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    Bachmann Spectrum "Doodlebug"

    They are noisy but run nicely at thirty-five to forty-five SMPH. They will also creep as they pull into the station. They will pull six RR HWs on RR trucks(!) up a one per-cent grade. And this with only one truck powered. I doubt that any prototype doodlebug would have towed six HW passenger...
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    Realistic 4-4-0 American Jupiter style loco?

    The Bachpersonn eight-wheelers vary wildly piece-to-piece. The GF has one that will hold a steady thirty-five SMPH and pull twenty of the various MDC or Bachmann nineteenth century cars up a one per-cent grade. I doubt that the prototype would have done that. It will occasionally stall on a...
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    ConCor/Rivarossi Mallet

    These things tend to lock up with age. I have had two do this, one an older one, one from the last issue. When the old one locked up, it broke the zirmac chassis. If they do lock up, you can usually unlock them, but my newer one finally locked up for the last time: it ruined the drivers...
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    What N-scale 2-8-4 Berkshire's are available?

    Walthers is supposed to be issuing a second run of these with a traction tyre and all tender wheels live. This should help pulling power. I never had stalling problems with only half the wheels live and the locomotive live, but truthfully, N scale steam needs a tender with all wheels live...
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    Rapid questions about Rapido couplers

    I did read what you typed about your being satisfied with the Rapidos. I felt much the same way for many years. I even went to the extreme of buying MT 1500s (MT Bettendorf truck with Rapido coupler) so that I could run MT cars. I changed all the couplers on the Kato passenger cars to...
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    Model Power 4-6-2

    It has a three pole motor. Only half the wheels pick up electric on the tender. There are wires from the tender to the locomotive. Electric transmission from the drivers to the motor is accomplished by means of some rather ungainly appearing brass contacts and wires. THe locomotive has...
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    Power Packs

    I assume that you are going to use DC and not DCC. I do not use the packs that you mentioned. I do use MRC packs, but I assume that the ones that I use are now out-of-production. This is not a big deal, as many places have them as NOS. My favourite is the TECH II 2400. It has an ON-OFF...
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    Atlas Shay

    My Atlas Shay has sound. You should hear the squeaking and squealing that it makes when I run it at walking speed or even when it is shuffling cars (also at walking speed). No, it is not the squeaking and squealing that indicates a problem, it is just the warbling squeaking and squealing...
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    Kato switchers?

    Atlas also sells a Baldwin VO-1000 switcher. It is the best running N scale switcher out there. Arnold sold a metal body S-2. It was a good puller, but the drive is now dated. Kato has some center-cab and slightly off-center cab switchers. They could be bashed into North-American...
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    newbie question 4-8-4 N&W

    These things do have a tendency to jump the track. Re-gauging usually fixes it, but not always. I have had to change out springs on mine to get it to stop derailing. The poor electrical contact on this does not help , either. It makes it lurch, which can throw wheels off the track.
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    F7's

    Are these MP FP-7s the 'train set' locomotive or the so-called 'hobbyist version'? I have not seen them here. The 'train set' versions that have appeared here are wired backwards.
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    F7's

    IM and MT FTs-good Kato F-7s and F-3s-good LL FP-Whatevers-not bad for the time, but dated, any more. Will pull your entire pike up four flights of stairs, though. Seems a bit out-of-scale, too. B-mann SPECTRUM F-7s- Strictly a 'C' grade locomotive. B-mann PLUS F-7s and Standard line...
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    Intermountain F3's (advice after the fact:-)

    The overhang on the FT-B is, indeed, prototypical. It is one of its spotting characteristics that separate it from other four axle Electro-Motive B units. I do not remember if either the Erie or DL&W had FTs, or even if any manufacturer issues them (if one or the other had them) in either road...
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    Intermountain F3's (advice after the fact:-)

    I have several sets of their FTs. They had some problems initially, but they made good on any problems. IM has excellent customer service; they want you to be happy with what you purchased. The locomotives are very nice: good runners, well detailed, good paint and lettering. They have very...
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    early era

    The Atlas/Micro-Ace mogul has the appearance of a Civil War Era locomotive. It does not have the best speed control. It also has only one truck live on the tender, so it tends to stall on #6 plastic frog switches. The MDC 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 are more late nineteenth century prototypes. The MDCs...
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    Chevy, Ford, or Mopar?

    I still like my 1957 DeSoto rqagtop with the little hemi-head. Still, I add my voice to the others about: The B-mann 2-8-0 The Kato mikado The MDC mogul. MDC also has a consolidated, but its small drivers mark it as a nineteenth century prototype. THe MDC mogul is a late nineteneth...
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    Streamlined Shroud?

    PENN-ZEE makes them in Z scale, in both DGLE (or what passes for it)with stripes as well as Tuscan Red. I have asked them numerous times about bringing their shells to N scale, but they have no plans to do so. I have also mentioned it to Father Nature, and it surprises me that he has never done...
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    Bachman 2-8-0 Consolidation Opinions

    The Bachpersonn SPECTRUM consolidated is one of the better N scale steam engines out there. It requires considerable break-in time, but the result makes the time spent breaking it in worth it. The tender MT conversion is 2001. The pilot conversion has been the subject of much debate, but I...
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    ALCO RS-3 HAMMERHEAD: Need top-down photos!

    The PRR/LV was one. WM had four, #192, #193, #194 and #197. According to LaMarre, only two left Schenectady that way, the PRR unit and WM #192. This makes me wonder if the WM modified the other three at its own shops. That might explain the break in sequence between #194 and #197. I...
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