Forney Fall....

[Anubis]

Hello all,

I recently had the misfortune to watch helplessly as my (almost) new Bachmann 2-4-4 Forney took a tumble from the layout track and landed on the carpet. <Ouch> 

The mishap broke the rear bogie (truck) from the king pin, as well as tearing the two contact wires from their mounting screws. Some other body parts were also broken off, but I managed to find all the bits.

Calling myself every useless kind of moron that I could lay my tongue to, I set about the repair.

I soldered the tiny wires back onto their eyelets, screwed them back into their locations, and re-mounted the bogie onto the king pin. I also used some silicone lube on a cotton bud to grease the king pin slot, just to make certain that there would be no binding.

Now, I cannot seem to keep the thing on the rails. The rear bogie/truck appears to be very sloppy on the king pin, and as a result, keeps derailing and rattling along behind, which causes the loco to stall at the first turnout it comes to.

(Before the mishap, the Forney was my smoothest and most reliable-running loco, easily negotiating my less-than-minimum radius curves....)

Has anyone else had any similar trouble with these fiddly things?

Additionally, is it possible for me to purchase spare parts for my Spectrum locos direct from Bachmann?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[Hobojohn]

It seems that your Forney hit the carpet in its rear end, the truck part in particular.
Too bad it happened to you.

The truck swivels/hangs in a frame. Are these two 'rails' still in tact.
Is the fastening bold/screw in tact.
Does your truck have any hard-to-see cracks anywhere in its frame. Do its wheels track right /still fit in it the right way? Is there any play? Are your truckwheels still o.k. Take them out and roll them on a flat table. They should not show up any wobbling.

Is the frame of/in the Forney still in tact?  Hidden in the plastic between the footplate and the tender area is a cast metal H-frame. It might have a  slight bent. Is the Forney still standing straight up on its 4 wheels/2 axles .Also with the truck mounted? Test it again on a flat (wooden) tabletop. Push gently against the side of the forney. It should not wobble!

Test the rear truck separate from the locomotive and push it through a set op points (switch). Do the same with the rest of the Forney.  See what happens.

Parts? Try your luck at the USA Bachmann parts department. In general they are very kind to you.
But parts or no parts that is the question. See another thread on this forum.

Good Luck
John Baron
Holland. 

[Broken Shay]

quick and easy way,   mail it to Bachmann with a $25.00 check and they will send you a new one.

Good luck

John

[Anubis]

Hello guys,

I have contacted Bachmann and they advise that replacement parts are not currently available, so I am stuck with repair. 

The bogie/truck assembly DID take the bulk of the shock, and as a result, there is a small crack in the truck frame. It will be fairly simple to repair, but there appears to be excessive freeplay in the claw of the hollow king pin.....almost as if there is a piece missing().  I carefully swept the carpet just to be sure, but located nothing. 

I have since added a shim which I shaped and filed up out of brass, and I will give that a try.

The rest of the loco seems OK, apart from the roof hatch, which I can repair. I ran the loco without its rear truck, and it runs smoothly.

I have now also repaired and refitted the two collector wires to their locations, and have re-established circuit continuity, so I will see how it runs.

(I am very lucky that Forney-Kate fell onto the carpet, rather than onto the terracotta tiles on the other side of the layout.....)

Many thanks, blokes....

[#94]

Sounds like it is time to convert the Forney to a 2-4-0 with tender from Backwoods Miniatures. It will eliminate what is your trouble plus it will look better on tight radius.

[Anubis]

Hey, there's a clue.....

[rayport]

I had the same misadventure. I seem to recall having to take off the tank and then the circuit board inside to get to the kingpin. If you then put pressure on the kingpin from inside and press the truck back it will snap-back together. Also be careful with the amount of solder used to reattach the wires to the connectors - too much can also restrict free movement. Good luck.

[El Loco]

Sounds like it is time to convert the Forney to a 2-4-0 with tender from Backwoods Miniatures. It will eliminate what is your trouble plus it will look better on tight radius.

Yes sir that is a great idea! I am currently scratch building a slope back tender and have disembowel the rear portion of my forny.  Ive added the rivet details . Honestly it would have been simpler to purchase the BWM slope back tender kit.
I call it my forney-cation...