benshell

They look incredible, Dave and Brian! Now I really want to get a set. Keep posting pictures and you may push me over the edge. The weight and drag does concern me though. I doubt I'd be able to pull too many, since I have a long step grade (2.5%, almost 3% in places).

That's too bad. I had one of their structures, but unfortunately I missed the memo about its suitability for outdoor use. Mine warped badly in the California sun. And then later it got stepped on. But for indoor use they were a great value, and it would be nice to see the line continue.

Thanks guys! And Chuck, yeah the redwoods were beautiful. The pool area still looks kind of empty without them. But the new citrus trees we planted will fill in some of that void, and I have also some other ideas for the future. And much less pool (and railroad) maintenance now is a huge win!

Last year I had three large redwood trees removed (which were breaking the pool deck), and had to remove some track to make room for the crews. It took over a year to rebuild the roadbed (making some changes) and relay the track. It might have taken even longer, but once my new 2017/2019 MTH GS-4 arrived in July my motivation increased dramatically! I finally got the yard looking decent again--albeit with some under construction areas still--and then we've recently had some nice cloudy mornings, perfect for videos and photos! So here it is, pulling my Accucraft passenger cars that I bought 3-1/2 years ago (and preordered at least 2 years before that!), so it's taken awhile to get this train put together! But the wait was worth it. With the improved colors on the locomotive, the locomotive and cars match up pretty well. It's not perfect, but good enough!

Hi Peter, The short answer is that this is going to be more complex than you'd like. For one train, you may want to consider a DC Thomas, and putting in a sound system with support for trigger switches, and then wire up some sort of wireless trigger controller. I've heard of people using something like this from Ram Products with Phoenix sound, although I haven't used it myself. http://www.ramrcandramtrack.com/page2.html#CONT2 Keep in mind one downside is that it's hard to find a whistle that sounds like Thomas' trademark whistle. I have a Thomas with QSI sound and a high pitched European whistle that's pretty close, but this was before Bachmann made a DCC sound system for Thomas. I know from personal experience that some kids with special needs can be especially sensitive to having things "right", As for a DCC trigger, it's definitely possible, but how it works would depend greatly on your DCC system. The DCC signal on the rails is an NMRA standard, but the layout control bus (throttles to control station) is not standard at all. What I use is a kit-built system from MERG, which uses a CAN bus (just like your car) for the layout control bus. My CAN bus is hooked to a computer, which reads and writes the CAN frames. I use custom software that I've been building to run trains from my phone (https://github.com/benshell/RunTrains), and I've been building this app with plans for more automation and guest interactivity in the future. In fact, one thing I want to do is exactly what you've suggested: I want to be able to hand sound trigger remotes to kids, and let them control the sounds as they like without affecting speed. One of the challenges I faced with my software is that typical DCC systems are built to only allow one operator to run a train, until they hand off the session, or the session can be stolen. But that doesn't work if you want one controller to trigger sounds and other to set the speed. Or with my current setup, all throttles can run all trains at the same time. The actual "throttle", from the perspective of the DCC system, is the server software on the computer. Keep in mind that the computer doesn't need to be too powerful; in fact a $35 Raspberry Pi would be plenty, and getting one of these setup as a mobile DCC system is a near-future goal. I'd be happy to talk about this further, but it does get quite technical. Do you have a DCC system already? How comfortable are you with electronics? Ben

Bummer, but thanks for the update. Let me know when you have an estimate for arrival.

Wow, that's exciting to hear. At this point, I'm actually kind of surprised that we may see them before the official 2019 catalog. With the additional of the Christmas lights version, it seemed that they might be holding off on all of them.

All great answers. But also I wanted to mention that most people who run DCC disable the option to run on DC. This is so that if the DCC signal isn’t immediately detected as DCC, the locomotive won’t take off at full speed! So if you buy a used locomotive with DCC installed, you may need someone with a DCC system to re-enable the DC option CV.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised... but I appreciate hearing this update. I'm hoping I can buy of few of these next year... maybe at the NGRC in Portland if they are here by then. My K4 needs passenger cars.

I have an old Kindle Fire 7" HDX I use to run my trains with JMRI Engine Driver, but I wouldn't buy a Kindle again due to the difficulty in installing most apps (as Ray mentioned). Another thing to look for is 5 GHz WiFi. Most inexpensive tablets still don't have 5 GHz support. My old Kindle Fire does, but I'm not sure the new ones do. I think they are continuing to cut costs, and my old one did cost a lot more (over $200). If you only use 2.4 GHz WiFi then obviously this won't be an issue, but 2.4 GHz is becoming increasingly congested, and for me 2.4 GHz isn't even usable at all anymore. It got to the point where I couldn't even print to a wireless printer in the same room as the router. 5 GHz doesn't penetrate walls nearly as well, so I now have three outdoor WiFi access points for running my trains, as my track wraps around the house so there's no line of sight to the whole railroad. Now I'm struggling with lag during handoff between access points, so it's not a perfect solution. But 5 GHz is still much more reliable for me than 2.4 GHz was, so keep this in mind when buying a tablet.

