Newbie w/ questions

[Neo Fender]

Hi.  My kids received a Bachmann large scale set (4-6-0 engine, tender and two passenger cars) from their grandfather last Christmas.  It also came with a streetcar/trolley with a second controller.  A few questions, please:

(1) Is there an "electrical" limit on track length?  I currently am running a 4' circle for the trolley and a 6' x 6' square for the train.  I believe there's enough track to run 10' x 6' (or 8' x 8', 14' x 4' etc.)  Anyway, back to the original question, in case I want to add track.  A local children's hospital runs an elevated, large scale set in its entranceway that must be > 150' in length.  Just curious as to what additional equipment that involves, if any.

(2) I inadvertently left the smoke on after taking it down last year and unwittingly left it on (and empty) this year.  Did I break it?  I guess the easy way would be to add some fluid there and find out for myself but again I'm just curious to see if I've caused some damage.

(3) Does anyone know of an articulated engine in this scale like maybe a Big Boy or Challenger?  I imagine it would have to be a monster.

Thanks in advance. 

[Cascade Northern]

Welcome to the G-Scale Hobby!!!!

(1) Not fully sure cause I use battery RCS

(2) If you leave the smoke unit on and it runs out of smoke fluid, you will burn up the filment inside the smoke unit.

(3) Accucraft, USA Trains, and MTH, make a Big Boy.  They are aleast near 5feet long, not sure the exact lenght cause I have never really look at getting one.  Bachmann is making a 2-6-6-2 Mallet sometime this year (at least by the end of next year)

[Tom Lapointe]

Welcome to hobby, Neo!

From a practical standpoint, the only electrical limit on track length is voltage drop (which will occur primarily at rail joiners).  You didn't mention what brand of track your using, but from the description of your train set, I'm going to guess you're probably using the Bachmann tubular-steel rail that came with the set.  If the track is new, with clean rail joints, probably not too much of an issue for the size layout you're talking.  My advice would be to simply set up the size oval you want & try it; if voltage drop IS an issue, it will show up as the locomotive slowing down (or possibly stalling) at the farthest point on the layout from your power pack.  There are 2 ways to cure this; either solder jumper wires across each track joint (the better way), or at least add a second set of feeder wires from your power pack to the far side of the oval.  (Make sure to keep polarity correct - for example, connect the same power pack terminal to the outside rail at both points).  Even if the loop runs fine to start with, the joints MAY loosen up over time, so if you plan to leave things relatively "permanent", that may be advisable from the start.   Oh, & by the way, if it IS the Bachmann steel track, don't even CONSIDER  using it for an outdoor layout!  (It will QUICKLY rust away to nothing! ).

Regarding running the smoke unit dry, it may have survived if you didn't run the engine at full throttle all the time - just put some smoke fluid in & try it!   (Don't overfill, @ 6 ~ 12 drops of fluid).

And yes, you can get Big Boys - but be prepared to shell out $$$$  (the USA Trains one is $3600, is an 80 - pound die cast monster & requires 20-foot diameter curves!).  I think the MTH one is just over $1000, the Accucraft one in the $2300 range.

                                                                                                   Tom

[calenelson]

just a note in reference to some other free Large Scale Train forums you may find interesting :

http://www.largescalecentral.com/index.php

http://www.mylargescale.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx


Welcome in!

cale