Xero

the sites I gave you are UK sites so you are looking at British pounds, not Euros, the site the Bach-man gave you is in the US (Texas). The UK sites will charge you in pounds then your credit card company/bank will use their exchange rate. You can call them before ordering to find out what their current rate is, or there are many online currency convertors you can use like http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=USD

Your bank/credit card will give you a slightly worse rate than this i.e. the current rate on this site is $1.60305 per pound, you will probably get something between 1.61 an 1.63. You should also check if your bank/credit card charges a foreign currency conversion fee. Many don't but some charge up to 3%.

As an example the Bachmann LNER Gresley A4 Mallard http://models11.net/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34071 is available from Models11 for $201 plus $7.95 shipping, so $208.95

The same model is available from ehattons
http://www.ehattons.com/38450/Bachmann_UK_31_952B_Class_A4_4_6_2_4468_Mallard_with_valances_in_LNER_garter_blue_/StockDetail.aspx

for 99 pounds, or 82.50 once the sales tax is deducted. There is a wide range of shipping options, I usually go for DHL as the most trustworthy, a little more expensive but fast (2 days) and reliable, 12 pounds in this case so a total of 94.50 pounds. Assume an exchange rate of 1.63 and assume your credit card charges an additional 3% that's a grand total of $158.66, $50 less. Of course they don't have the pannier tank you're after.

Can't give you an opinion on the ebay dealer, I've bought from some with no problems, but there are so many who knows.

One advantage of ordering from models11 is as they are in the US it will be easier to sort problems, but the UK stores are very used to dealing internationally so it's not something I would worry about.

Happy shopping!
Dan

The site recommended by the Bach-man does appear to have the pannier tank you are after so hopefully that works out for you. Bear in mind it is cheaper to buy from the UK online stores, sometimes by quite a lot.

Hi

your best bet for buying Bachmann UK products is through an online store in the UK. My 3 favourite are www.ehattons.com, www.railsofsheffield.com and www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk

Having said that the loco you are looking for has been out for quite some time and is pretty scarce in stores now. The only example on any of the sites I listed is a 57XX with a late BR crest on modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk. There are plenty of other GWR tank locos on all 3 sites however.

The prices listed include sales tax at 20% which if shipped to an address outside the EU is automatically taken off, which usually covers the shipping costs.

I've bought from all 3 with no problems. Happy shopping!

Dan

There was a layout featured the March 2012 issue of MR where the owner had modelled track pans on the NYC. Not sure what they did for the water splash!

You've got to love fireman Mungo!
By the way, poliss is quite a unique name, you wouldn't be the same poliss as on the Hornby site would you?

Have a read through these threads
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,20414.0.html
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,20194.0.html

Good luck

Dan

There are a couple of us on here who have recently done this. Soundtraxx TSU-1000 medium steam is a good decoder choice. Can get a bit awkward fitting a speaker in the tender, but it is possible with some surgery. We both soldered, but Soundtraxx do a harness to an 8 pin plug to make it plug and play. You'll still have to solder the speaker wires though. Give it a go, I was no solderer until I gave this a try, a bit of practice and it's not as hard as it would seem.

Dan

Hi

Like Rod I've also just installed the Soundtraxx decoder in a K4, see this thread

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,20194.0.html

Don't let the 'overheating' talked about put you off, I was unlucky enough to get a faulty decoder which is apparently pretty rare. Rod may be able to give better step by step instructions, but we both summarize how we did it in this thread. Rod is right, the hardest part is fitting everything inside the tender.

Dan

Ahaa, seems the box on flickr with the code to paste has numerous codes and for some reason I can't just select one. I did the below by pasting all of them then deleting three. Is that what you did Hunt? The large picture is a little blurred compared to the original.

[/url]

I did flickr as that's what my dad uses. Pictures aren't showing up, but the links to them work.

[/url]
DSCF5159 by cooped3, on Flickr[/img]

[/url]
DSCF5158 by cooped3, on Flickr[/img]

[/url]
DSCF5156 by cooped3, on Flickr[/img]

For some reason I can't upload any pictures, it keeps saying the file is full even though I reduced the image size to somewhat less than the 128kb it says. Anyone have any advice on this?

Thanks
Dan