BACHMANN HO ACELA TRAINSET

[acela-tom]

I AM IN THE PLANNING STAGES OF A BACHMANN HO ACELA EXPRESS LAYOUT. I NEED TO KNOW IF THE STARTER SET LOCOMOTIVE GOES IN REVERSE AUTOMATICALLY. ALSO WHAT IS THE MINIMUM DIAMETER OF A CIRCLE. LASTLY WHEN PLANNING INCLINES ANY ADVICE?

[jonathan]

AT,

Trainset (locomotive) does not go into reverse automatically.  It operates like a regular DC locomotive.  There is a DCC version now on the market.

The set is rated for 22" radius (44" diameter) curves.  However, speaking from experience, I would recommend using a minimum of 24" radius curves.  The cars are lllloooonnnngggg.

The locomotive requires more voltage than other locomotives.  Seems that way to me.  I would stick to one or two percent grades at the most--especially if you buy extra cars to make a complete consist (I did).  I believe the train would slow to a stall if the grades were any steeper.  That's merely an opinion.  My mainline grades are 1%. The train operates fine on that.  I have no experience with steep grades using this train.

Regards,

Jonathan