In my area we have the Iowa, Central, and Eastern and the Iowa Interstate Railroad.  Both are offshoots of the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern.  I pass by the Davenport, Iowa ICE yard everyday on my way to work.  Both the ICE and the Iowa Interstate have great websites.  The ICE even lists their customers and what they haul.

I was looking at some Atlas locos and was wondering if anyone had problems running N scale Atlas locos on EZ-track.

I was looking to add some othe locos to my collection when I noticed that in many forums people said that EZ-track only worked with Bachman products.  Is this true?  I was especially looking at some Atlas locos.

First you will need a shaman, some holy water, book of the dead....

Kidding.   I don't have a DCC system but my whole layout is ez-track.  If the track is not connected all the way my locos do the same.  Also, check to make sure that the track is connected in the rail joiners.  If they are not the n reconnect them.  One other thing, look at you layout to make sure you don't have a reverse section.   When your train hits this it will definately act up.

Here's my 2 cents....

I have used the ez track switches and have had a few problems.  Out if the 15 I have bought only one was bad and I made it worse by fiddling with it.  The others have had only minor problems which were fixed with a small amount of filing and car adjustement. 

Every other brand has issues with its switches too, not just Bachman.  In most cases the remedy is the same as with the ez track switches.  In model railroading, along with other hobbies, there are always things you have to "tweek" to get to run right.  You can't just take something out of the package and expect it to be perfect everytime.  As an example, fishing lures.  You can't just take a lure out of the package and catch a fish on every cast.  You have to work the lure and tune it.  The same goes for model railroad track.

With the power cord that Bachman has with its controller (the one going from the controller to the track) how can you tell which one is positive and which is negative?  I would like to set up cab control but need to know what is the common ground.

As I posted earlier I got some new N Scale freight cars that had the new knuckle coupler on them.  I would like to know how hard it would be to switch to the rapido type without replacing the entire truck assembly and if you can order the parts from Bachman.

A few months ago I asked about push button switches for my turnouts.  I was told that if I wanted to change to a pushbutton switch it had to be a SPDT momentary switch.  Yesterday I went and purchased a few from Radioshack and when I tried them they did not work right.  When I push the button the frog switches over but when I release the button it goes back to its orginally position.

Do the switches need to be mommentary switches or can I use regular SPDT switches?  Also, can I use Atlas switch to replace the turnout switch box that comes with the Bachman switches?

I purchased several new freight cars today and after I got them home I noticed that they did not come with rapido couplers like the pervious ones I had purchased but a smaller hook like coupler.  Did Bachman change couplers and if so, what type are these?

I asked the same questions of several websites and many people agreed that the foam grass was better than the roll.  I use a brown latex paint as a base then use two types of grass color.  It turned out real well.  If cost is an issue then use the mat but if it isn't I would go with the foam.

Southeast Iowa.  I have several railroads that operate in my area for inspiration.

Can Bachman DCC decoders be installed on any brand DCC loco (i.e. Atlas)?

Does Bachman have any plans to come out with a #6 switch in N scale anytime soon?  If not what would be a good alternative?

I looked at price as the main reason.  I too run N scale and received the Explorer set for Christmas.  I like the use of EZ track and compared to unitack from Kato the it is more cost effective.  While I have had some quality issues they have been few and far between.

On my layout I am using 11.25" curves and would like to run a DCC type layout.  The only DCC trains that Bachman offers are the SD-45s and the Dash 8's which say they require a minium of a 19" curve.  Is that a hard fact or will they run on a smaller curve?