Sorry if this is an old topic, but I just noticed some N-Scale Street Cars. I think I’ve seen them before but forgot about them. I actually saw the Bachmann Point-to-Point Auto Reversing E-Z Track Set first and then noticed they don’t come with the trolley. Anyway I had a Bachmann On30 Trolley with the Auto Reversing E-Z Track and I had a ton of problems with it. I know that Bachmann has made a lot of improvements in some of their stuff and wondered if it might have carried over to the street cars. I don’t know how long they have been out, but I have a place for one if they are dependable.
The Peter Witt streetcar is very nice. The Brill is an older design. Bachmann claims that it did update the chassis when they re-did some of their older Standard Line items (such as the USRA 0-6-0), but I have failed to see a difference in the runnability of the Brill. The slow speed control is non-existent on the Brill. I have two shells and a LL FA-1 chassis. One of these days I will make a shell that will fit the chassis and have a nicely operating double-ended trolley.
I don't have any experience with those cars or setup, but I do have experience with Bachmann EZ Track and Loco or two. I would stay away from anything Bachmann and see whatever other options are out there.
Thanks I don't know which one that is, but I do know which one the Brill is. I did put a street car in my shopping cart and it may be the Peter Witt that I chose. I also noticed that some have DCC installed, but I don't know how I can make that work because I'm not interested in controlling it. It has to be able to run on its own.
I don't know for sure but as far as I know at the moment the EZ Auto reversing Track is the only thing that's going to make this possible. I do not have room for a loop and I do not want to switch it on to my mains. It can only run on its own unattended back and forth.
Ok I just looked to see what I have in my shopping cart and it doesn't say Peter Wit, but its the Bachmann #62994 PCC Trolley Car. I don't like the St. Louis railway part, but the color is closer to the ones I grew up with in Pittsburgh and maybe I can change the name.
Dam, I must be getting old because I just now remembered that I already have a Circuitron AR-1 Automatic Reversing Circuit board that I bought many years ago to run my On30 trolley when the Bachmann circuit card quit working. So I guess I will not need the EZ Auto Reversing Track after all. Well hell I guess I’m going ahead and place my order. The $100 EZ Auto Reversing Track set in addition to the Street Car was really the only thing holding me back.
I don't understand why Bachmann goes through the trouble of making this stuff,then they screw it up..The chassis on the PCC & the Brill is SO overbuilt,it's unbelievable,yet,the drivetrain is garbage.I have yet to see an older one that ran at all,the gears are always cracked.If I were gonna buy one now,I'd make certain that it had the new,black gears,and I'd completely take it apart,and ream the holes in the axle gears to keep them from cracking.I think they're 1/16? I took 3/8" off the top of this one in my mill,and rounded it off on top to sit the body right down,something you would think would be attractive to bachmann,since they could cut down the amount of material they use making them..Isn't that a goal all manufacturers shoot for?Never really seen one that ran well,if at all..When I get a chance,I'm going to make a chassis for the few shells I have.
:uhoh: Wow Lou! Hmm, maybe I should hold off on buying it because I surely don’t want to have to fool with it. My eyes don’t allow me to work on these tiny little things. I had a hard enough trouble repairing those stupid Rapido Couplers 10 years ago and its even worst now. Thanks for the info Lou.
I purchased the Peter Witt 84652 n-scale model which is dcc. I like it, but I have limited personal experience with riding US street cars. I am not certain how I might integrate it logically into a future layout. In the meantime, it is just fun to run.
I could actually get away with it..There was an extensive interurban & trolley system through my entire area before 1952,and since the infrastructure was already in place,after the trolleys were gone after WWII,Wilkes Barre switched over to overhead powered busses through the early 60's.At one time,you could go ANYWHERE here on a trolley,from Forest City to Hanover,probably 50 miles apart,and there was actually service to Harvey's Lake,20 miles in the mountains from Wilkes Barre.. Kinda funny ..There was a 2 track high speed third rail interurban system here up until 1952,the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley,also called the "Laurel Line"..It ran from Scranton to Wilkes Barre.It was mostly abandoned and ripped up by the mid 60's,some of the viable freight trackage was taken over by the Lackawanna RR.I remember Erie SW's and Geeps running on it 1/2 block from my house.It's pretty much all gone now,except for a few miles in Scranton.Now,they're actually talking about another interurban from Scranton to Wilkes Barre..Funny.. When Erie took it over in '52,the foirst thing they ran on it was a GE 44Tonner.It didn't have enough power to haul the coal traffic,and was soon replaced..Here it is,#51,this is a brass kit I built.
I would love to have a street car on my layout and in fact I rode this very same one as a kid with my mother who didn't drive.
If you like a PCC, you're going to want a PCC. But when you get really frustrated with that drive, be aware that Tomytec makes a TON of chassis aimed at the Japanese streetcar market, all basically the same design but with different lengths and truck sideframes. They aren't particularly expensive, either, just hard to get. You'll have to order them from Plazajapan (ebay store, search in Google) as there are no US distributors that I'm aware of. The basis chassis design is excellent - and the truck sideframes just snap on so you can have exposed-wheels like on a PCC. When you get to the ebay store, just search for "chassis" and you can see what is available. I use them for both my Whitcomb 65-ton switcher kits and my powered express reefer booster, along with a lot of other tinkering along the way. Very versatile drive concept. The 'genius' part of the drive is that they pivot the trucks at the universal so there's no loss of performance on curves, and they are 8-wheel pickup designs with flywheels on the motors and no friction contacts.
I bought a Tomytec school bus years ago and I can't remember how long ago now, but that bus was huge. I originally wanted to place it in front of a neighborhood corner house, but it was almost as big as the house, I ended up placing it on an empty rural road without any references to its size, so I have not even looked at Tomytec since. I posted a photo of it somewhere and I can't find it right now. The original Thread might even be here in the archives some place. I think I'll check eBay to see if I can find a broke Bachmann Street Car and just set it on a nonworking track for display.
Well I just looked on eBay and they were going for more than the one I was looking at for $30 so I went ahead and bought it brand new. At least Bachmann has a good warranty program. I only wish I would have taken them up on it back when my On30 failed.
The Brill Trolley is a double ended design. The PCC and the Peter Witt are single ended. Thus on a back and forth type layout with no means of turning the car the PCC and the Petter Witt would have to travel backwards 50% of the time. The Peter Witt is a well made design (I got four of them) the Brill and PCC are stone age in comparison. There is also the fact that the PCC rides way too high. I would like to see Bachman redo the PCC along the lines of the Peter Witt. That would be sweet. But until they do, if they do, does anyone know the wheelbase on a PCC and a Peter Witt. Maybe a bash could be done.
