Well.... I was on the phone with Eric earlier and he said his supplier showed it "in stock" and he said he had it ready for shipping. I have placed an order..... And received a confirmation. I will have to see if I see it in a week or so.... I would post a link but I am too new here apparently..... So check out Internet Trains. Com
Well.... I was on the phone with Eric earlier and he said his supplier showed it "in stock" and he said he had it ready for shipping. I have placed an order..... And received a confirmation. I will have to see if I see it in a week or so.... I would post a link but I am too new here apparently..... So check out InternetTrains. Com
John, Thanks for the link and details...... I have not read that thread but will when I settle down for the night. I enjoy winding down with a little YouTube or research reading.... Lol Barry
Yes. We have a setting in place which helps us fend off the hit and run spammers. Helps us keep them from a quick sign on, posting their sleazy links and then disappearing.
thanks for the info. I will call Eric as well as the website is not showing the engine in stock. Thanks for sharing the lead. John
John, Oh crap...... You are right. I can't get a PM to go through.... Sorry. Yes..... I just looked back and it is HO.... Not N scale.... Dang it. I will have to call Eric tomorrow and see if he can help.
The Spectrum N scale version of the "Berkshire" 2-8-4 with sound won't ship till the middle of December or perhaps slightly later. Shades
Okay...... I have been obsessing over this train set for two days straight...... Gotta give it a rest! I have taken a good hit to my PayPal account and I think I have enough coming now to make a decent display for the present time. I know it has been rushed but I don't have much time to get this rolling before my wife wants to begin the assembly process of the Christmas Village. I have been focused on a 2-8-4 and finally decided to go with plan B. I can work on that later. The local scenic railway uses a 2-8-0 for special occasions and I can do something like it at some point. This railway is a favorite area and close to home and a real good potential layout. I think the website is TVRail dot com What I have coming...... Enough Kato Uni track for a 4x8 oval Digitrax Zephyr DCC controller I have several good power supplies here 4 Micro Trains Pullman Heavyweight Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 w/DCC Bachmann 4-8-4 I should be able to roll out for now..... And shuffle things around as things progress. Thanks for all the great help so far....... I am not done yet and have many more questions Question...... What is involved with converting DC to DCC? Is it doable or better to buy a DCC equipped loco? (I am pretty handy with electronics and soldering.... Lol) Is it possible to run a DC and a DCC loco on the same track?
You'd be better off buying either a DCC equipped or DCC ready. Otherwise you can get into needing to mill frames, or create needed clearance for even the smallest decoder, depending upon the engine. It is possible to run a DC unit on DCC equipped track. This can depend upon the system you are using.
Some DCC systems allow you to run a strictly DC engine on DCC rails. Digitrax, for example, allows you to use the address "00" for this purpose. Just try not to leave a DC locomotive sitting idle at zero throttle on the track....it tends to heat the motor up...sometimes enough to melt plastic ;-) So yes...you can run both on the same track at the same time...I've done it The DC locomotive will make some funny noises though from the high frequency pulses emitted by the DCC system
Well...... I guess I can try to run DC for a bit. The DC loco I have coming is a Bmann 484 #58066. The package looks to be quite old and maybe it will be not worth messing with. I have heard the newer Bmann stuff is better than the older ones..... Maybe flip it in a few months on Fleabay and find a nicer engine......
First of the parts came in yesterday....... This one I bought on Fleabay and I set it on my test track..... Power it up and it just groans! I start inspecting it and it seems like most of the drivers move fairly freely on the axles. The linkages for looks seem to get out of sync and lock up. I contacted the seller and he says it "worked for the previous owner and he bought it from an estate sale" I was asked if it could be repaired. Is it worth messing with or should I just ask to return it? Did I buy a lemon?
Unfortunately this sounds like the old split gear syndrome that almost all of the older Bmann 4-8-4s have that have the white gears. Driver or drivers will spin freely on the axles when the drive train is still assembled and the drive wheels get out of quarter in a flash. I would avoid all of the older generation Bmann stuff that is out there on the market still. The newer generation of locos has the new gearing of a different plastic, usually black, that so far hasn't shown the problems of the older stuff.
Thanks John...... I have been working with the seller and I have told I can return it. You are correct and I understand the issues now. Lesson learned...... I still have a newer Spectrum Bmann NIB with DCC coming..... Hopefully that will be a better experience
The newer stuff with the DCC has had a complete mechanical upgrade and the old split gear thing should be a thing of the past.
This is good news. It's all a learning experience. Many a lesson, and even those of us in it for decades keep right on learning something new....
Thanks for the help...... I have discovered that I have a certain taste in trains. There is a certain local scenic railroad that I really like. I enjoy fly fishing with bamboo rods that I have made and I can have been standing in the cool fall water fishing and watching this train coming up the river gorge. Watching the smoke billow up and the discord sound of the whistle just sends chills up my spine as it reverbs between the mountains...... I seem stuck on old classic looking steamers and the old passenger cars. I also can't imagine being happy with less than DCC and the control it must have. That said..... Maybe some specific recommendations along those lines of quality locomotives to look for???? Barry
The reason most of us are so smart about this stuff is simple. 1) pain and experience 2) Mark 'Spookshow's N scale encyclopedia, which is an absolute must: http://www.spookshow.net/trainstuff.html Mark has become the 'consumer reports' of N scale locomotives, and if you are trying to buy anything used particularly off of Ebay, this is the go-to place to find out information about it - including stuff like how old, what modifications and 'runs' were made and mechanism improvements, etc. The Bachmann 4-8-4 is absolutely a good example of that, it's been redone so many times over so many years it earns about an "F" through an "A" depending on which production run it was. I owned a first-run "F" for a while. Unfortunately in N, neither the manufacturer or the importer name is a particularly good indication of quality. You'll find winners and loosers everywhere. It also helps to positively ID a locomotive that is often mis-identified, and also to give you an idea of 'whats under the hood'. Just to impress upon you how completely blunt this can be, here's your 4-8-4: http://www.spookshow.net/loco/bach484.html I consider myself a veteran N scaler, and I won't buy anything I don't already know without checking it out first, and I figure he's saved me enough money and grief over the years that there's just not enough credit to be given here. Another clue is to never, ever, ever underestimate the idiocy of those that sell things on Ebay. You will find all kinds of mis-identification of everything from manufacturer to locomotive, to missing things. Just last week I 'almost' bid on a 'new in box' locomotive with a reasonable price only to notice that on close inspection the STACK WAS MISSING. Asked the seller, and got the response 'what's a stack? Oh, yeah, this one didn't have one. Pass.
Oh wow! I sure wish I had found this earlier. I try to search as much as possible but I make myself motion sick with the scrolling action of the screen. Sometimes it is easier to just ask, even though it may have been asked before. Sorry but I will ask anyways!
