Dear Mr. B,

Will the Columbia, MD facility be open for tours or a visit to see their neat stuff?  I had not been there, but want to take a "choo choo" trip with my sons.

Thank you and best wishes,

Hazel

P.S.  Do you have any plans to be in Pittsburgh for any train shows?

Dear Bill & Wil,

I think the San-Val wheels will fit the Bachmann stuff.  You could check out their website.

http://www.san-val.com/

A quick check of their site listed the Bachmann K-27, Side Tank Porter & the 38 Ton 3-Truck Shay.  Yum  Yum!!

George Schreyer, I believe listed several wheels he used, of which San-Val was one.

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips3/wheel_tips.html

A thought, have you tried the Bachmann replacement wheels?

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Rich,

Thanks, much for the information!  If and when I get to Kent I will look you up and the beer is on me (at least the 10th one, that is!!!).

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Sheldon,

I am quite intrigued with your comments, and am very interested with the TE for my application. Will be contacting you soon with details. All my stuff is Athern or Atlas or Proto, with a Bachmann switcher that was run with conventional power and block control. So it would seem this might be up my alley.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friend,

There is a museum in New England that showcases unusual American tools, etc from the 18th & 19th centuries. Perhaps someone here, like Rich C. or other folks who live in NE might be able to help. Otherwise a web search might find it for you.  Then you could contact them for the info you want.

Too, The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI is the only museum that makes the transition from the agricultural to industrial ages in America. A unique resource, to be sure.

A quick search mentioned Eric Sloane, an American artist who catalogued early American tools, covered barns, etc.

What about contacting the Smithsonian? Surely they should have some direction for you.

Too, you might contact a western mining town, such as Teluride, CO or the Mother Lode, etc to see if they have pix of what you want.  Ogden, UT has the John Browning museum, with a wealth of western stuff. Perhaps they or someone like them could help you out.

Good hunting, and please let me know what you find!

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Sheldon,

I can remember some anomalies similar to yours when I  tried to run the first Bachmann X-mas Annie on my Aristo 1.8 amp power pack with PWM.  It ran OK, but there might have been a few "glitches."  I also seem to remember that it was said (perhaps by TOC) not to run Bachmann LS on PWM.  Does that seem right?  Dave, please correct me if I mis-stated.

Thank you.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friends,

Sounds logical, and thank you!  Do you have any experience with Gus Del C's track cleaner?  It is a dry system, I believe. Too, there are those wet systems. Any preferences?

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Virg,

Tried it on my O gauge stuff and it seemed to work well.  Would you please enlighten me why you advise against it?

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friends,

To add my two cents:

Several of our members, including me put a small amount of lube (Wahl clipper oil, Rail Zip, etc) on the rails to minimize arcing and oxidation. Would not the extra lube do a similar thing, presuming it is not dripping on the rail bed?  I think Jim Banner recommended one drop per one hundred feet of rail.   Jim, please correct me if I am wrong.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Paul,

Very nice, indeed!  Was recently at the EBT for their Fall Spectacular and saw similar stuff.  Can get you some pix and videos of No. (15?) coming into the roundhouse if you are interested.  Or I could post them here if anyone would like.  Please let me know.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Sheldon,

This is an intriguing post.  I had looked at TE years ago as a possible OS for my Aristo Roger's set, and had rejected it since I did not need a wireless throttle system.

Now, as you know, I will be getting a block wired HO layout 11 ft X 22 ft, and I have to choose a control system.  Until you posted here, I was set on DCC.  Now I am not too sure.

I will contact you after I have studied this and have learned to speak more on the subject of control systems.  As a neophyte, you can understand I cannot ask even the most rudimentary question. 

My son is at the local vo-tech studying electronics.  His instructor is an EE who builds all sorts of neat stuff, has his house wired for every kind of control system you could imagine (sort of like "Back to the Future" and "Flubber"), is cobbling up a go-kart from ATV and other components, etc.  A very neat guy who all the boys look up to.  Thus, I will talk to him about this and enjoin him as a local source.

Once I get a few things sorted out I will contact you.

Thank you and Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friends,

"The Favorite Spot" is what I was thinking of. Thank you for the other tips.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friends,

Would you please provide the seller's name who sells Bachmann stuff at severe discounts?  Am in dire need to get some engines!!!

Rich C. et al had talked about this several months ago. My link was sadly lost.

Thank you and Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Hamish,

For several years I was most interested in O scale.  There are several manufacturers in the USA, some "dual" scale/gauge with a simple parts change, and roughly in the $400-1300+ range.  The detailing is exquisite in many cases.  I am sure you know who they are, and a simple web search will reveal them.

Not having been convinced that Bachmann would enter the "O" mkt, I chose to devote my interests to G, F and HO.  Now I am immersed into HO and sort of "stuck" with a lot of used equipment and space limitations.

One of two local clubs runs O scale and tried to hand lay combination O scale/gauge trackage.  They had many problems wiring turnouts and abandoned the idea. Perhaps an EE could have solve their problems, but we have many former Penn Central and Conrail, and a few Pennsy guys in the club who understand lots about wiring, etc.  Our clubs layout is approximately 25 feet x 80 feet, with HO (double loop) in the center and O scale on the periphery.  The O scale stuff is very noisy and ultimately gets on our nerves.  (This is the reason I do not like sound decoders in HO engines).

Too, there is DCS and TMCC which seem to work adequately.  Both manufactuers' camps are entrenched in their technologies and offer biased opinions if one speaks to them.  I like the good old Lionel controllers, with bells and whistles for my stuff.

So, the point of this, for my children and me, we would stick with Williams locomotives with their bullet proof mechanisms and adequate detailling,as is, and run the h*** out of them on a small layout at home, and buy a few finely detailed O scale pieces for running on the club layout.

I always enjoy your posts and am looking fwd to more of them.

Best Wishes,

Jack Majcher, Altoona. Pennsylvania, a PRR town, through and through!

Dear Mike,

Fontana, CA, about 1.5 hours from PS has a live steam club.  You can watch or ride about 1 mile of track. At least this was in 1980.

This turned up, but it might be too far from Palm Springs.

http://www.lals.org/index.html

You might try a search for Fontana, CA and see what you get.

Good Luck and Best Wishes!

Jack