My first locomotive is the Bachmann Anniversary Edition ten-wheeler, or “Annie” for short. The ten wheeler is also known as a 4-6-0.

Here’s what it looked like out of the box. It is 29 1/2” long, 6 3/4” high and 4 3/4” wide. It is approximately 1:22.5 scale

I made some basic changes to this version:

• Repainted the loco with grimy black and Tuscan red
• Replaced the dork with an engineer from Supply Line Miniatures.
• Shortened connection between loco and tender (maybe more to come)
• Added real coal on top of fake. At first I built a complete replacement, but it seemed too heavy, so just repainted coal and put some new stuff on top of it.

Changes you can’t see in the photograph:

• Conversion to battery power - 14.4 volts
• Installation of Sierra Sound - EBT Mikado
• Installation of RCS - an awesome system! It provides for remote control of the speed, direction, bell, whistle and blow down.
• Miniatronics connectors from loco to tender. Don Sweet recommended these to me at ECLSTS and they are great!
• New lights (GOW bulbs) - look a lot better than stock!

What was the hardest thing to do? I'd have to say disassembly and reassembly. Trying to remember how everything went back together was difficult, as there was a couple of months between the two processes. (You know, getting decals, painting, buying parts, and way too much business travel!)