I don't know how it happened, but one of the drive truck's axles are bent (I suspect grandchildren but can't prove it).

All I need is three of axles #85009 which is listed on the exploded parts list (  http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/H850X-IS001.PDF  ) but ISN'T in the parts available list.  The truck assembly H827X-00S02 ( 
http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_191&products_id=1365  ) is sold out!

Any ideas on how I can fix this or where to get the axles?

John

I've backed myself into a corner with the RS-2 by making it my yard/switch engine.  I haven't opened it up yet so I'm ASSUMING nothing as far as space inside it.   

I took one of the SD-45's apart and it has enough room for a 3/4" speaker after I milled part of the weight down so I'm ASSUMING that the other two will need the same treatment to fit the speaker in.

I glued two 3/4" (soldered them in parallel) speakers into the GE 8-40 and it sound great.

Thanks to all for the replies.  It's been an adventure.

Sorry I forgot to include the scale. 

HO. 

Diesels in GP type locomotives which have VERY limited space. 

Bachmann Spectrum GE 8-40 Conrail 6044 is the one that I'm working on right now.  I found two open grill areas that 85% of the two 3/4" speakers cam be mounted inside facing out them.  I have canopy glue (from RC airplanes) that is holding them in place.  I used it because it dries clear (thus less of a obvious mess with the overflow of glue).  Enclosures are going to be problematic though.  Going to have to shave them as thin as possible in order to clear the flywheel weight.

Next (when money allows--VERY tight right now with the fuel oil bill and it being so cold) will be the three Bachmann Spectrum SD-45s.  They will be the last of my "big" diesels.

Last will be my LifeLike RS-2 which has NO room inside it.  I wonder if I take the fuel tank off, mill a round area in the weight, drill a milliion small holes in the fuel tank, put it all back together if that wouldn't work?

I'm a little confused about your question with a couple of issues that aren't covered in it.

1). What gauge railroad are you modeling?  The reason that I ask is depending on the gauge will determine what is available.

USUALLY it's safe to ASSUME that HO gauge USUALLY has the most selection in everything including structures.  That isn't to say that all the other gauges don't have selections of everything, it's just been my experience that HO seems to have more.

Bachmann has a pre-assembled HO scale station right here:  http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=676  Walthers is another source of all model railroad products:  http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?quick=station&quicksrch_butt.x=0&quicksrch_butt.y=0  The one problem I see with Walthers is that there is TOO much stuff there so you can spend DAYS Wishbooking there!

2).  Are you talking about a pre-assembled, or a kit or or kit bashing a station?  Obviously, a pre-assembled one requires almost no work other than opening the box, wiring it up (assuming you are putting lights and possibly a decoder in it).  Next would be a kit which usually take a few hours to assemble but gives you the pleasure of knowing that you assembled it.  Last and most time consuming is kit bashing = buying all the pices (roof, walls, windows, doors, planking, accessories, etc) and building it, and possibly painting it.

I am puzzled as to how to physically mount a speaker to get all of the sound out of it.

Can someone expound on the best way to achieve the most sound for a given, 20 mm (3/4") speaker.

Air holes?  Small holes?  Big holes?  Bulkhead mount?  Solid mount?  Loose mount?  What works best? 

I'm in the process of installing decoders with sound in all my HO deisel locomotives.

The F series locomotives have just enought room to fit a 1" speaker with very little work.

BUT the GP stye locomotive I've done so far have been a PITA.  A 3/4" (28 mm) just barely fits in there and don't have the sound volume or quality that the F units have.

Can someone pleae enlighten me as to how mount them so they sound better?

Types of industries:  Deposit had three "mills" alongside the tracks:  Delaware Mills,  GLF and Hinman Mills, a Deposit Creamery, Agway Lumber, Sinclair gas station off of Mill Street, and their bulk plant up by Agway Lumber, Vitalie's Market, The Mary Lou Hotel, and of course the railroad station (which I just got a kit for from the EL site).

So far the smallest radius I have is 20".  I tried to keep them as big as possible but 18" isn't out of the question.

The "type" of layout would be primarily continuous although point to point could be easily added to it.

I was hoping to put the Starrucca Viaduct into the layout somewhere as it is an IMPRESSIVE piece of engineering even today.  BTY, the primary design engineer for it was a man named Kirkwood (for which the town and township of Kirkwood are named).

I didn't find a GP7 with EL or Erie colors on it.  Did I miss something?

I made a CAD drawing of what I have so that's a done deal but thanks for the suggestion.  IF cash flow allows, I'd still like to get CADRail someday as from what I've seen on the internet, it is the cat's butt for drawing a layout.

Thanks to all for the suggestions and ideas as it has given me some new goals.

My plan is to build our layout around the Erie Lackawanna diesel era (with very few, if any, steam locos) which would be from the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s.

I have many questions in regards to how to set the layout up and what rolling stock to have included in it.

Layout:

Over 20 years ago (when my dad was still alive) we started a layout on a 12' x 5' table.  I understand that now that is not the way to go BUT the table is built and two loops of silver nickel track are laid down with cork roadbed.  It has a reverse track on the inside loop and four pairs of turnouts to get from the inside to the outside loop (and visa versa).

Each loop has four blocks and the reverse track is blocked on both ends so electrically it is quite complete (and all works which I have verified after a week of working on it). 

