Bachmann Class 24: Shell Removal, Service, Lubrication, DCC Decoder and First Run - HO/OO Scale 

Thanks for the info! Shortly after the original recording I started doing a little research on headcodes. I was a bit off the mark. Took me a while to decide which configuration I'd go with until I read that after 1977 they defaulted to a Class 1 config for all trains (The 80/90's is my fav era by far and what I'm working towards. Arguably one of the best eras IMO!). Where do you source most of your trains/parts/accessories?

@@PendulumStation To be honest the discs were before my time! I also just purchased the Bachmann Class 24 (but the RTC livery), so I had to look it all up also. I noticed that you had the discs installed at the end of your video once I posted my comment. I settled on the same the arrangement you had, after I did some research and looked at some older archived photos online. The discs do look great I think. It is just nice to know that I'm not the only one modelling OO gauge BR from the 80's and 90's in the USA! I grew up in Northern England with the BR blue liveries, then the Railfreight era, and the post privatization up to 2001 when I headed to SoCal. I loved all the various liveries. I go to the usual suspects; Hattons, Rails of Sheffield, Accurascale, DCC Concepts, etc. Shipping costs are the biggest hassle as you note. Hattons shipping costs to LA County are by far the most reasonable I find. Their trunk option also allows you to buy items at different times and then collate them for one future shipment to consolidate shipping costs. It works really well. I always use the DHL option at Hattons, it's only $16-$20 for most packages, takes rarely more than a few days (as it is Air) and has excellent tracking! Rails shipping is expensive and takes forever as they only offer Royal Mail. I have been lucky to avoid getting Spare Parts up to now, cannibalized or just done without them. Ebay is a crap shoot. Whenever I get back to UK, I have often order smaller items ahead of my trip, and have them posted to family/friends, then picked them up, -but that's not really a practical option right now. Thanks again for the videos, always enjoy them!!

@@darrennightingale7178 Awesome! And same, I'm not that old lol I grew up around BR in the late 80s/ early 90s. The only order I've placed overseas is to Rails of Sheffield. Customer service was good, lead time was pretty long and shipping felt like it took forever. If I recall it was 60 bucks to ship over some Metcalfe kits. Can't complain though, everything arrived in one piece. The shipping is really what causes my hesitation. I might give Hattons a go. Otherwise I'm stuck ordering off eBay (that's always a 50/50) or Trainz (but that guy charges right on the nose, almost never a good deal), The Great Train Show (almost always American). I'm kicking myself because I missed a special OO gauge swap meet at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum back in Jan 2019 right before the pandemic. I thought it was an annual thing, nope, a one off. Whoever went to that probably scored big! I'm hoping to get out to the UK this year but that depends on BOJO. And nope, you're not the only one modeling OO, we're out there. I think we all hide and pearl clutch our models lol.

I think you are talking about the "plastic opener." Great for opening loco bodies without damage and scraping ballast off the ties. Amazon typically has an assortment for pretty cheap.