For those who may have missed it, Union Pacific has just released the schedule for their Big Boy excursion this fall.  My wife and I have seen the Challenger and the Big Boy in action, and it's quite an experience!  Here's a link to the UP website page that has the Big Boy schedule:
https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

Enjoy!
Jay

There appear to be several garden railroad clubs in New Mexico... here's a link to one out of Albuquerque.  They would be an invaluable source of information regarding local repair services, so I think it would be worthwhile to establish contact with them.  http://nmgrr.com/

All the best,
Jay

With the information you've given, it sounds like a slightly bent drive axle.
Best of luck,
Jay

Good afternoon,
The good news is that the 90037 set that you have comes with the Version 5 locomotive chassis, so if properly cleaned and lubricated, it should give you good service.  Long-term, you will want to plan on replacing your steel track with brass if you plan to run the train year-round; just keep an eye on those curved sections for premature wear.  As others have mentioned, a more powerful transformer is also a good idea.  The Bridgewerks units are about as good as you can buy, but MRC also makes good units that are easier on the budget.  I'm running a no-frills MRC 20-amp transformer that is plenty for most needs.  Others will chime in with more options.
Best of luck,
Jay

Looks good!  What are the wooden pieces for at each outboard crosstie?  Do those enable you to screw the joining sections together?
Jay

Hi Doug,

I assume you are referring to Bachmann product #96214.  If that is accurate, I see no electrical reason that it would not work with brass track.  The problem would be one of mechanically joining the steel track on the crossing gate with brass track on either side of it.  The disclaimer was no doubt published so that a customer with Bachmann's brass track would not be disappointed when they found out it would not fit on their layout.  So in your case, it should work fine if you manage to fabricate some adapters that would allow your brass track to physically (and electrically) join with the steel crossing gate track.

Best of luck,
Jay

Hi Bill,

You might try Trackside Details... they have those in brass, in two sizes.  P/N TD-21 is about 5/16" long, and P/N TD-88 is about 1/2" long.

Here's their website:  http://www.tracksidedetails.com/index.php

Good luck!
Jay

Hello Bill, and welcome to Texas!
I'm less than an hour south of you in Round Rock.  I haven't found much LS activity in central Texas, but then I haven't looked very hard either.
There is a great railroad museum in Brownwood a couple of hours away, and they have some nice layouts there.
We'll have to get together once you get settled.
Again, welcome aboard!
Jay

There's a youtube video from LSOL.com that shows the C-19 to be 8-1/2 inches high... the specs are 45 seconds into the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IsXaR2kAqI

Hope that helps!
Jay

Hi Don,

The only thing I've found on this is via this link on Bachmann's website... hope it helps!
See page 4.

Good luck,
Jay

https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/83093.pdf

Hi Dave,

In answer to your last question, I'm guessing that the nylon gear material has NOT been updated, because I think it doesn't need to be based on the new mounting method.
My degrees are not in engineering or physics, but I'm thinking that the reason Bachmann had so many problems for so many years with their nylon drive gears is because they took the easy way out and press-fit them to the axles.  That may work long enough for a kid to tear up his toy, but long-term, the press-fit solution places a radial tension on the entire gear, and over time the nylon material is bound to fail.  The "D" shape to key the gear to the axle places no such stress on the gear material, and is a much more elegant (and reliable) solution, albeit probably more expensive to produce.  A metal gear from NWSL could be made to work, but it would require a blob of solder or epoxy in the round hole, and then filed out to match the "D" shape of the axle.

Looking forward to hearing how that new worm gear combination works!
Jay

I'm guessing that Bachmann has figured out that nobody wants to pay 25% more for the 4-6-0 just because it's coming out of China.  I can wait... 
Jay

You might try Trackside Details... their part number TD-152 is about halfway down their webpage.

http://www.tracksidedetails.com/

Good luck!
Jay

Hi GreyOwl,

It's my understanding that the Blue Comet set was introduced in 1997 and was available through 1999.
Regarding the chassis replacement recommendation... what Bob said, times two!

Good luck,
Jay

The owner's manual (http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/449105-AMPInstructions.pdf) implies that the Power Booster must be controlled by an outside source, e.g. E-Z Command Control Center or some other DCC input.

Hope this helps!
Jay