Atlas and Kato engines

In the world of N scale engines, atlas and kato ( pronounced k"ah" toe) have been somewhat synonomous. However, there came a time at some point, that atlas/ kato engines from Japan became Atlas/ China made engines...

Now, I have not actually  had bad experience with any atlas China made engines  just yet, but I believe that experience has more to do with my absence from the hobby for about ten straight years. With the current layout mothballed with moving boxes stacked all around it, I was unable to stay current in the operational/transition of the atlas China connection.

My background with imports from China and the high level of QC ( quality control ) that was needed to insure satisfaction levels , leads me to believe that some models have to be suspect at times within thus said transition. Of course, without direct experience it is based on assumption and speculation. I just cannot see the same Japanese precision going into the Chinese ones from a manufacturing standpoint.

I will say this, I own both and am currently starting to run all my shelf queens and work them into my layout fleet...

Here is a quick video on the newest ATLAS VO 1000 moving around... 

SLOW< SLOWER< SLOWEST... ATLAS VO MOVES THE ORE

Bachman trains- One man's garbage is another's treasure..?

I am compelled to write sometimes about certain experiences. This one has to do with a personal Bachman experience. Now, I have relationships with hundreds of manufactures from importing and and retail and direct sales over the last 30 years and seen just about everything.  Some are way better than others at handling consumer issues,supply chain problems or quality control. But all of them really want to make people happy at the end of the day, or at least it seems in my perfect world bubble I live in, in my head.
Now, with all that preface, I write about the other man's treasure from Bachman.
Before I buy any new engine or older one that I have no experience on, I look at the Spookshow website with all the ratings that have been done on them for a good base line with which I make my decision. Bachman released in 2014 a neat little NW2 Switcher sporting the GN fallen colors I love. I wanted it, however from my past unlucky experience with Bachman put the brakes on the purchase. I have had around 16-20 different engines in N scale that just ended up on the chopping block after just a little while of running or lack thereof. (disclosure: I own exactly two bach engines at the moment of this writing. one steam one NW2 now) Their main issue has been their electrical pick up tabs from the wheels- for some reason they just don't hold up, They either make spotty contact, corrode, bend out of shape or ...? who knows what, they just make the engines run erratic. And it is not a question of if but when it happens. Most serious modelers will micro engineer finely knit wire strands with pin point lazer soldering skills and .......NOT ME!   When I buy something I don't want to have to go that far to modify it to work at the prices they charge today.
So being the experienced skeptic that I am, I make a toll free phone call to the tech department at Bachman. I finally get through the gate keeper and talk to a tech who informs me to not run the DC/DCC lenz decoder models on basically what amounted to every DC power pack ever made.... NICE INFO! He informed me that old SINE or PULSE packs(older technology) will fry the circuit board.   Then he informs me that the Bachman DC packs will run it, just dont turn them up full throttle.....?  WTH?  REALLY?    I was thinking, wouldn't this be good to know before buying? And shouldn't you at least print that in the paperwork that comes with the loco?   The REP says that is a great idea, we get most of our returns and warranty work from people running these on DC....
YEAH DUH!   YOU THINK
Anyways, what a response to an easy fix.... He also mentioned that most people already know that if they are on the forums....? Now I am the idiot...?
Needless to say, I did not burn out my engines mother board, but it does sit in my display unit as a shelf queen for now. Until I totally transition the layout ow in progress...
Now there is a rant for the day.


NW2 Bachman DCC/DC N scale engine review

I will mention that, due to modelers like me, there is a great influx of good used Bachman engines on the second hand market. If this is what makes it affordable for some then I contributed to the hobby with best intent and practices.. The cost vs value isnt there for me overall, so I would sell the engines. It may be sub par for me but treasure for others...

Contacting Service

Before returning your product for repair, please fill in the repair request form: 
(Registering your product returns online ensures faster repair process and emailed notifications of the process)

Repair inquiries, or general inquiries may also be sent to:

Bachmann Customer Service

1400 East Erie Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19124

Bachmann's Service Department is available Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm (All Times Eastern). Customer Service for all scales can be reached toll free by US and Canadian customers at 800-356-3910 or Fax at 215-554-6734. Customers from all other countries should call [Exit Code]-1-215-533-1600.Please be aware that due to the quantity of calls we receive each day, you may need to leave a message on our voice mail system. Your call will be returned as soon as a service technician is available. We thank you in advance for your patience.

