My Bachmann "N" ACELA items arrived today. All the cars have knuckle couplers. The HHP locomotive has Rapido style. Bummer, that means that we need to fix. Does Bachmann sell the individual knuckle couplers like the ones on the Acela cars ? I can change out the Rapidos on the HHP to the same knuckles that are on the cars ? By the way, I had expressed my concern about the cost of these Acela items... I received 1 HHP Loc, 1 Cafe Powered Car, 1 End Biz Car, 2 x 1st Class Cars total was less than $150.00, not too shabby ay ? E-mail me for Vendor info if you so desire ! fatalxsunrider43
Oooops ! SOLD OUT, that's cool, by the time I get ready to run it the Bachmann Knuckle Couplers will probably be available again. Thanks very much for the link...you are most kind. fatalxsunrider43
Replace all the Bachmann wheels on passenger cars withe Kato passenger wheels. Will roll smoother. Sand the diaphragms smooth since they can catch on each other. Solder jumper wires between one car and a cafe car (the powered car) to drastically improve electrical reliability.
Sounds like you have some hands on with these. I will make notes of your recommendations. If you have any snap shots of your mods that would be appreciated. fatalxsunrider43
Are these the cars you got(it sounds like it from your descriptions)? If so, take another look at those couplers, I don't think they are knuckle couplers. Those cars are not designed to be used with that engine, they are designed to be used as a semi-permanent consist between these: and have a special "hook and bar," for lack of a better description coupler(a hook on one end of the car, a bar on the other, and the hook on one car hooks over the bar on another).
Yep, so right you are, I hadn't taken them out of the boxes yet, they looked like Knuckles from one end but they are not, they are for the Acela locs that go on each end of the consist,. I'll have to figure out some way to couple them up with the HHP. If you have any ideas I'd surely appreciate them, thanks ! fatalxsunrider43
No ideas there. Here's something else you might not realise, the locos I have pictured above are actually non-powered dummys. The trainset is propelled by the powered Cafe car. If you get these cars hooked up to the HHP, they may or may not run good depending on how close in speed the HHP and the Cafe car are.
Thanks for your help and careful observations Robert. I had thought of buying the set as well, which would solve the problem and I may just do that. What do you think Bachmann intended to be run with the HHP ? The other Acela corrugated cars ? fatalxsunrider43
I don't want to come off as condescending here, but I feel that some prototype information needs to be shared. A prototype Acela Express trainset looks like this: Power car - 1st class car - business class car - business class car - cafe car - business class car - end business class car - power car. The power cars are the TGV-style locomotives shown above. The cars are semi-permenantly coupled together, and apart from a test car that is occasionally added, they do not vary from trainset to trainset. The 1st class car is an end-car, and is only designed to connect with the other passenger cars on one end, so one would pretty much never see two 1st class cars on one train. Wikipedia's Acela Article The HHP-8 was originally intended to power the "Acela Regional" service. In this service, the HHP-8's hauled specially repainted Amfleet coaches. Acela Regional was supposed to replace the Northeast Direct service, but the branding proved to be too confusing, and very quickly the Acela name and paint was dropped from everything but the Express service. HHP-8's wound up in the power pool with the AEM-7's, powering various trains made up of Phase IVb Amfleets and Viewliners on the NEC.
Maybe these will help, (from my study window). HPP-8 West Bound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgnYwSe-taE Screen cap from above: Acela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uTGnrb2AmY
Eric220 - I collect shinkansens (bullet trains) and other high speed trains, primarily Kato, Tomix and MicroAce. I am extremely please with all 3 of those manufactures. I don't have the Bachmann Arcela mostly because friends of mine have told me the same thing you've stated. What are the pros and cons of this model? Does it use a 3 or 5 pole motor?
Other than my HO set I had when I was a kid, I've been into trains now (N scale) since November 2009 by starting with Bachmann box sets. My big Christmas purchase last year was the Bachmann Acela set. When it was running, and when it was high speed and on my largest radius, it was cool; however, it started giving me trouble and the hobby shop that sold it to me gave me store credit for a return (since my Christmas train didn't run). I wouldn't mind having one again, but it would have to be at a good price.
Just curious, did the Acela regional service run any faster then the current service? I know the NE Corridor is the fastest regular service. I live in Philly. :tb-biggrin:
If you are hoping for good performance from this model out of the box, you may be disappointed. What you need is a back copy of N SCALE Magazine Mar/Apr 2007, there is a great 9 page all-colour article on getting the most out of this set. It may be that the author has already offered you some advice in this thread. It's well worth the money to get this article, I found it very enjoyable reading and I don't even have the model! Richard.
Don't worry, there is a significant fence preventing acidents and, (regrettably), there is no freight. I can only get shots this time of year as from mid spring to mid fall there are too many leaves keeping my AC budget down.
