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 Posted - May 18 2009 : 08:38:13 AM
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* Old Bachmann steamers, and the problums I've had.
*Bachmann steam locomotives have a split frame. By this I mean their are two cast metal frame parts. You can say a left and right. These are insulated from one another. The left, firemans side picks up power from the rail below it. Power then goes from this frame to one side of the motor. Thro the motor windings to the right side frame and down to the rail below.
* If you are checking a used split frame steam loco and the wheels are locked. Look carefully at the bottom. If the leading drive axel is tilted towards the pilot, or the last driver axel is tilted towards the rear pilot truck one or both of the split frame metal castings have corrosion problums. This is what is locking the axels in place. The casting as it corrodes actualy grows to the front, or rear, or in both directions. On the my 4-8-4s power is supplied to the rear axel. If the front axel is only locked the motor will drive the wheels out of quarter, further locking up the drive. I have noticed this on many older Bachmann steamers. I have seen it so bad that the cylinders are not lined up anymore. Even where the valve hanger connection into the frame has broken off by the cast elongating foward increasing the distance between the cylinders and this connection point.
* I have a 2-10-4 that I was able to repair with a part I found at a train show. I also have a UP 4-8-4 in the multi color paint from a Overland set. It had this problum. I found a damaged 4-8-4 at another show and the frame was perfect. Now after my repair this Northern runs perfectly. I also have two NYC 4-8-4s. Play damage has redused one to parts only. These two also suffer from bad frames. In this case both are the left side frame. One is realy falling apart. The other i filled away extra groth and put the loco back together for a static model. I have inquired about frames and I can't get them. Of my 2-8-0s I had 4. Two still run. The other two the drives are gone. I have a Bowser drive in one and with the remaining parts of the other went to my son. He wanted one for parts and the other he gave to his son. The 0-6-0 drives ones I don't even want to write about. No! Bachmann released an 0-6-0t (side tankers). I have two. One if factory Pennsy, the other I painted for Pennsy. These have never failed in any way. They keep going.
* The PRR K4s are another story. These are very nicely detailed locomotives. They suffered, new from another problum which they shared with earlier 0-6-0s and 2-8-0s. I purchased two new all boxed and sealed from a train store. When running each their drives self destructed. Drive wheels sepairated from their axels and spun out of quarter. Locking up the drive. This i had seen on the earlier 0-6-0s and 2-8-0s. On both engines the valve gear flew apart. This I had never seen. Maybe the loss of quartering may have caused this. I did feal bad for awile. Contimplateing returning them to Bachmann under their warrante. I remembered that i have three Lionel 4-6-2s. They have belpair boilers. A Pennsy detail. I had aquired them without tenders. Here are two of the best looking tenders i've seen to date. Lionel 4-6-2s do not need tender pick up to run, and these all ran very good. Detail parts from these two engines have repaired and updated other locomotives. I don't feal bad at all anymore. I have even picked up a third K4 at a train show for parts. Now three inproved Lionel PRR K3 locomotives roam my rails. Yes the smoke units work fine.
* Having had these problums with other Bachmann steamers I tried to stay away form them. Advertisements kept comming about the new Spectrum line of steam locomotives. I was resolute. I wouldn't buy another one. Everything changes!
* Being a CNJ modeler I have my problums. Odd ball steam is never mass produced. Or should I say not much. Longevity in real steam engines came to the rescue. Bachmann decieded to produce a model of a locomotive that is of a perfect size ( medium). One of which their are many surviveing locomotives also of which many are running. One that has a interesting history. Also one that wound up on the CNJ roster durring World War 1.
I was tring to model this loco myself and having alot of problums. Now here is Bachmann releasing the loco I am trying to make. The Russian Decapod! I figured even if it didn't run I had the a well detailed loco to start with. Things do change. I bought two. ACL with highlited wheels and fireboxs. Really looked good.
* Now next problum! Bachmann manufactured these in a much updated version only. I wish Bachmann had made them in the original versions as built by the Baldwin or the American locomotive companies. This version would have sold well in Europe. The only change made for release in America was wider tires were applied to the drivers to allow for running on the narrower US rails. That is how the CNJ and Reading recieved them. Originaly they had handrails on the outside edge of the boiler walkways and pilot front. This keep the firemann safe from fall off the locomotive when it was running, while he was making adjustments, and service in the middle of a snow storm in Sibera. The other larger change was the cab. The cabs available are of a more modern types. Not the original. The original was was almost completely enclosed with sliding doors and windows in different locations. The tender front had a raised extension that supported a small roof that overlaped the cab roof. The cab roof slid in and out always under this extension as the loco swung around turns. All this made a nice enclosed cab to operate in the freezing conditions this engine had to opperate in. This original detail remaining American locomotives lack. The railroads reciving them made different changes to them. I had to from scrach build these details, which included a new cab.