• Parts: Ext. 328 or 329
• Technical Support HO, N, On30 Scales: Ext.336 or 337
• Technical Support Large Scale: Ext.334 or 335
• Technical Support Williams O Scale: Ext. 335
• Repair Status: Ext. 331
• Managers: Customer Service: Ext.304 - Parts: Ext. 330

Bachman spectrum Nscale vs. Kato SD-45

Bachman sd45 review

The link above...or below the video is a review of the Bachman SD45 loco first released in 2004.
Now, before I say to much, let me just say I agree with everything that was written about them, except for one thing, and that is the generous grade of B.  I am a C to C minus on just about every Bachman  N scale except their steam line. I simply don't understand it either. It just baffles me how they can make a great steam loco, which is harder by the way than a diesel?????  This mystery will never cease to amaze me. If my blog becomes so popular that it has any influence on Bachman, to which they would send me sample locos for tests of my own, I may change my mind. But be that as it may, and I have to purchase all my own samples, I stand by the mantra that I am not just an unlucky buyer and recipient of so many failures. I currently have one that is worth keeping out of over 20 purchases... Straight from the retail to my hands they magically become lemons.    In comparison with con cor, Kato, life like, walthers, arnold, or trix.... not a bad one in the group.

Model railroad memes...original!

Part of having a great blog is having great pictures, videos and just flat out something worth reading. Let's face it, most model railroaders are kinda boring, kinda introverted, kinda unique, and ok to be alone with their layout in most cases. Then you have a few ( like me) ADD acronym cases that has tried everything in the world but has come full circle back to what has been a mainstay since childhood, (off and on that is). The core never left me through my hot rod, fast cars, sports, marriage, 4 wheeling, bankruptcy, kids, multiple career moves and early mid life crisis stages... Yeah all that. In fact there has always been a buy a little here and there every year and occasional train show too. Amazed at what has stared me in the face all my life I have finally embraced my inner child as it were to live out what I feel now is years and years behind the proverbial eight ball. But enough of this relentless boring diatribe and back to the subject at hand... Train memes, model train memes specifically. I will be bold enough to say I invented them. Yeah, I know, prove it. The idea came up after memes started popping up all over the web. I google searched for train memes multiple times and different ways and came up with absolutely zero! None,nada, nunca, zilch. This is how I know!! Other search engines came back with the same results...

Now, I am now thinking time date stamp etc... But who really cares? So what if they are shared, that's what they are for, and I doubt if it will make me any money anyhow... But if you somehow do by chance, slip me a little credit will ya? It's good karma... Here are some of my favorite ones. And yeah my personality has s serious model railroad side/set up in there somewhere, but if it ceased to be fun, there is no point in it... Feel free to share of course- it amuses me to see some of my original favorites recycled everywhere..😄😄😄😄 and yes there is a lot more now..

N scale the best choice?

There has been numerous debates about which scale is best. For me I love HO and N scale for the amount of detail and realism that I have not only seen but experienced for myself in the last 30 years.

Here is a short video that shows some of the detail in N scale. Enjoy....(N-Joy)....;)

Kato Track Review N scale

Not so much of a review but an observation. So now that you have gone this far indulge me a little bit. Many moons ago in college..1987 to be exact , I was taking art classes, with some loft notion or idea of becoming an undiscovered world famous artist, only to discover that the most famous ones usually died penniless or were poverty stricken their whole lives and became known after their deaths.. That disappointment obviously redirected my career a bunch and put the kibosh on my what was then two dimensional talents. All that to say this... If it wasn't for my discovery of Kato track around 1993 I would have never continued the N scale hobby in a layout form. N scale needs perfect track to run smooth. Now- before offending those modeling purists who "Atlasize" ,"Peco ize" or hand fab track on their own layouts... let me first say I admire and respect anyone who can make those brands run flawlessly. My hats off to you really- you are micro engineers of greatest caliber.
Just don't get bent out of shape about people who will die on the hill of Kato track. There is great reason to love it, almost Instant gratification being one of them. There is nothing worse than poor running trains. KATO saved the N scale marriage for me, and I am sure it has impacted others in their own way with similar results. The fact that many have experienced the same and coupled with my personal experience with other brands, (I believe) afford me at least a strong verified opinion and position towards KATO.
Now recently I have taken some flack about my "pontification" of KATO track. (look that up on google) I don't believe that what I am expressing is dogmatic in any way at all. It is just my personal experience with it. I could care less if you want to utilize other manufactures. Dogma requires that you think and be like me, and we don't need another me for sure. Besides it is one way not the only way and this isn't the church of KATO and the doctrine of such if any allows for all shapes, sizes and personalities no matter how slanted.
And a word to the purist,,,, The toy like opinions, the unrealistic this that and the other comments you really should tuck it away, because you really are not that smart. You chant and beat the drum of hand laid track or peco or atlas and yet you have the following, glaring, unrealistic things among your own. How about those throws that look so great? Yeah they look good, but the throw arms would be 10-12' tall to scale of a person who had to throw them for the switch?? But I digress, and as I said before, they are fine and kudos to you on your track choices, just dont diss my love for KATO...
Happy times... Now go impress me.

Rod Stewarts model railroad

Who would have guessed that the finger had a  miniature sweet tooth so to speak.

  Rod Stewarts Train Layout

Never thought this guy would have the time for one....

