I use Imgur. I used to use Photobucket until they started charging to host. I don't like my photos being held hostage.

WHat we all do is upload the photos to a hosting site like Imgur or Flikr, then link to the photos on the hosting site.

it's 2023 and I can't contact them. All messages come back as not sent. The website is a joke. I downloaded it but have no idea how it works.
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You inquired about this on another thread, and were given a link to a group dedicated to using this program. This is an open source program, and any questions you have regarding this software can be answered there. There is no need to dig up a 15 year old thread. If you are truly interested in answers to your questions, you will go where there are people who can answer them. If you don't wish to do this, don't complain when you can't find the answers you claim to want.

Quote from: ModelRailwayFan38 on August 05, 2023, 10:48:38 PMI've never owned a Bachmann sound locomotive, but on most models CV 8 and 9 control that.

Neither of those CVs control momentum. CV8 is the factory default reset CV, and CV9 apparently controls the PWM, not something the average modeller is going to want to tinker with.

CV3 controls acceleration, and CV4 controls deceleration.

Of the three track planning prtracograms I currently have, Xtrkcad is the least intuitive. They all have their flaws and drawbacks though.

There is an Xtrkcad group on Groups Io that should be able to answer your questions on using it.

https://xtrackcad.groups.io/g/main

Yes you are correct about the parts diagrams showing the newer can motored versions. It's been so long since the upgrade that I don't believe the parts department even has the pancake motored trucks anymore.

I own at least a dozen of the can motored GP40s, and I like them alot. These versions, there are several slightly different ones, have corrected the problems that plaguesd the pancake motored units: poor electrical contact, lack of pulling power due to only one truck being powered, rubber tires on the powered truck in an attempt to increase pulling power, a motor that didn't hold up under heavy usage.

If you decide to rebuild the one you have, you'll be able to find another one at a train show to use for parts. But you'll still be dealing with the drawbacks of the original design.

That is a GP40 with a pancake motor. You can try to get it running again, but it'll never be a good runner. You may want to go to a train show and look for a better locomotive. Sometime in the 1990s, Bachmann upgraded the GP40, and the upgraded units can often be found for well under $50. They are on ebay as well, but at a train show you will be able to test it before you buy it.

Very quick way to identify EMD locomotives like the GP40 is by the fans on top. On GE locomotives like the U36B the fans are internal and not visible from the outside.

 

As you guessed, you gently pry on the end of the truck frame until it pops loose. Not much else to it.

Quote from: trainman203 on July 15, 2023, 04:12:00 PMBachmann makes a lot better steam engines now than the Chattanooga choo-choo 0-6-0 you had.

That is a Tyco CHattanooga set he had. The steam version was either a 2-8-0 or 0-8-0 with a power truck hidden in the tender. It was completely different than the Bachmann 0-6-0.

Quote from: trainman203 on July 15, 2023, 04:12:00 PMYour 4-8-4 will need a decoder and speaker to run on DCC. 

You are confusing DCC with DCC/Sound. They are NOT the same. A DCC conversion does not NEED a speaker, and is far easier and less expensive than a DCC/Sound conversion. You do not NEED sound to gain the benefits of DCC operation.

Next question.

Does it have holes for a speaker in the fuel tank area? If so, when you pry the cover off, does it also have a space for a speaker? If so, your conversion is going to be alot easier than if it doesn't. The biggest issue with any sound conversion is finding a place to put the speaker, and many Bachmann locomotives do not have this space.

I do not do sound conversions, though I have equipped many locomotives with DCC. Therefore, I cannot offer specific suggestions other than what I have observed when taking the Bachmann locomotives I have apart. The GP40 in particular has come in many versions in the past, in some of the chassis weight takes up almost all available room in the locomotive.

It sounds like the components in your control circuit are overheating. Are they rated at a high enough amperage to handle the current draw of the train?

If pushbutton start and stop is what you're after, it would have been much cheaper to use appropriately rated (3 amp or more) pushbuttons and a relay.

Quote from: trainman203 on July 09, 2023, 08:14:05 PM9" radius.  Next thing, someone's going to ask if they can get their centennial diesel or big boy around that.

😂😂😂

I've never understood that mentality. "I'm going to buy the biggest, baddest locomotive I can find. But I have no room for a layout so I'll use the smallest radius curves I can find. Why won't my train work?"

I was going to mention this. Also for those who like the complex trackwork often found at city intersections, FastTracks makes jigs for a 9" radius streetcar switch.

I think you got your forces wrong here. The up and down force you describe isn't innate to backing, but a reaction to the true forces at play when backing talgos.

When backing freight cars, the couplers will swing to one side. This exerts sideways pressure. With body mounted couplers, this force is transmitted through the car itself, and its effect on the trucks is to push the wheels against one rail. But the wheels themselves will stay in alignment with the rail they are pushed against. With a talgo truck, the sideways force the couplers exert will be transmitted to the truck itself, with the talgo arm acting as a lever to multiply that force on the truck. The wheels are now skewed, and riding against the rail at an angle. They are looking for any irregularity or flaw in your trackwork as a place to climb the rail. This rail climbing action is the upward force you described, and it is caused by the rail itself, not the truck. Switchpoints and frogs are perfect places for this to happen, as are rail joints or places where the track is slightly under guage. In the case of frogs, in theory the guardrails would prevent the truck from derailing, but most commercially made switches have guardails and flangeways that are wider than NMRA tolerances. And switchpoints are often stamped pieces of metal mass produced, rather than actual rail tapered to a sharp point. These are just the sort of flaws that cause derailments with talgo trucks, and the more cars you are trying to back, the worse the problem becomes.



 

Quote from: Len on July 03, 2023, 03:03:07 PMThe original trucks can still be used after removing the 'arm' holding the horn-hook coupler box.

Len

You're right. In many cases the truck frames themselves are usable. I've done many such conversions over the years, and they've generally worked well with proper wheelsets.  As a matter of fact, the Mantua cars featured body mounted couplers, with a modified Tyco style snap in truck. I've never had problems with those.