yea...Im not a fan of battery powered lighting. While it is much easier to install, and will guarantee smooth lighting, it doesnt work great when you're the kinda person who only occasionally runs their passenger cars, and am forgetful. Knowing me Id leave them on by accident all the time!

Their main selling point is the ease to install, but personally I prefer track pickup lights, as someone who rarely runs passenger trains, but when they do, they leave them on the track idle for hours. I dont want to replace the batteries twice a year if I plan to stay in this hobby for the next 50 years. But that's just my personal preference. Cheers!

Youre one step ahead of me! I havent even gotten to detailing my bachmann P70s :( happy new year to you too!

Agreed! Rapido definitely outdoes it with their detailing. Just a shame most of their passenger cars were based on Canadian prototypes. In terms of HO RTR FOM scheme cars, I think Bachmann actually chose the most accurate colors for the paint scheme, atleast to my eye. Its a shame they are so lackluster in detail and were based on NYC prototypes...

@@trainman440 That comes as a surprise to me with where Bachmann got their prototype. It's also why I prefer to find older PRR coaches from Bachmann (more detailing). Between the two, I would still take Rapido. They don't look like the FoM but there was a lot more work put into them. Challenger Imports cars will have to wait a long while lol

@@themodeltrainroom8990 indeed, Challenger's FOM sets are famously known across PRR fans to be probably the best looking FOM cars available. Trying to keep it under wraps, but I might have gotten a few recently... 👀

Haha yea that would be cool. what did you find in your mystery box? did you make a video on it?

@@trainman440 Lots of good stuff. Rapido was very generous this year. I have a video up on my page.

@@parts323ooooh right the rapido mystery boxes lol, a smart way of clearing out inventory on their part!

@@trainman440 Sort of. I really liked my mystery box contents. Everything was is perfect working order, and the chocolate bar was rather tasty. I added everything up and it came to over $500.00.

wdym by separate bearings?

@@trainman440 at least machined brass pinpoint bearings, but preferably ball bearings, which allow realistic wheelslip when fitted to all wales.

@@1471SirFrederickBanbury I know of literally zero manufacturers who are milling out brass bearings for any sort of rolling stock. Even most brass passenger cars dont have machined bearings. Imo that shouldn't be "expected standard" as these cars already roll extremely freely and bearings wont improve it much better. But that's my $0.02. Cheers!

@@trainman440 That is the unfortunate reality, and I probably am expecting too much. Thankfully, many kit and parts makers make pinpoint bearings (Alan Gibson make excellent parts including milled frames for locos) and ball bearings have become cheap. Try fitting a set with cheap ball bearings that have been soaked in wd-40, and see how it works with the momentum of the train. I dare say I've become obsessed with wheelslip while starting, but it just sells the look of realism too well!