Glad you got it working! I've had mixed luck with various decoders, and seldom have gotten to the point of changing one out in the hopes of getting a loco to run better. I'll need to remember this when all else fails...

Bill in FtL

My Heisler worked great when first purchased, then after sitting on the shelf for several months, the motor won't run at all. I've heard of other Heislers having similar issues, and I suspect it is the motor locking up, since the lights still work with the decoder. I am hesitant to try to take it apart, so it has joined all of my On30 geared locos (2 shays, climax, plus railbus and rail truck) sitting on the dead line due to bad gears. I would love to hear the resolution of your issue.

Bill in FtL

Hilux,
Thanks for catching the error in my original post, I have corrected it to reflect the proper scale and also have included Treble O, yet another scale which was popularized by Lone Star in the very early days of "N" (mid 1960's).

So, you are saying that the new Bachmann "N" Thomas is actually smaller than the Tomix version, while the coaches "Annie" and "Clarabelle" are larger, yet the freight cars are the same size as already available British "N"? Will the Bachmann coaches look funny next to the Tomix versions? I wish someone could post photos of the two ranges in a side-by-side comparison so we all could see.

I'm wondering what "scale" the N gauge Thomas range is adhering to, since N gauge in Europe and the USA is proportioned at 1:160, in Japan it is 1:150, and England it is 1:148, and it's predecessor (called OOO or "treble O") was 1:152. While the Thomas range is pretty much fantasy, this "scale" question relates to the general size and proportion. The Japanese "Thomas" Models, supposedly at 1:150 proportions, seem noticeably larger when compared to American N gauge models, how do the new Bachmann N models stack up in comparison?  

I was both shocked and saddened when I just today learned that Harold Minkwitz had passed away three months ago. The model railroading hobby has lost a valued friend and contributor. Thanks for everything Harold.

Bill in FtL

Well over 10 years ago, bought my first THOMAS item on eBay, because I thought it would be fun to run on my club's modular layout when we displayed at shows (it was, and still is). At that time, the economy had tanked, and the prices on eBay were surprisingly low, so typically, I ended up getting carried away with my collecting. I was also into On30 at the time, and even used some of the THOMAS OO open wagons equipped with Kadee couplers behind my On30 Davenports and Porters, they seemed to make pretty good stand-ins for narrow gauge mining equipment. Whenever I got a new Thomas item, I would check the Wikipedia Thomas and Friends site to see the correct nomenclature for the real item it was based on, and then look up any info on the prototype. I was impressed by the adherence of the THOMAS serie's characters to the real trains in the UK. This led to an increased interest in British profile model trains, and just recently led to my first OO scale purchase from Hattons just over a month ago. I didn't foresee that first THOMAS purchase all those years ago leading to my getting interested in yet another model railroad scale.

Bill in FtL

Quote from: the track master on October 23, 2019, 06:14:11 PM
I hope this review help how slow Toby is.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkzeGrb0Rm0

Hi track master,
Thanks for the link to the Hornby/Bachmann Toby comparison test. While the video does show how much slower the Bachmann model is than the Hornby, I would swear that my Toby seems even a good bit slower than the Bachmann Toby as shown in the video. However, since my own Toby appears to run smoothly throughout its speed settings, I'm going to take a chance and run him, but only for limited durations while keeping a close eye on him for any problems that may arise. At some point, I may try to change out the 1/4 watt resistors for some with a higher wattage rating, perhaps a full 1 watt if I can get them to fit. Since Tby's Speed doesn't seem to change much from anything above 1/4 throttle, a friend who holds a college degree in electrical engineering seems to think is because of the resistors. As an aside, my local hobby store has had a Bachmann Thomas loco running as a "demo" on their shop layout for several years now, and everyone is quite amazed at its durability, especially since it is a toy. One shocking thing the video did show was the MSRLP for the Bachmann Toby in 2011 was $55.00, which seems cheap compared to today's (2019) list price of $95.00!

Bill in FtL

Do the all of the new On30 2-6-0's have tender pickups with wires and plugs between the tender and loco, or only the ones with metal gears. On the currently available ones with plastic gears, is pickup only in the loco like on the previous releases? I'm guessing the ones with metal gears (including the new 0-6-0's) will have tender pickups since they have DCC & Sound boards in the tender, but did they also change the non-metal geared 2-6-0's when they made the new ones with metal gears? Seems like not having to deal with the fiddley wires and plugs between units is a plus for those running around the Christmas Tree...

Bill

Thanks for the quick reply STL. I'm surprised to hear that there were two sets of tooling made for this loco, seems like an expensive way to go. I would have guessed that even if the bodies were slightly different, they could have at least shared the mechanism between the two. The word of actual axle bearings and all wheel pickup seemed too good to be true, so I guess it really was...

Bill in FtL

Thanks guys! Your replies help a lot, but I'm still concerned about the very high temperatures of the components (resistors) on the circuit board after a run of less than a minute. Their stripes indicate a value of 25 ohms and their size looks like they might be 1/4 watt. Since there is no capacitor or choke on the board, they probably aren't RF interference circuits, but I'm no expert when it comes to electronics. However, I don't have to be an expert to see how quickly these things get too hot to touch, and I really don't want poor Toby to suffer a meltdown!

Bill in FtL

Since my first post, I have been looking around on the web, and have found some better pictures of Rosie, plus a review, and also a review of an American war export 0-6-0 from Bachmann UK loco (not sold in the USA) whose shape looks identical to Rosie, so now I'm wondering if those two locos are actually the same? The war export 0-6-0 is said to have metal axle bearings and DCC (plug/socket?), do you suppose any of these positive features got carried over to Rosie?

Bill in FtL

Several of MRC's DC power packs use a pulse wave form that is NOT friendly to DCC decoders running with analog function enabled. I know for sure that the 2800 dual controller pack is not friendly to decoders, and I believe the 1300 was not friendly either. Since the 1370 is a later version of the 1300, it may not be as well. In any event, the 1370 is an analog pack, not DCC. In order to do a factory software reset you will need to use a DCC system, or possibly a computer with a programming interface like the SPROG that uses JMRI's DecoderPro. Broadway Limited had a special unit made just for programming addresses but I don't know if it can do factory resets, or if they will work with other than BLI decoders, check with them to be sure. You might also check with Jason Sharon at Rapido Trains, I seem to recall that they had some issues with MRC power packs and Rapido's DCC decoders.

It's possible your problem is just a programming issue, but it could be a broken wire or a blown audio output in your decoder. Try to eliminate as many possibilities as you can before going to the trouble and expense of returning it to Bachmann.

Good Luck,
Bill in FtL

Is Rosie based on the same tooling as the HO 0-6-0 rectangular side tank switcher, or is she new tooling? I can't really tell from the illustrations. If the answer is yes, then she should be a very good running engine.

Bill in FtL

Brass doesn't rust, steel does. Steel track is no better than brass track, maybe even worse. Brass and copper oxidize and turn dark with age, like a copper penny, and can even corrode and turn green. The oxide that forms is a poor conductor, so if your track is brass you'll constantly need to be cleaning it just to keep your trains running. You are correct, nickel silver track is much better than brass, especially for smaller sized trains. Even the brass track used in G-gauge must be cleaned frequently, in spite of that scale making better contact because it is so much heavier.

Bill in FtL