I was looking at the mags table of contents, and I saw "Ice Plants"... 

Wazzat? Some kind of fancy flower with transparent cube shaped buds?... 

Oh, oh,yeah, "Block Ice Factories" for the old reefers....

"Never Mind" (Emily Litella)

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Quote

Joe, what is wrong with forums is this attitude that we can't speak up about a product. I have left forums because I was told you can't criticize or have an opposing idea on "their" forums.

Harold

Mink,

I have no objection to complaints.  "Just do it without being rude" is all I can ask.    

I've known the Bach-Man for a long time on the board, and met him at a WHG train show once.  An extremely talented gentleman, friend to all, ambassador for the hobby, and a messenger with way too many bullet holes.  

Why add to his stress by "Pushing the Envelope"?

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik          

Dear Hot,

Assuming that yours is a large scale trolly,

"Large Scale Central" is another good site.  (Plug...Plug)

If you do choose to post your email address here, spell out "at" and "dot" instead of using the symbols.  (This is to prevent spammers from picking up your addy off this site.)

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dusten,

Apology accepted. 

I misspelled your name, apologies.  I read too fast and know too many Dustins (with an "I").

I thought twice about mentioning spelling, because it puts my own spelling under a microscope.

Your enthusiasm is great, keep it up. 

Harold,

Given the demeanor of your previous posts and excellent website, your latest reply was really a surprise. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

 

Just showing off:

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=M&proc=HOMT

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=I&MAG=HOMT&MO=1&YR=1960

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear All,

I ignored this thread at first because of Dustin's rudeness, hoping that others would do the same. 
   
Instead you guys just piled on with more rudeness.  Shame on you.     

Part of growing up is the ability to express your disapproval of things in a tactful manner, and learning how to use a spell checker.

You must have missed class on both of those days.   

Bachmann and the Bach-Man are kind and generous enough (time & $$$) to provide you with a forum.  Don't abuse them, don't abuse it. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

 

Dear Jay,

Sounds like you are shorting to a miswired metal frog. 

See msowsun's first reply in this thread:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,367.0.html

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear Santa Fe,

You are correct. 

Sorry, old habits die hard. 

It used to be known as the Kalmbach Magazine Index.  About 4 or 5 years ago it was put under the Trains.com website.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 
   

Dear All,

The Kalmbach Magazine Index list this magazine as HO Monthly/Model Trains, abbreviated HOMT. 

Earliest issue in index Sept. 1948, latest Jan. 1964 (that I can find).   

Hope this helps.

Joe Satnik

Dear Rat,

N scale or HO scale?

The board has specific a specific forum for each.  It might help to copy and re-post. 

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

Dear MechEngr,

You need an Ohm-meter, and you need conductive lube.   

You can buy a Multi-meter for a reasonable price at a tool store such as Harbor Freight.  If there is a "zeroing" adjustment for Ohms, learn how to use it. 

Put the engine and tender upside down in a padded cradle with the wiring harness connnected.

Clean, then apply a small amount of conductive lube between the pickups and the wheels.  If possible, work it in.     

Using the Ohms x 1 setting, probe from one left wheel to all the other left wheels.  Every wheel on the left side with a pickup should show a "low Ohms" connection to any other left wheel with a pickup.  A "low Ohms" connection should be 1 ohm or less. 

Repeat the process for the right side.

"Open" (no connection) readings indicate wipers not making contact with the wheel, bad (loose, broken, poorly soldered, miswired) internal wiring, broken wiring harness, or spun tender trucks.  Some wheels by design don't have an electrical pickup..   


There should not be a "low Ohms" connection between any left engine wheel with a pickup and any right tender wheel.

There should not be a "low Ohms" connection between any right engine wheel with a pickup and any left tender wheel.


If you have a DC control engine (not DCC) you should be able to see the resistance of the motor (10 to 20 ohms?) between any left and right pickup wheels in the two tests above.  DCC should read higher.

If you see a "low Ohms" connection (1 ohm or less) in either of the above two tests, you probably have a "spun" tender truck.  Spin the offending truck 180 degrees on its bolster to correct. 

Mark the underside of the tender to indicate the correct orientation of each truck.     

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik       

Hi, Eric.

Welcome to the hobby !

Your English is very good.

I have only a few seconds, and can't answer all your questions, but I will say this: Acreage (Hectareage?)

In the US our plywood and insulation sheets comes in 4 foot by 8 foot size, which many here use as an HO "starter" model train layout board. 

I'm not sure of the equivilant European (Metric) size. 

If you have a big enough room, try to start out with a 5 foot width instead.  This will give you room for expansion and much larger radius curves in the future.  You might be able to find a used table tennis (ping-pong) table (5' x 9') for very little money. 

Otherwise, use your carpentry skills to join sheets together (with smooth and level joints) to get 5' width.  Adding casters (wheels) to the table legs will allow you to put it up against a wall (which saves space), then move it out when you need to get to the wall side of the train board.

I will let others give advice on track, wiring and control issues.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear Santa Fe,

Sometimes you have to dig (Google) a little deeper to find the treasure (answers)...

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Perhaps this should be in the "General Discussion" board.   

Or maybe the Large Scale Board. 

I wonder if Kevin needs a new train set?

Joe Satnik

Thanks.