After reading all the adventures people are having installing the sound boards in the Heislers, I hope Bachmann is rethinking the idea of having consumers install the boards.  It sure was nice when the locos were "sound installed" at the factory, and were actually RTR.
-Jim

We can assume you in HO?  (It's always nice to give us a hint.)  Many people use a "Helix."  It goes round and round 'til you get to the desired height.  My LHS sells ready made ones for both HO and N scales.

Good luck.
-Jim

At first glance, the On30 announcements seem a bit light; but we have had a pretty good year with On30-
with the 2-6-6-2 and 4-6-0. 

Also, seems there may be more in store for us before Christmas.

Sure would be nice to see some of the other big manufacturers jump into the On30 rtr market.

Thanks, Bachmann.

-JRT

Check your wiring.  You likely don't have the centre wire connected to the right place.
-JRT

Thanks for the reply.  I look forward to getting one.
-JRT

1.  You would probably get more replies if you posted this question on the HO board.

2.  You don't need a "ton" of power packs to power turn outs.  Often there is an accessory terminal on your power pack.  Or a cheap walwart will power turnouts.

3.  Bachmann EZ Track turnouts have a black button you can slide manually to change routes.

4.  Other manufacturers sell manual turnouts.  You can also buy hand throws to help change routes on manual turnouts.

5.  If you have a local hobby shop, go there and ask for options.

Hope this helps.
-JRT

I received the 2-6-6-2 and new long caboose in the mail this week from Micro-Mark.  Both items look better in person than in pictures I have seen.

As an old man with big fingers, I found the two plugs to connect the engine and tender together difficult to attach.  In fact, at first I didn't make a proper connection with the larger plug and the loco ran very erratically.  Later, when I realized the problem and corrected it, I had to apologize to the loco for some of the names I called it.

The loco runs great.  I run DC -- so likely you would get better performance (if that's possible) with DCC.  The sound is good, but somehow I was expecting better.  It sounds just like the other Bachmann locos.  There does seem to be a lot of boiler overhang on my 22" radius curves.

All-in-all, a great loco and caboose.  Thanks Bachman.  Can't wait to see (and hear) what's next.

-JRT

The small catalog I received with my 2-6-6-2 from Micro-Mark this week shows the 4-6-0 w/sound ready to order.  It doesn't say pre-order or reserve or coming soon.  Is this loco ready now?

Thanks,
JRT

The minimum radius is actually 4 feet -- 8 feet diameter.  Mine runs fine on 4' radius, but there is a lot of overhang on curves.

-JRT

Lar,

Since the Shays are now available with DCC and sound, why not sell the one you have and buy one ready to go?  Might be cheaper (and better) in the long run.

-JRT

Hal,

I got the same message.  I assumed it was spam and deleted it.  Don't know why I would get a message like this from Bachmann message board.

-
jrt

Bob,

If you reread my post, you will see that I am referring to models that Soundtraxx offerred before Bachmann had On30 locos with sound.  Soundtraxx bought the locos from Bachmann and added actual Tsunami decoders to them.  The boxes actually had a Soundtraxx sleeve on them.

There was some overlap with Soundtraxx Bachmann "sound locos" and Bachmann "Tsunami-like sound" locos.  At some point Soundtraxx and Bachmann came to an agreement that only Bachmann would supply the On30 locos, and The Bachmann locos would have a "different" version of the Tsunami decoder.

Perhaps the Bach Man could confirm that the original "Soundtraxx-Bachmann" locos had "full-function" Tsunami decoders in them.

Not that it really matters.

-JRT

Hi Mark,

Before Bachmann offered On30 locos with sound, Soundtraxx offered the Shay, Climax, and 2-8-0 with sound installed in Bachmann locomotives.  I thought the decoders were full Tsunamis, but I might be wrong.  I bought a Shay and 2-8-0 at that time and they still run and sound great.

-JRT

Yes, it does run on regular DC.
-JRT

Woody is exactly correct.  If you tell someone that "O" scale is twice as big as "HO," they will look at an "HO" item and visualize something twice as tall.  The difference is way more than that.  Just compare two similar buildings: an "HO" one and an "O" one.  The same thing for an "HO" std gauge boxcar and an "O" std guage boxcar.

You almost have to say: "The scale is twice as big, meaning it takes up four times the area and eight times the volume" for a newcomer to appreciate the difference.

This difference is extremely important to understand when planning an "O" or "On30" layout.

-JRT