N scale logging

As my new road crossing project is drying, I have been playing around with my new crane/ logging feature on the McCloud reservoir. Now it is probably not exactly how they pulled logs out, but this is the way they do it in my layout. I am also waiting for the water effects around the reservoir to dry clear so I can seal it up with acrylic finish for the really wet look. The crane is a Prr by Roco that needs weathered and re labeled for the lumber company...since the PRR basically bought almost everything ever made for a RR, it is safe to say many smaller RRs purchased it from them...

Small Layouts

Layouts-  as much as I like to watch those giant sprawling layouts like the giant public one in Germany that runs floor  to ceiling in multiple rooms with its operating airports and computerized mayhem running amuck amongst trains, I feel more attracted to the compact every day working mans layout. In fact I like to see the ingenuity packed into tight spaces. It is like rooting for the underdog in a lopsided game or something. I like compact neat and tidy layouts. I love seeing how people can do more with less, and in this case space restraints. I find myself drawn in to the challenges most people face with their limited spaces. I mean, yeah everyone wants more room right, but the reality is most of us won't get it.  I think the reality of this hit me when a neighbor of mine who had collected trains all his life with intent to build a grand layout passed away recently. He had accumulated a treasure trove of some of the neatest, coolest train items in HO and N I have ever seen. But at the end, most of it went from house to house in boxes over his life time with no fun time. Now, it just so happens that I ended up with a handful of his untouched n scale from years past. I run it! And run it like it is majoring up for lost time just because of this unfortunate guys loss. Point being, even a small layout might of brought this guy some model train closure. So my feels are for the " less is more" type of folks out there and the not quite what I want or hoped to have layouts. ( you know who you are) I am one of them. My L shaped 8'x30" x 8'x32" is the embodiment of getting everything to look bigger than it is type of layout. It is my third and final n scale layout. My first was a 2'x 4' over and under continuous loop.... I loved that layout! It was the underdog of amateur king!  But I was running trains! Many of you have these same layouts and don't really feel like they are worth showing, but I assure you they are, especially in this group. It is what I created it for. Yeah I know it says the best of the best etc... And a lot of over the top pictures get posted, but the group needed a catchy name and a reasonable bait to catch some fish.... And I think that it has done that in the first 60 days of inception. It needed a fan base and we have one now. It will continue to grow too. 

I want to encourage the blue collar small incomplete layout owners to share their stuff! It is you that make up the majority in this hobby..., if you have that massive layout that is Hollywood movie ready (we hate you) but please post anyways because we need something to aspire to and continue to drool over from time to time..,

Patrick

Granny's Homestead Corner 2.0

 

Decided to try and make a  paved crossing on the corner of the Shasta Line today. I remember now why I didn't like it the last time I did one. It is a definite weakness in my skill level. Perhaps it's the coloration and frosting cake look. I could probably build it up some more on the out side. I added granny's homestead to the entry of the town on the corner. It was plain otherwise. Should I get the rest of my roads paved or stick with gravel roads..? That is the question.

Well, that question was answered through the mulling and trolling over of various FB group inquiries about how my initial road turned out... Ask for feedback and the purists will certainly give it to you. I am one who is stuck in the middle, I love realism, but mixed with whimsical fantasy. I think the "it is my layout and I will do what I want"comes in to play when I don't like the answer given by fellow modelers. I think every modeler has that within their ego and narcissistic diatribe, so that is ok. Anyways, the last two photos show my day two update to du ones dissatisfaction.  It might even have an updated 3.0 version, who knows, but for now it is infinitely improved... At least to me and some of the purists who gave their ten cents worth of criticism.... Model on

Model train wheel set know how

If you like making everything realistic down to the rivet type of person...(I am not, well perhaps 50/50 kinda guy anyway) Here is a place to show you whats what in replacing trucks and wheelsets that will help....

http://www.starr-mrc.org/ProtoInfo/Trucks/KadeeTrucks.htm

Model Trains Forever especially N scale

I don't know exactly when or how it happened. Perhaps it was those early childhood years and that first tyco train set that grandpa gave me. Yeah I am pretty sure that was it... Anyhow, my big dream of being a niche importer has somewhat dissipated into my personal hobby of model railroading. So much so that I have been slowly selling off all those  other money makers that have served me well at times. It isn't that I don't enjoy other things... It is that I realized that there simply isn't enough time to enjoy them all the way they deserve( or the way I would like). This moment of simplification happened suddenly and surprisingly even to me. Not to discredit my years of contacts and extended relationships at all, just to take a narrow focus and concentrate on the one constant that has been with me the whole journey in life. The one thing that allows me to step outside of my reality even for but a moment and escape whatever ails me at the time. It is my drug of choice, my addiction, my life and one day my end at some point. But it is

my world that I can leave behind, that if the right person pays attention will find that piece or pieces of me built into this 

miniature world of model railroading...

The Shasta Line - Model Train Fanatics

Was able to find another before photo to make a comparison from 2003. I wish I would have taken more pictures back then...
Don't forget to Document your progress along the way..,, here are before and after..,