Will the coaches at the top of this page: http://www.trainweb.org/fredatsf/protopass6.htm Run on code 55? and does anyone know the MT conversion for them? Also im hitting 505's left and right
I know that all Bachmann locos I have ever owned, ranging from oldschool GP40, SD40-2, and U36B to later Spectrum Dash units all run on Atlas C55 w/o hitting the spikes. Knowing this, I would infer that it is very likely that the Bachmann Amfleet coaches will exibit the same behavior, since their wheelsets look just like those used on their locos.
Oh okay, good. I'm getting about five more of them for about 25 bucks. I gotta figure out a way to get the electrical contacts out of the wheelsets, they dont freeroll at all, they just skid along.
LIRR, Just an FYI, Bachmann is releasing a new version of these cars this year so you might consider waiting for the new ones which will hopefully address the ahem*horrible* skidding trucks on their old Amfleet cars. Having said that, I personally think the older ones aren't bad looking cars with a little work, and for 5 bucks apiece you probably can't go wrong as long as you have a locomotive that can pull the "sleds". There was an article recently about improving the rolling qualities a little bit, I think it was one of the N-scale mags but I'm not sure. I can also add a couple of things to really improve the looks of the cars... 1. Paint the windowsills black. This makes a 100% improvement all by itself. It's kinda tricky unless you have a really steady hand with a paint pen. I ended up masking which took forever but delivered good results. 2. Tint the windows. There's a variety of ways to do this. I used the Testors "window tint" spray paint (for model cars) applied from the inside and it worked beautifully once but not so great the second go round so just be very patient with applying it and try to avoid "droplets" from an overly heavy application. After steps 1 and 2 you will be feeling really good about the cars, at least I did as it got them looking good enough to run with my Kato P42. 3. Add MV lenses to the end marker lights. The stock cars have a plastic dimple painted red and a hole in it to supposedly let the light from the interior lighting shine through. About the worst idea in the history of bad ideas and looks terrible. What I did is paint them silver using a silver paint pen (which was close enough to the stock paint IMHO). Then, I drilled them out using whatever bit corresponded with the MV lens I had. (I think I used the next to smallest one for best results. The smallest they have works OK though) The effect of drilling it out will be that most of the dimple will be shaved off except for a small trim ring that fits around the MV lens nicely and looks pretty good in the end. Of course you could use LED's as well, but I was shooting for simplicity and inexpensive. 4. I think the M-T 1134's are the standard replacement coupler and that's what I've used. Others have body mounted 1015's, 1016's or 1027's but I didn't go the extra mile there yet. 5. Weathering. I weathered the bottom black piece while I had the car disassembled using Floquil grimy black applied sparingly just to get rid of the shiny black look and show some weathering. After assembly, just use whatever weathering techniques you would normally use for Amtrak equipment (like a "dust" color, etc.) but be mindfull of the windows...they will generally be cleaner than the rest of the car. Good luck!
LIRR- I have the same problem with my Bachmann light-up 65' passenger ars. I never thought to remove the electrical contacts. Let me know how this goes. Doug A- I hope that when they re-release the they don't do what they did with the metroliners and put that chrome finish on them! Russ