* Enough of my problums. Back to the locomotives problums. As a new locomotive the cast metal split frame parts corrosion will not if it returns plague me for a while. The locomotives run flawlessly. My only problum that occured which can point to a Bachmann bo-bo is they stopped running. The locomotive was internialy shorted. This happened before any changes were made. The locomotives were still stock Bachmann and two weeks old. What do I do ? Return them to Bachmann. No I returned them to the store I had purchased them from. They sent me two more. No problum! I have what I need. I test run them. One is shorted out of the box brand new. How could it have passed it internal run test? What can cause this? I am at that point where I imagined I would be, but the fact is returning these loco's was out of the question. To me whatever I paid was a excepted amount because I was going to make them anyway. So I faced the problum, got out my small philips head screw driver, removed the two screws that hold the plastic detailed frame bottom off, exposeing what is underneath.
* Bachmann has married split frame technolgy and a solid frame into one engine. Bachmann has kept electrical two rail pickup in the locomotive. This works great with a split frame. But Bachmann has put a solid frame above it's modified standard style drivers and a split frame above this. Pickup wipers were shorting to the solid metal frame. The hi teck repair was made by inserting a piece of scotch tape whitout going deeper into the drive. Years ago I finished my detailing of these locomotives and they have run perfectly since then. Thank you Bachmann for this locomotive.
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
Edited by - toptrain on May 18 2009 08:45:58 AM
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 09:25:34 AM
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Thanks for the information Frank, I have numerous Bachmann Steam Locomotives that are running great right now. But it is experience like yours that will help me diagnose any future problems.
Mike
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 11:10:49 AM
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I have an earlier 2-8-0 that did exactly what you've described. Funny though, it locked up when I first got it, then it started working fine, and now it's back to old habits.
I'll probably avoid the split frame Bachmanns when I buy a new steamer.
    
- Matt -
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 12:19:20 PM
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I've had my share of problems with Bachmann steam. (both HO and N scale)
I have figured out ways to repair their verious issues, even replacing the pancake motors and spur gear drives.
I haven't gotten any of the latest design chassis so I don't know how they last but my advise is to send the locos back to bachmann for replacement unless you have some sentimental attachment to it.
I have one of the early Bowser frame kits in an AT&SF 4-8-4 that works great after a little tweeking.
I have an 0-6-0 that has one side of the frame suffering from zink pest but mannaged to fix it enough to run untill I find another frame.
I have a large fleet of Bachmann steam locos that ar great running locos after I repaired the split axles and added extra electrical pick ups.
I wish Bachmann would have used the same design as their N scale locos in HO scale. (all drivers are geared and a worm drive)
Ray
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 7:56:32 PM
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Ray you and Matt are starting to get alittle negitive about Bachmann. I like the decapods and the heavy mountain I have. I am not to happy about all the noise the E33 makes. But on the other hand I didn't pay to much for it.
I went to the Alentown PA train show last saturday. Very little old Bachmann was their. One dealer had a couple of northerns a UP and a Santa-Fe. They were priced way to high. And a few dealers had very old K4s in those big boxes. All high priced. I wound up with a Tyco 4-6-0 W&A, a Mantua 2-8-4 Southern, some MDC passenger cars nd a few freight cars. Their was alot of aforadiable stuff their but I didn't have much cash.
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 8:08:46 PM
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Don't get me wrong Frank, I love Bachmann stuff, just not my split frame 2-8-0. 
I bought one of their new F-units, it runs extremely well for the price.
They are a good step up after buying a basic train set. That's what happened with me, I had a cheap Life-Like set, and found the Bachmann stuff much, much better.
- Matt -
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Posted - May 18 2009 : 11:56:02 PM
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Actually a do like Bachmann locos but I wouldn't recomend that everyone put as much work into their old Bachmann loco as I have. Send it back and get the newer design loco.
I don't think that's being negitive, it's just my advice for those that would rather run trains than work on them.
I like my Bachmann steam locos.
Ray
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Posted - May 19 2009 : 12:39:17 PM
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| I never had any Bachmann engines in the 70's. My sister bought me a Bachmann train set a few years ago. It's the only powered Bachmann piece I have ever had.
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Posted - May 19 2009 : 2:41:05 PM
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quote:
I wish Bachmann would have used the same design as their N scale locos in HO scale. (all drivers are geared and a worm drive)
Originally posted by Ray Marinaccio-May 18 2009: 12:19:20 PM
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Interestingly enough, Kader (Bachmann) started out doing just that in the early 70's with their saddle tank 0-6-0, which had a 5 pole motor, worm drive and all wheels geared. The same drive was used for the AHM side tank loco.
http://www.hoseeker.org/AHMRivarossiassembly/AHM060sidetankpg2.jpg
The Bachmann 0-6-0T was re-tooled into the Spectrum version years later. Kader also made the AHM FT, which strangely enough was designed just like a MiniTrix N scale diesel drive.
It's a shame they turned away from those designs in favor of the pancake drives. I haven't seen any examples of their later split frame locos with zinc rot, but a lot of those FT's disintegrated, and the one early Bachmann 0-6-0T I found only had a few fragments of the diecast axle cover still attached.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - May 19 2009 : 4:39:32 PM
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quote:Kader also made the AHM FT, which strangely enough was designed just like a MiniTrix N scale diesel drive.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759-May 19 2009: 2:41:05 PM
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I have a few of those and I realy like them. With a little fine tuning they are an excelent drive.
Ray
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