Reader Forum?

I enjoy receiving the magazine every month. I have based my purchases on your reviews several times, such as Broadway Limited’s beautiful California Zephyr passenger cars and Proto 2000 GP20s, WP of course.

I don’t know how much input model railroad consumers have with the manufactures for future products, but I would like to see a forum in your mag for specific requests. Some manufacturers seem to run the same paint schemes and railroads over and over with each run. Atlas, BLI, and to some extent, Proto 2000 are the exceptions; they run some units for small regional carries such as Tennessee Central, LS&I, etc. I would like to see subscribers’ input on this subject.

Ed Cuyler
Marquette, MI

Hi Ed, and some sort of input forum is a good idea, though we’ll need to run it through our editorial council to determine how to make such a thing work. I know some manufacturers would love to have this sort of marketing information, while others would pay it little mind. — Ed.

Cheap Won’t Get You There

Thank you for publishing a news magazine that does not “dumb down” to model railroaders. You give us the latest updates in what the industry is doing…now. Most of us are also in other hobbies…namely hunting, fishing, sports…whatever. The point I want to make is we want the best material to support that given hobby. Cheap won’t get anybody there…so why do we promote a 4-foot by 8-foot layout with 18-inch radius track…this is like hunting deer with a B.B. gun. Discouragement will soon set in. Let’s get the upcoming generation on the right track. They do have the funds for it.

Neil E. Thompson
West Bend, WI

Thanks Neil, since this is a point I’ve been making for years. One of the appeals of the “Rock Island Central Division” project by Stephen Priest is that it is not a basic four-by-eight. The worst thing about a plywood sheet is that, since most of us can’t reach all the way across it, we have to allow two to three feet all around it, requiring the layout to consume an actual space of perhaps 10 by 14 feet. Stephen’s project layout is about 10 by 10.5 feet, uses 22-inch radius curves, and has an easy-access walk-in property about it. Our January 2006 issue covered the basic track layout. The only remaining issue isn’t exactly one of money; it would be all about how much floor space the missus is willing to cede to this project! — Ed.

Modeling Issues

I just received and read the August issue of the News. As usual I really enjoyed the paper. I have two comments on the review of the Bachmann N-scale 2-6-6-2. I have a Bachmann Mountain and a Life-Like Berkshire, both of which have the traction problem of the new articulated. It has been years since Kato made their “Mike” and we learned we needed traction tires to have these engines run any decent load. The Mountain and Berkshire both are excellent rail polishing machines with any thing much over 10- to 15-car trains. It is really neat to see them spin wheels when my old Mikes pull 40-car trains with ease. The second comment is that it is time for Bachmann to use the Accumate couplers on front and back of all steam engines if they want us to buy them.

As a second issue, I have bought one of Walthers Cabooses with the grab irons in a bag. I used a pin vise to drill 40 holes with a number 80 bit to mount the grab irons. I do not have a drill press to do these, so it is a hand job. I creased the edge of the cupola drilling the holes for the grab irons on the roof of the cupola. I tried to buy a second cupola but was told they had no spare parts. This was within six months of the release of the car. This will be my last car from Walthers that I will purchase until they either predrill the holes or mount the grab irons for us. In a ready-to-run model this is something I will not support. I do not know how others have fared. I wish you good luck with the News, as it is becoming my preferred magazine.

Bob Winterbottom
Laurel, MD

We’re in agreement on all counts, Bob. I’ve urged Bachmann to abandon the Rapido and dummy couplers and go to nothing but magnetic knuckle couplers. While I like traction tires, many model railroaders I know want nothing to do with them or complain that they wear out quickly and then are hard to replace.

As to Walthers, I can’t install the handrails myself. At 64, my vision is rather poor, my hands rather shaky, and my time is rather limited. Instead, our very good review writer, R. Dave Carr (who is in his thirties), does it for me, though it takes his expert hands about an hour per car. Meanwhile, The Walthers Platinum Line features some cabooses with the handrails and such already installed. — Ed.

Modeling the Modern Era in N Scale, Revisited

I agree with Howard Kornhauser (June 2006); trying to “model” a modern era N-scale model railroad is very difficult. I am 60 years old; I don’t have time to scratch build everything I need to attempt to finish my 22-foot by 12-foot layout. I model Santa Fe just before the BNSF merger, about 1995. John, you are correct, the most modeled era is the transition era, but Howard is correct, what era will be most popular when Howard is 60 years old about 20 years from now? I’ll probably be gone; I doubt I’ll make it to 80 years old, maybe?

Kato just came out with a post 1990 era Santa Fe SD40-2 and I love it! I bought two of them. Even though there are modern locos, freight cars, some autos and trailers, structures, etc., there are major gaps!

Boy sometimes I’m really jealous of HO modelers. I hope Athearn, Deluxe Innovations, Atlas, GHQ, Alan Curtis, Wiking, Micro-Trains, Kato, Showcase Miniatures, and others read this. They can fill the gaps. I guarantee these items will sell.

Jim Barsballe
Tooele, UT

All good points, Jim. The Walthers HO-scale reference book is thicker than any of the other two books combined. Z & N together are only about a third of the HO book. If model makers take your advice and start to make what you want, it will be about three years until the products are in your hobby shop. A manufacturer could test your assertions on one object and find it successful three years from now. Then he builds three more items and they prove successful by the year 2013, and so it goes. The secret to creating your own buildings is to see what’s around you and then make quick conversions. Take your ink jet printer and make new signs for an old building; it’s amazing how many of our modern buildings are really transition era structures still in use today. Don’t wait helplessly for them to make what you need. — Ed.

Couplers on the Project Railroad

The October MRN arrived the other day, and in the story about the Rock Island Central Division (Project Railroad, Part X), it was mentioned that the trip pins on the Kadee couplers were removed. Why? Doesn’t this negate the reason for using Kadees in the first place? If one is cutting the trip pins off, why not use “dummy” couplers like the ones in some car kits that look like and act like couplers but don’t uncouple or couple on their own? After going to all the work of installing the couplers properly, the effort is wasted by destroying the reason for using the couplers in the first place.

Cliff W. West
Rainier OR

Actually Cliff, I think Stephen explains it very well. The Kadee coupler is, of course, designed to work in a “MagneMatic” manner, but that takes more than the couplers. You must also position uncoupling magnets in the appropriate locations to take full advantage of this feature. In some cases, there is no “appropriate” location for an uncoupling magnet and operations will proceed without magnetic uncoupling. At this moment, you may compare a dummy coupler to a Kadee (or other magnetic knuckle-hook) coupler on a more fair basis, though the Kadee style still comes out way ahead. Why? Dummies cannot be coupled automatically by pushing two cars together. It is also possible to stick a fine pick into the right place on the Kadee coupler and effect an uncoupling without lifting that end of the car. Unlike Stephen’s trip pin amputations, if I choose not to use Kadees in a MagneMatic manner, I use fine pliers to carefully curl the pin upward, getting it a little more out of the way but where I can still snag it with a pick to uncouple the connection. Kato’s largely compatible knuckle couplers arrive without the trip pins installed, and some purchasers stick them on while others don’t. — Ed.

More Z?

I was wondering if you are going to begin giving Z scale more coverage in your magazine, and if so when?

Ron Kastrava
Rio Verde, AZ

Good question, Ron. We publish reviews of products we are sent by manufacturers. Every single Z-scale model we are sent gets reviewed. Often our reviewers fight over them! If they send more, we’ll review more. — Ed.