I guess my question is:  should I disassemble it all and re-build it in the more modern way of bench work?  The table is put together with screws so taking it apart is not a HUGE problem (just the time to take it apart, design a new layout, then assemble it is).

Locomotives:

Fortunately, I have very little that isn't EL and the ones that aren't EL probably weren't EL in the real world either. 

The majority of diesels I have are as follows:  three GP units in EL , one RS3, and a F7AB and a F3A all in EL gray and maroon.  I also have on Conrail GP that will either get traded or sold to acquire more EL locomotives. 

The steam locomotive are all non-EL:  PRR Rivirossi Mallet 2-8-8-2 that I gave my dad in 1978 which he loved but the motor is shot.  I'm in the process of re-motoring it and when done will probably rename it with Erie or Lackawanna names and numbers anyway.  PRR 2-8-2 that doesn't run well that probably needs a good cleaning.  A 0-6-0 that I assembled from a kit (which I believe was identified as a Toyco) that's unlettered.  Not sure if EL ever operated either of these models or not or if I'd use them anyway.

Rolling stock:

90% of what I have has some kind of Erie or Lackawanna or Erie Lackawanna logo or lettering on it.  The other rolling stock has name brands on them like Schlitz, Morton Salt, etc. on them which I think would be typical for a train inventory.  Would that be a correct assumption?

On the brighter side, my wife got me a MRC Prodigy Advance 2 DCC system for Christmas this year.  WHAT an adventure that has been!  There's so MUCH to learn but the value add is something else!  I've successfully converted three diesel locomotives to DCC so far and have actually run them successfully too!

Now for the $64,000,000 question:  how do I landscape the layout?  Buildings = towns?  So that it has some continuity to it?  I have a picture in my head of Deposit, NY (my home town) on the layout with Gulf Summit on one end and Hancock on the other and possibly Binghamton.  I don't want a ton of detail but don't want it too general either.

When I was VERY young (born in 1948), we lived in Downsville, NY until 1956.  The O&W tracks ran near us (they went bankrupt before I was born) so I didn't see a train till we moved to Deposit, NY in 1956.

I believe it was still the (weary) Erie back then.  We lived ON (what was then) Rt 17 (before the four lane was built) and the Erie tracks were about 300 yards from our house.  All I remember about my first nights there was that I thought I'd NEVER get to sleep with all of the noise from the trains and trucks going by!

I don't remember seeing any steam engines on the Erie (I think that they had changed to diesel power by then).  Most of what I saw were F series diesels then later on when GP series engines when they merged with the Lackawanna.

One train in particular stands out in my mind.  A trains LOADED with M60 tanks headed east.  I found out years later that we (the US) stripped the east (of the Missippippi) of all of our M60 tanks to send them to Israel!  Quite a site to see all of those hundreds tanks on flat cars!

I also rode the Phoebe Snow from Hornell to Binghamton, NY twice in 1967.  We darned near froze to death as there was NO heat and it was at Christmas time!

Yes, red and green lights are on the "To Do List".

One of my many "quests" this winter was to clean the cellar which is where the HO setup resides.

JUST after posting my question here I decided to go through a pile of boxes that I knew held HO stuff.  Wouldn't you know that the FIRST box I opened was full of Atlas parts:  #4 turnouts, solenoids for turnouts, switches for turnouts, AND (wait for it!) a NEW IN THE PACKAGE #220 Controller!

On the back of that package was a complete description of how it works!  Top left and bottom right red slide switches control the A or B track direction only (NOT the reverse loop).  The middle left green switch is A off B cab selector for the reverse loop.  The top right gray switch controls the reverse loop direction.

I had an "AHA" moment the minute I finished reading all of that as it all came back to me what I wired 20 years ago. 

The question was then how do I know what the polarity of the reverse loop is in relation the main track.  Another "AHA" and "KISS" moment:  hooked a HO scale incandescent lamp from one rail of the reverse loop to the main line rail of the same side at each end of the reverse loop.  When the polarity for the end of the loop is the same as the main line, the lamp is out.  When it doesn't match the lamp is lit!  Voila, a visual indication that the polarity is either right or WRONG!

HELP! 

I'm just getting back to a HO train setup that hasn't been touched in YEARS.  It will eventually be modeled around the Erie Lackawanna in the diesel era (with possibly some steam).

I bought a MRC Prodigy Advance2 system and have slowly but surely made progress with all wiring. 

I'm now at the point where the blocks make sense EXCEPT the reverse loop Atlas 220 wiring!  I can get it set so that a locomotive will enter it from the loop on one end but can't reverse it without getting a "short" indication on the DCC.

My best guess is that I need to take this unit out and install a DCC reverse controller?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Any recommendatins for a sound (only) decoder?  Room inside the shell is at a premium too.  I have another one of these apart (EL road number#3611 Bachman #82702) and a 1" speaker DEFINATELY won't fit!  I have another decoder with a hard wired in speaker that is .790" (20 mm?) that BARELY fits.

I looked on Tonys Trains for sound only decoders and they're within $30 of a complete decoder unless I'm looking at the wrong ones.

I haven't taken the shell off yet but I'd like to know IF there are terminals on the DCC board for a speaker or not?  If not, what are my options to put sound in them?

John