Great work Jerry! What a creative way to spruce up the dining car. The Accucraft cars look pretty plain inside and could really use detail like this. I don't know that I'll go this far, but I'm about to start figuring out how to open mine up to at least add lights and figures. I've got the LED strips already, but where did you get these figures? And if you have any other tips on opening or working on these cars I'd love to hear them.

Wow, great! You're very welcome. It sure is a great looking train. Be sure to post pictures!

As of last month there was a chrome plated set with passenger cars on display and for sale at the Roseville model railroad club. I don't remember the asking price but it seemed very reasonable. I'd recommend contacting them to see if it is still available: http://rosevilleroundhouse.org/

Nice work, Joe. What kind of paint is that? The picture is a little grainy, but appears to be very similar to factory color and sheen.

I don't have any fine scale models--I have mostly 1:29th--but of everything I have including the USA Trains Big Boy the pickiest train I have is Bachmann Thomas with Anne and Clarabel. If I'm preparing for an open house and want to make sure everything runs perfectly, all I need to do is test with Thomas to ensure my track is squeaky clean, and Anne and Clarabel to make sure there are no twists in the track. These longer 2-axle cars with no springs or flex will derail on the slightly twist much more readily than the Big Boy. (And Chuck, I wouldn't consider the Big Boy to have semi-fine scale flanges... I haven't measured to compare, but I'm pretty sure they are much deeper than Accucraft 1:32 and other fine scale models.)

My GS-4's are still listed as shipping in Oct and Nov 2017, but another one of the GS-4's is now showing Feb 2018 also. Who knows when they will actually show up. But if they aren't on the ship within a month or so, they'll be waiting until after the Chinese New Year. It would be nice to have them by spring.

Hi Harold, I just saw this message, and I use DCC. What sort of problems are you having? Please describe as best you can, and be sure to let us know the manufacturer of the DCC system as well as the decoder in the locomotive, if you know. One of the benefits of a forum like this is that if you describe the problem here, and people are able to help, then others will also have the benefit of the knowledge shared if they encounter similar problems. I certainly learned a lot of about DCC from reading forums while trying to get the bottom of some of the issues I had early on, so I'm always happy to share what I've learned.

Hmm. Is that an older release on the left? It looks like it also has ribbed sides. I would have expected consistency here. They are nice looking cars though. I think they have more detail than the new Accucraft cars.

Wow, this is very impressive! Great work!

Nick, this is really coming together and looking amazing! The last thing I need is another project, but wow, this sure makes me want to build something like this.

Wow, that's crazy Chuck. Is UP the roadname you ordered? It sounds like MTH must not have anticipated the demand. I also think MTH should do more old school advertising, i.e. ads in Garden Railways magazine, because none of the garden railroaders I've talked to in my area have even heard there is an MTH 2017 catalog. Of course, now they know because I mentioned it so maybe that's the word of mouth MTH is going for, but it seems like a bit more traditional marketing would be helpful.

Yikes, I haven't heard of that before! Wow! I'm glad I haven't noticed any of this on mine. I did notice that it's very cheap pot metal that was difficult to do anything with when I was repairing mine. JB Weld didn't seem to even stick. Do you keep the Big Boy in the house, or somewhere without climate control? I'm reading that can make a difference. Mine spent about a year in the garage when I was working on it, but otherwise stays on display in the house. I guess we better enjoy these locomotives while we have them. This also gives me second thoughts about the FEF-3!

It's been fun to be apart of the USAT G Scale Group for so many years. However, there are several other more active forums, and the software is badly outdated (and difficult to update) so it's likely to be hacked soon. It was great while it lasted, but it's not all a loss. I think the lasting value has been the information collected and the relationships formed. I'm actively working on a modern and searchable database web app to host the USA Trains information--and having a deadline will help me to get this done before the USAT G Scale Group goes offline! And forums like this (as well as Facebook) help us to stay connected. Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I'm trying to help minimize the loss and ultimately make USA Trains information easier to research.

Are you still looking for sound? And are you comfortable with wiring? DCC sound decoders are nice because the sounds should be in sync with the motors. There's nothing wrong with a Phoenix+Airwire setup (I would say this is by far the most popular combination) but the sound isn't as impressive as what I get from my QSI Titan decoders. Unfortunately QSI Titans are currently unavailable, but I've heard that ESU V4.0 has even better sound for diesels. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCclSLshZw7MLwqJP91JH1ew And if you want to use battery instead of DCC through the rails, you can get a CVP Convertr or Tam Valley Depot "DRS1 HiPower" receiver (basically a wireless DCC booster) and use an Airwire throttle to run any DCC decoder.

Thanks guys! Chuck, LOL. I know you have experience with this too. Teardown is a pain, and unfortunately I know the answer to your question. I was putting it back together last Monday and was on my very last step (frame to cab brackets) when they wouldn't fit because I put the weights on the sides of the motor on backwards! I think it was just past 10am, and I finished doing the compete teardown and reassembly again by noon. Now that I know exactly how to do it I'm surprised it wasn't faster but it is really a pain. I haven't done any paint touch up yet but it's not bad, not in visible areas anyway. I also left off the brakes for now. They seemed to rub if they get just slightly bumped, and no one is going to notice when it's running.