Bachmann Big Haulers and Annies can run very well when converted to DCC and or RC. But since the 4-6-0's do not have DCC sockets, conversion requires disassembling and rewiring of the engine and tender. For a little of what your are in for check out George Schreyer's Bachmann Big Hauler Tips page:
http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html
I have added Aristo Craft sockets to all six of my Annies which allows me to run DC, DCC or RC. At the moment I have Aristo Revolution receivers including two new sound units installed in the locomotives. All of the locomotives can run off of track and or battery power as required.
Take your time and your will enjoy the results.
Ken K
I use the Hobbyking system which is from the Sandstone & Termite website. I am also buy the LI-Po batteries from Hobbyking as the prices are cheap. Why the Hobbyking system? At my house each loco (6 of them) can be operated by visitors, they all get to drive a train. I just cant afford to do this some other systems.
I also have my first remote system which is the Aristocraft Revolution installed in the LIl Critter with a 5000 milliamp battery. That give you an idea of the physical size of battery you can get for the power you want. I also bought a battery charger from hobbyking -$20, which will balance & charge all types of batteries.
Have a good look around, talk to people that have various systems, ask if there are any problems, can they be repaired, how long for repairs, etc.
All of the systems are pretty good, but my choice, came down to cost to outfit my locos for what I needed.
Andrew
Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway
Look at the sandstone and termite railway in Austraila as he used car remotes to run his railroad.
And RCS as mentioned above. Local to your country could be very cost effective as well as time effective.
I have converted several Bachmann 4-6-0 to battery power using a Revolution radio control. I use Makita 18V lithium Ion batteries. The ones I use are the 3.0 Amp hour units. I can run trains for several hours continous on one charge. Power is not an issue either. The battery fits in the tender along with the radio receiver. I have put the radio in the loco but is a little bit harder to do. I have a Annie running the Bachmann factroy chuff sound board set up and it works pretty good. Now I know that the Makita batteries are not cheap. I shop around and try to find the good deals. Best I have found on genuine Makita is around $60 each. Those deals are few and far between. I have tried the Chinese imports with some good success. Just don't run them dead or they may not come back. The Makita ones seem to handle this a little better. One advanage to the Makita battery is that the fast charger only takes about 30 minutes to fully charge a dead battery.
Koota, Have a look at Tony Walsingham's site
http://www.rcs-rc.com/pages/p-list-pro
if nothing else, he is in Oz and so is a phone call away at a reasonable price & time if you want to talk to him. I'm pretty sure he's converted a number of the 4-6-0 big haulers.
Also, have a look at the forum on this web site
http://www.gscalecentral.co.uk/home
there's usually quite a bit of discussion there about converting various locos to remote control. Also, a member of that forum, JRinTawa, is in Wellington and is, I think, the convenor of the local garden railway society. He's also seems to have done quite a bit in RC himself.
Thanks, I'll get onto it. Found the Locolinc site, seems like the right thing. Anyone had experiance with it. Graham.
Hi Graham, If you send an email to Rene Schweitzer she works for the web site her email is rsschweitzer@kalmbach.com she will pass your info to a gentlman called Kevin Strong who will be able to fill you in with the info you need. Ive alway found Kevin very helpful.
Age is only a state of mind, keep the mind active and enjoy life
Thanks, I'm in New Zealand on the West Coast. Due to distance and cost need to make sure I get it right first time. There seems many people have had issues with various makes of DCC equipment which is of no use when so far away from suppliers. And basic as mainly for use by my 2 grandsons. Yeah right. It is outdoors that is why I would like to run R/C as the power pack and booster can be left indoors. We live in a area where rainfall is measured by metres. Regards, Graham.
Hi Koota If you would like to show where you are based it helps as you can see im in the uk. I am just going over to Aristo Craft Revolution for chipping my lococs they are Bachmann 2-8-0 g gauge, as I said if you show your location some one close to you may be able to point you to a company that can do the work for you. Hope this helps
New to this game. Has anyone converted Bachmann G scale 4-6-0 locos to fixed track power and radio control with receivers mounted in the locos. Started with the battary powered on with the R/C, simple but slow and ATE battaries. Gone to the track powered ones but feel that there must be a better way of running them. Looking at various sites has left me totally confused. Any suggestions and help most appreciated.
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