific locomotive with that number.  For example #455 has a doghouse on the back of the tender and #453 (RGS) comes with a snow plow.  There are even different cabs that are appropriate for that specific engine.   I think, but don't know for sure, that Accucraft made one model with different engine numbers.  These are not quite as accurate to the specific engines in 1:1.

I don't think that you would go wrong with either locomotive.

Chuck N