Thanks for a very informative reply, Kevin.

1) Four screws in the firebox (two on either side) just above the two drivers; one long screw between the cylinders going up through the steam chest into the smoke box. You'll have to remove the plate that holds the front pilot truck on to get access to this screw. (Two phillips head screws just inside the cylinders.)

I assume the boards are obvious once I get all that off?  I'd seen those screws but wasn't sure that was the way in.

3) Personally, I'd ditch those plugs and go with 4-pin Dean's connectors instead.

Where can I get those?

4) Yes, that's how I'd do it if I believed in smoke units.

Smoke will be a special occasion operation mostly due to the mess.  That's why I wasn't getting fancy on its operation.

Personally, I'm not a fan of "hybrid" power.

We're considering going only battery.  I had to run power to the layout for some structural lights and the like and figured we'd give the dual power a try.  I like the idea of putting the battery in the fuel load.  Our 4-4-0 has a wood load of fuel that doesn't look all that realistic so we were planning to redo it with real wood anyhow.

We really liked your website - the TRR is similar in size and layout to ours.  The website was innovative and informative - nice job!

We have a G-scale Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0 and will install a Locolinc  KLR-102 receiver and a Phoenix P8 sound system.

We plan to run track power with a battery backup.  The receiver, sound and speaker will be in the tender and the battery and charger in a trailing car.  The Locolinc system has separate inputs for track and battery power with a single output to the motor, so the track/battery transitions should be transparent to the locomotive.

1.  How do you open the locomotive to get access to the circuit boards inside the boiler?

2.  Where is the easiest place to disconnect the motor from track power so it can be connected to the Locolinc output?  The motor power leads appear to go to connector block S4 on the main PCB - is that a good spot?

3.  The tender and loco have two plugs that connect them, a two-pin and a four-pin.  The two-pin carries the chuff signal from the contacts on the rear wheels and will go to the sound card.  Two pins in the four-pin connector carry track power from the tender to the loco.  We plan to leave that as is to take track power from the loco to the input side of the receiver in the tender.  Track power can come from any of the tender's eight wheels or any of the loco's four wheels.  Now the question:  The other two pins of the four-pin connector don't appear to connect to anything.  In the owner's manual, they are labeled "for speaker."  Can we use those two pins to carry the receiver output power from the tender to the motor?

N.B.  Our track does not have any reversing loops, just two concentric loops with turnouts connecting them.  We have option of leaving the turnouts dead and letting the battery run the train through them.  This should avoid any polarity problems through the wheels of the tender and loco.

4.  It appears we can disconnect the motor from track power and route it through the Locolinc output while leaving the smoke connected to track power.  The smoke would still need to be turned on and off with the manual switch in the front of the loco.  Since smoke needs to be manually filled and checked at the loco, manually turning the switch on and off doesn't seem like a burden.  Leaving the smoke connected directly to track power will shut down the smoke if track power is lost, so the smoke will not be running when on backup battery; a good thing in our view.  Does this sound like a workable approach to the smoke?

5.  We have a Bachmann caboose with lights that run off either internal AA batteries or track power using separate contacts in the caboose.  We'll leave the AA batteries out and the lights on so the caboose will be a continuous "track power testing unit."  Good idea or no?

6.  What is the easy way to strap the speaker down in the tender?  The speaker mount has screw holes but no parts that we can find to go in the holes to secure the speaker.

Thanks for your help,
John and Kathy McMurray

We are building a small, outdoor, G-scale layout - 120' of track, two engines maximum.  We have one engine now, a Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0.  We will run battery power with radio control.  We are looking either the AirWire or Locolinc system. 

I've read several reviews on the AirWire system.  They have two receivers, the new G2 and an older model.  Anyone have pros and cons for one vs the other?

I haven't found many reviews of the Locolinc system.  Anyone used this setup?

Thanks.

Ah, I see, Kevin.  Thanks for the info gentlemen.  Now I have the numbers I need to figure things out.

Thanks for the replies.

Quote from: Kevin Strong on May 01, 2010, 12:19:07 AMThe trick is cramming the 4400 mAh batteries in the tender with sound and control.

Is there room in the 4-4-0 loco for some of the gear?  I was thinking of putting the reciever and sound in the loco and the battery in the tender - sounds like from your comment the speaker won't fit in the loco.  I haven't taken the engine and tender apart yet - the wife has it on display!

We are building small G-scale outdoor railroad with a Spectrum 4-4-0 pulling 3 or 4 cars over 120' of track.  Max grade is 1.5%.  We are going with a battery and radio control.  (Don't start the DCC/DC/battery argument - this is a different question!) 

What amperage does the 4-4-0 pull at max and moderate speeds?  I doubt we'll run the loco at max speed on the small track but that will give me an upper bound. 

How much do lights and sound add to the draw?  I need round numbers to calculate how big a battery I'll need (two hours run time is what I'm figuring). 

How much does smoke add to the draw?  I know, I know - a LOT - but how much exactly.  (I, myself, would rather use the mahs for something else but  the wife thinks smoke is cool.)

My current thinking is an 18v battery but I'm open to suggestions on that score.

Why doesn't Bachmann list those numbers on the first page of their owner's manual?  That one might be hard to answer - I threw it in with a small measure of frustration.

Thanks.