In reply to jcater's question about using an "N" or "Z" decoder in the On30 2-6-0 loco, rather than an HO unit, the issue here is physical size of the decoder. If you are to mount the decoder in the tender, then size isn't as critical, but since the 2-6-0 loco is self-contained and doesn't use the tender for pickup or for mounting a "lightboard", mounting the decoder there means you would also have to add multiple wire connections between the loco and tender. If you mount the decoder in the locomotive, all the wiring can be done onboard the loco, with no need for wires running to the tender, unless you install a backup light. That being said, the DCC installation WOULD benefit from adding tender pickups, which would supplement the marginal pickup available from just the drivers. This would require adding 2 wires to carry the additional pickup to the loco, but 2 wires is better than 6 or 7!

Regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades

Hello Frisco,

I have one of the Forneys with factory sound, which I run on our Florida Renegades On30 modular layout that has mostly 24" minimum radius, but also has SOME 22" radius curves in the Wye section, and it seems to do just fine. If you put your tracks down carefully, making sure the rails are level and curves are fair & true, you should be OK. Like any situation where you are operating close to the edge of the envelope, everything else will need to be "just right" to avoid problems. Also, if you can find the space to use even small easements on your 22" curves, you'll be better off. The Forney (especially the sound version) is one of Bachmann's sweetest locos to date, but because of the long overhang from it's drivers to the rear coupler, it doesn't like abrupt changes in the vertical level of the rails, so lay your track grades carefully.

Enjoy,
Bill

Your pictures look great! Please post more when you can. You mentioned you're in Florida, we have a fairly active Florida On30 group on Yahoo! Groups, drop in and give us a visit <www.yahoogroups.com/group/floridaon30> (you can also try Googling "Florida On30 Renegades").

Keep up the good work!

Regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades

Try this: http://nbrnmodule.tripod.com/

Good Luck,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades (Floridaon30atyahoogroups)

Did you check the voltage potential in both polarities? It might be that the board is set up to use either a bulb or an led. Also, there may be an additional jumper required somewhere else on the circuit board. Logically, it  would seem that LED1 would more likely be the designation for a headlight rather than b/u light. but who knows?

regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL

Check the gears carefully, especially the ones on the "jumping" rear truck, it sounds like the problems many LifeLike Proto2K locos and some Athearn's have when a gear is split. This changes the gear tooth spacing at the split, and causes a bind. When more power is applied, the motor overcomes the bind, and the drive gear jumps over the split, causing a noise and hopping of the truck. The only cure is to replace the offending axle/gear assembly.

Good luck,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades (at Yahoo Groups)

Mr. Bach-man,

This really is excellent news! The Mogul pilots are especially welcome, since they indicate that the Mogul is not an abandoned orphan. Could it be that this is the first step in an upcoming "Mogul Upgrade", that might include sound & DCC? The freight car underframes are a great idea too, will they have truss rods & straight shank couplers already installed? If only they were to be diecast for more more weight...

Thanks, we all eagerly await further announcements of new goodies!

Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades (at Yahoo Groups)

Picture a VW beetle sitting next to a Greyhound SceniCruiser!

Be careful about assuming the wheels on On30 and HO are the same. The earlier Bachmann On30 stuff has deeper flanges than the current production items, and were NOT RP25! As always, test what you have on a sample of the proposed track/rail BEFORE you heavily invest in code 70 track. Don't take someone else's word that it will work, just because you saw it on the internet!

Test first, buy later, OR Buy first, cry later! 

Regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades

Hi Wally,

Unless you wire the layout and the toggle so that it is either all DC or all DCC, at any given time, depending on which way the switch is thrown, I would advise against trying to have both systems on the same layout. This is because DCC units can be damaged if they are accidentally back-fed with outside power sources.

Good Luck,
Bill

Hey there Mr. Bachmann,

Did you have any luck finding out the dimensions of the new SceneScapes Foliage Fiber material?

Thanks,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL

Mr. Bach-Man,

Not sure I should be posting this to the On30 list, but since I don't see a more appropriate place, here goes. The new SceneScapes product line looks great! I Have a question about the Foliage Fibers (SKU32631,32,33) - from the photos, it looks like this product comes in sheet form, but there are no dimensions given. Any idea as to what size (either inches or Centimeters is OK) the sheets will be?

Thanks,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL

Mr Bach-man.

I was looking through a couple of websites recently and found the Kennebec Brewery Reefer listed as "sold out". Has it been discontinued, or are we just waiting for a re-run/re-stock shipment?

Regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades

Mr. Bach-man,

I am somewhat confused about the upcoming On30 4-4-0 locomotive, and what the different features are on the various SKU numbers released by Bachmann, since the descriptions seem to be a little ambiguous. Can you answer the following questions so I can place my order, or do I have to wait 'til they actually arrive (and probably are sold out) before we will know this?

1) What is the difference between " trim" and "pinstripes" Seems to me the only way to "trim" a loco is to use "pinstripes". Is the wood cab version only to have gold trim while the steel has only white?

2) The first  SKU # of either wood cab or steel cab version (unlettered) doesn't say it is coming "with red windows", yet the picture on the Bachmann site for the steel cab unit shows the black/graphite unlettered steel one with red windows. Do you suppose ALL versions are going to have red windows, and they're just telling us about it on some of them?

3) As for the extra parts included, are they going to have both spoked pilot and footboard type, spoked & solid lead truck wheels, and are they going to have interchangeable wood & coal loads, and also an oil tank for the tender in the box for all versions?

Thanks for any help in clearing this up.

Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL

Reworking the 2-6-0 to have DCC & Sound is a good idea, especially if it means adding all-wheel pickup to the tender. Adding a 4-6-0 to the line is also an excellent suggestion. Doing these two simultaneously, using as many common parts as possible, such as tender, cab, boiler (maybe with an interchangeable smokebox) is a great idea. Using a new, common drive with non symmetrical driver centers would also be an improvement that would be useful to more modelers, not increase the cost for the sets already using the existing 2-6-0, and would result in a new & slightly different 2-6-0. If the tenders were to be made available separately, owners could easily upgrade their existing 2-6-0's.

Doing a Maine type 2-6-2 with tender, especially if it was SR&RL #24, would definately be more than I could stand however! (I can only hope!)

Doing an additional boxcar, but longer (28') & narrower (6-1/2' or 7') in the style of the Maine two footers, and with right-opening doors, would go well with the Forneys.

As an added note: Now that the boxcar has been re-worked & improved with the lowered frame and separately applied ladders and grab irons, (a big improvement) there really needs to be some grab irons added on the left of the car side. How else is a 1/48 scale brakeman going to be able to use that stirrup step?

Regards,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL