Ridge Road Station  (http://www.ridgeroadstation.com/trains.shtml) sells Aristo track by the piece.

-Brian

Hi David,

Kor has his email addy right under his name in the posting.

-Brian

For some reason there is no reply button in David's original posting

David's question -
What is the minimum recommended center-to-center track spacing for 1:20.3 scale both for straight runs and curves? I will be using both 5 and 8 foot radius curves.

I use a 7 inch center to center spacing (it might even be on 6 in spots  ) on the straight aways and a bit more on curves. I'm only running 1:22.5-29 scale stuff. You probably want to have a 8 inches for 1:20 and more on the curves (maybe a lot more if you're getting one of those new K's)

-Brian

Quote from: VirginiaCentral on September 21, 2007, 11:29:46 PM
Hey Brian, nice cordwood load, but what's that pile of coal doing on the tender deck?

Jerry

Thanks Jerry. I am not the owner of that loco (all mine are coal or diesel burners). I only supplied the wood (1 inch thick crape myrtle branches split 6 ways). There was some debate on what to do with the molded in coal since its not seen when hooked up to the loco. I'm not sure what the final outcome was.

-Brian

Quote from: lrparks on September 21, 2007, 11:26:00 AM
I want the ET&WNC Annie, but I like the stack on the Denver & Rio Grande Annie. Is there a way to put the Denver & Rio Grande Stack on a ET&WNC Annie?

Keep in mind the D&RG balloon stack is for wood burners. Coal burners had the smaller straight stack. If you swap out the stack you should change the tender load too. Wood is easy though, you can use the real thing -



-Brian

Quote from: Steve Stockham on August 30, 2007, 08:42:21 AM
Ummm.......(oh boy!) uh......guys? I hate to nit-pick right off the bat (especially since I have been waiting so long!) but that tapered stack is wrong! I checked through Dennis O'Berry's book, "The Mudhens" which has copious amounts of pictures of all of the K-27's and only found one picture with a tapered stack and that was of #463 when she was still a Vauclain compound engine in 1908! Every other picture shows a straight stack! How could Bachmann make such a glaring error??!! I sincerely hope that someone at Bachmann caught this early enough so that when the production models come out this will have been corrected! (If not, Accucraft makes a stack that would work in it's place.)

Steve's countin' rivets already!   



-Brian

Mike,

As said above, you'll need some better track to run outdoors. AristoCraft, USA Trains and LGB (not currently in production) being the primary suppliers of brass track. Aristo also make nice stainless steel track (pros and cons to each so do your homework!). As Nathan stated bigger diameter is better. Bachmann track is only 4 foot diameter. LGB R3 (about 8'diameter) or others sold by diameter (I think Nathan was referring to 4' radius above). You will probably need to invest in a beefier power supply too (3 amps or better).

-Brian

Here it is for under $2. This is listed as 12" at 1:24. There is also an 18"  one




http://www.ridgeroadstation.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=2470004!247

http://www.ridgeroadstation.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=2470005!247

-Brian

Lots of tips, no tricks. You have lots of homework to do. A garden railroad on a raised bed is your best bet for older folks. Some good info place to start -
http://www.btcomm.com/trains/primer/index.htm
http://www.trains.com/grw/default.aspx?c=ss&id=16
Yes there is special track. Typically code 250 or 332 of brass or stainless steel with UV resistant ties. There are pros and cons of each. Manufacturers of outdoor track include AristoCraft, USA trains, AMS, etc.
The Bachmann locos and rolling stock will fit your theme nicely. They are either 1:22.5 scale (Big Hauler line) or 1:20.3 (Spectrum line). The Anniversary edition ("Annie") ten wheeler is a great starter loco for the money.
The only real difference between indoor and outdoor trains are weather and UV resistance. Bachmann track is intended for indoor use only.
There are many kit buildings and figures that will work well for a western theme.
There are a few good online dealers to get stuff like -
http://www.ridgeroadstation.com/trains.shtml
http://www.staubintrains.com/trainshop/default.asp
http://www.trainworld.com/

-Brian

In this recent thread - http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,2097.0.html  my online buddy, Dave Goodson (Curmudgeon  ) posted this -

Quote from: Curmudgeon on August 08, 2007, 12:28:17 AM
Advantages of stainless outdoors.
Funny.
Those who complained that aluminum was too silvery, suddenly accept the chrome glare of stainless.

