I broke the side rod on my Connie.  I just talked to Bachmann parts and they don't have any side rod parts.

Does anybody have a suggestion where I can get a side rod for my Cinnie>

Thanks

I'm converting a DCC outside frame 2-8-0 Connie from DCC to battery power.  I have removed the DCC decoder and have her running now on DC track power.

To get ready for battery power and radio control I want to know more about the G814X PCB01 REV. A control board.  Do the electronics on the board do more than to control the flicker LEDs in the firebox?  What is the pinout on the board?  Is a board schematic available?

Thank you for your help.

I had never really determined how well the smoke generator on my Annie worked so today I hooked up my variable voltage power supply and two Fluke multimeters and ran it at various voltages.

Here is what I measured:

   V   mA   
    9     92
   10   103
   11   114
   12   123
   13   134
   14   143
   15   155
   16   160

The corresponding power usage ranges from 0.8 to 2.8 Watts.  The resistance of the smoke generator is about 98 Ω.

Bachmann recommends 16 V as the maximum voltage.

The smoke was observed in a room of still air against a dark background.  From 9 to 10 volts there was very light smoke and some pops.  From 11 to 13 volts there was continuous light smoke.  From 13 to 16 volts there was a thicker and a more vigorous stream of smoke.  There never was a heavy boiling plume of smoke. 

Ten drops of Bachmann smoke fluid lasted about five minutes at 16 volts.

I'm just getting started with a G scale railroad and am finding out that there are several versions of the same loco and car.  I just bought an Annie ten wheeler, a passenger car, an observation car, a tank car and bobber caboose.  The Annie I got doesn't have any valve gear.  On the Internet I see other Annies (not Spectrum) with valve gear.  My passenger car has brass colored metal railings and no lights.  The observation car has black plastic railings and lights.  I have also seen black metal railings for sale.

The observation car and caboose came in the original box so I know their item numbers.  I haven't been able to find item numbers on the loco and cars themselves.  Are they there somewhere?

Is there any references to obsolete versions somewhere?

Is it possible to add valve gear to my Annie?

Thanks for the help.

I my new Annie just produces a little smoke.  I poured some down the chimney and turned on the smoke switch behind the smoke box door.  I just get a few little tendrils of smoke, that's all.  Hard to even see it.

The instructions say three or four drops of smoke fluid.  A glob came out of the bottle, probably more than that.  I turned the loco upside down and some dripped out.  Then I put in three drops.  Still just a little smoke.

I finally got the second ceiling light working after taking the ceiling all apart.  It's a fiddly and frustrating job to get all the pink pieces out and back in.  The light bulb and socket are held in place by thick pink pieces that push on over cross braces.  The bulb and socket are loose in the cross brace and held down by the wires underneath the brace.  All the cross pieces have to be removed and the clerestory windows removed before the cross braces holding the light bulbs can be lifted up.  I had to do that to be able to hold the socket to tighten the bulbs.  Tightening the bulb was all it took, just a loose connection.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I needed some encouragement.

I just bought a New-in-the-Box White Pass & Yukon G scale observation car, Item 97319.  It has two lights in the cabin ceiling and a lighted drum head lit with a 9v battery in the undercarriage.

One is the ceiling lights doesn't work.  I disassembled the car and got the ceiling loose from the body except for the wiring.  The ceiling lights are encased in pink plastic which is also the clerestory windows.  I can't get the plastic loose to get at the little light bulb.

Anybody have any ideas how to replace the light bulb?