And now for something different... A couple months ago I noticed some interesting items at a local shop near where I work. This store often has used collections and items for sale from persons or families wishing to dispose of them. In one of the glass cases, they had a handful of Bachmann China HO trains. The proprietor said that they came from an expat who had lived overseas for several years. I've never seen these in the US before. They are standard HO size, DC power. I haven't had a chance to open up the loco yet, from what information I can find online, this should have a standard 8-pin socket for DCC. Hopefully that's true so I can convert it, and have something slightly exotic occasionally making the rounds on the layout. I was able to get a good deal on the loco and some passenger cars since they had been sitting there for a while.
The locomotive is a DF4, probably the most ubiquitous diesel in China, in production from 1969-2007. They are used for both passenger and freight service--this one is in passenger colors.
The passenger cars are also interesting. The couplers are interchangeable, allowing standard couplers or drawbars. But both the store proprietor and I were puzzled by the wheelsets. The axles have two additional discs inboard of the wheels. The discs don't have flanges, so I doubt they're for another narrower gauge of track. Maybe some sort of electrical pickup for installing lights? Anyone seen this before?