Tractive effort alone would cause me to NOT use stainless.

If I can haul 28-34 loads consistently up 150' of 4% with ONE Bachmann Shay, I sure would like to hear what folks with Stainless are able to do.

I guarantee I will out-pull you.

Wire.
Clamps.
Power districts.

Oh, well, now Piko has Brass, and KGB is bringng back the ex-LGB track line, so brass won't be a supply issue....just bring lots of cash.

Well, I thought to myself,  this is a bit of no brainer. You really could not compare any track that has not been cleaned in 20 years, having the texture of sandpaper, to any track that is cleaned on a regular basis. Being a former scientist, I could not resist the challenge. I normally do not run trains longer than 10 cars, so I set out to the backyard (where its 96 degrees in the shade  )) to do a bit of experimenting.
I do run Aristo stainless but my steepest grade is only about 3%. I do not have a Shay but my Dunkirk uses the diecast Shay trucks. So I got out all my scale appropriate rolling stock (we know Dave has a thing about scale) and loaded up the Dunkirk with an additional 3 pounds of lead fishing weights. It has a pound in a half in it but not nearly the weight of a Shay equipped with batteries.




This is the maximum train I was able to pull up my 3% grade with the weighted Dunkirk before wheel slippage -






It consists of 20 cars with 9 box and reefers including the first equipped with battery/RC set up, 1 Bachmann tanker, 2 Aristo 20' cars, 2 flat cars with real, heavy logs, 5 AristoClassic hoppers and a logging caboose. All are equipped with standard metal wheels (mostly SanVal).








So here is my challenge - If you have a Shay (or similar), stainless track and some decent grades let's see what you can do. Go out and do your own experiment and post some pics or video here. The winner (by my judging) will receive one of my Cub.., er, Canadian "pieces of artwork" (at least that's what the shipping box said) recently procured for upcoming vacation.

-Brian

Quote from: Yorkie on August 04, 2007, 04:43:29 PM
That was a real pleasure to watch. Great work. It would be very interesting to see the camera set-up you used to film it.

Thanks guys!

Yorkie,

Nothing special was used to do this. The camera was a standard digital camera (Canon A70 3mp) set on movie mode with auto settings, 320x240 pixels. The camera was attached to a little Sony table top tripod (no longer made)-



folded flat and strapped down to a flatcar in front with velcro straps.

The video is also up on YouTube now -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkbYjbVhgjw

-Brian

Yes, all the Bachmann ten wheelers (and a couple of other locos) are "G" 1:22.5 scale. The Spectrum line of large scale locos and cars are 1:20.3 scale (sometimes known as Fn3 scale). Since you are going to but a bunch of track anyway, I would suggest starting over with brass track with 5 or 6.5 foot diameter curves. Bachmann track is only 4 foot diameter and that severely restricts other locos that can run on it. Even the 10 wheeler will run easier on a larger radius plus the brass track will be more reliable in the long run.

-Brian

look up some current prices here - http://trainworld.com/bachmann/bachmann_g_gauge_sets.htm

Quote from: foureyes on August 03, 2007, 07:41:16 PM
Many homes are wired with aluminum, and their lights still work!

As long as everything is properly pigtailed with copper! 

-Brian

Dear  (get it?)

Sorry about that. I dont think major surgery is required. You probably just need to remove the smoke unit (its not worth much any) and glue in (5 min epoxy) some lead weights (fishing sinkers or car wheel weights) inside the boiler. You might have to experiment to see what size and amount (4 - 8 oz.?) will work for you.

-Brian