Kevin, you forgot that they could also letter the proposed inside frame mikado for the Tweetsie Railroad and the Dollywood Railroad...

Ted, would it have a paint scheme similar to their On30 2-6-0 with the green boiler?

Danny,

I built one last year.  If you have the center swivel part, they are really easy and can be cheap.  I think some guys were using lazy susan center bearings.  There have also been others who used a 4' diameter circle of track with two trucks mounted to the center bridge.  This eliminates the center bearing. 
Here's the skeleton of mine holding up an aristo mallet:


I used wood and paint to create the look of a girder bridge:




I need to come up with a better locking mechanism, but for now, I am simply sliding the rail joiners to align and pass power through the rails to the bridge itself.  All the roundhouse apron tracks are powered, so locos can run on and off the bridge.  My 4 year old provides the horsepower for turning the engines. 

Mine is a flat plate with a round bar welded to it in the center.  The base is a 15" diameter 1/4" plate with a 1" ID pipe brazed to it.  In the pipe is a ceramic grinding ball which acts as the center bearing.  However, there is some slop between the pipe and round bar resulting in a little rocking, but nothing too serious.

I posted a reply in the other thread you started in the Thomas and Friends section.  The track has to be very level, check for any vertical kinks.  That was the cause of my problems using the bachmann tracks.

Oh, and Thomas is from the Island of Sodor, so wrecks are prototypical....

I have a new Thomas set as well.  I have a waterproof apron under the tree, but the track is larger than that apron.  Where it goes off, a slight twist in the track occurs.  The long wheelbase of the annie and clarabel coaches causes them to fall off.  Also, I found the metal clip that the axle rides in is a little too close to the length of the axle, and on a few occasions, the axle popped out. I bent the metal clips toward the wheel set just a little to reduce this problem.

I would check that the track is very level.  Also, the tin track that comes with the set is subject to damage from the errant foot traffic.  Had to fix some track after some late night revelers for new years eve did some damage.

To be completely honest,  I was waiting for a dcc for dummies kind of thing too.  I ended up trying the aristo revolution TE system, which uses a constant power source (batteries or track).  I like it and it is working well for me.  Simple for the 'plug and play' trains I already had.  Some of the older engines, like a Bachmann spectrum 4-4-0 took a little more work, but I got them set up, too. 

If you go on board battery power, your track can be made from whatever you want.  I have no experience with Bachmann switches and the only time I've used their track was in a Percy set. 

If you're really only wanting to have 3 trains able to drive around your tree, why not insulate three sidings and power them up individually as your heart desires?

I'd like to see some Strasburg Rail Road lettered big hauler product.  Could be a set, could be an Annie 2. 

Should a new nickname be give the new updated big hauler to differentiate it from the 2000 Anniversary edition? 

Annie 2.0 is too modern sounding, I think. 
This locomotive is more than 20 years old, wasn't it first introduced in the late 80s? 

My suggestion:
I like the idea of keeping with a female name, but starting with the letter B.  So my suggestion is the new 4-6-0 should be called a "Betty". 

Thoughts?

Moving forward, I believe all of us are in agreement that the forthcoming Big Hauler is different and therefore 'new'.

Is it the 20th anniversary or the 23rd anniversary of the big hauler?  20th anniversary is the China anniversary, but that would definetly be confusing.

Maybe a name starting with the next letter in the alphabet?  Betty, perhaps?  A Betty Big Hauler has a nice ring to it.  Just sayin'..

Very nice!  Interested to see what the street price of this will be.  I suspect that aristo will stop making the euro track....

Bill,

I am hopeful that the upgrades will drastically improve the big hauler.  Seems like they should.  It is the first time in recent memory that I strongly considered this engine for real use on my railroad.  Previously, I considered this an 'entry level' locomotive not intended for real heavy use.  The addition of the metal gears and the improved tracking (hopefully) on the pilot truck take this locomotive from the toy range to the model range in my mind.  Now, if someone could convince them to offer a Strasburg lettered engine....

Having worked with a lot of track over the years,  the ties appear to be unlike any used by aristocraft or LGB.  The ties appear to extend much further than the other brand ties, indicating a new kind of track offering: brass 332 rail with american narrow gauge ties. 

While I'm no longer in favor of brass track for outdoor use,  there are others who may have been looking for this exact kind of track, so good for them! 

I figured it would be a different version designation since the gears are metal and the lead truck is mounted differently. 

I think it's going to be tricky to identify these without turning them over. 

This locomotive has the appearances of being one of the best sleeper deals in large scale.

Any update on these engines?

Question 1

Should Bachmann change the road numbers each time they rerun a car or loco?
Yes

Would you buy more product if they did?
No

Question 2
After an initial run with numbers, should Bachmann run locos or rolling stock without numbers and provide numbers for application by the buyer?
No. 
If yes, what would you prefer, Waterslide decal, rub on dry transfer, or rub on vynil???
n/a
Would you buy more product if they did?
No