With the track plan decided upon, and the layout making progress, there was somewhat of a need to test the work being done. I had previously bought a cheap(ish) loco to do exactly that, but it turned out to be DOA, with the shop having no suitable replacement.
I do have a loco on preorder, a Queensland Class 2300 from Southern Rail Models. However, since this is my first layout and attempt at DCC wiring, I didn’t exactly want to use that one as a guinea pig. My reasoning was that if I’ve done something horribly wrong, I’d rather it blow up a cheapie than the $500 loco I’ve waited six months for.
However, this time I wanted something that I could take out of the box, put on the track and run. I really didn’t feel like a repeat of the previous experience, and also didn’t have the time to potentially wait for weeks for a suitable decoder to be shipped from god-knows-where. So while that limited the choices somewhat, eventually I found something suitable.
The new track tester is a Bachmann GE 44-Ton Switcher in Santa Fe Zebra Stripe livery (a paint scheme apparently used in the 1950s and 1960s). New in its box, DCC-equipped and with a very acceptable price – just a bit more than its predecessor (which wasn’t DCC-equipped). It’s an American livery and therefore won’t necessarily fit in with other locos and trains I plan on getting, but that’s not what I got it for. It’s there to test my layout and tell me where there may be problems.
It arrived today, and I have so far tested three freshly wired track sections with it, all to a good level of satisfaction. It’s not the smoothest runner, but whether that’s due to construction quality, decoder programming, or my tracklaying and wiring, I will find out over the course of the coming weeks.
The new Track Tester, a Bachmann GE 44-Ton Switcher, Santa Fe #465