Spectrum 4-4-0

[Rob Roy]

Help needed, we recently received the above "American"; on its first major run on our layout(outside) one of the wires to the tender snagged on something & pulled out of the engine; the white power lead.  Question how do I open up the loco to gain access to the motor to reconnect this wire? The Owners Manual is of no assistance.
We have 13 Bachmann locos,Including Thomas & Percy, we find the Spectrum series a great pleasure & a delight to look at and operate,we dont know which is the best K27 or 3 truck Shay, then again the 2-6-6-2.

[Chris9017]

You don't need those wires for the engine to work, so if they break, it's not the end of the loco.   A lot of my 2-6-0s and 4-4-0s have snagged their wires, and they broke off, and run just fine.   If you are to install a sound unit, that's still okay because the sound will power up from the tender by itself and you can have the chuffer installed on one of the tender axles.

So, don't worry about those wires breaking.   However, if fixing the wires makes you feel better, you can contact the parts department.  To open the locomotive, turn the engine on her side, and there are screws, 2 under each bearing block, so unscrew those, then the cover plate should come out, and you should be able to access the wires.  If that means taking out the gear box, and motor, then put a small crescent wrench on the crank pins, and turn them left to unscrew, the side rods should then come right off.  Then, gently uses a small flat head screw driver, and pry of the hub cabs on the driving wheels.    Inside the hub caps, there is a screw holding the wheels on to the axle.   Unscrew the screw, then gently slide off the wheels.   Once the wheels are off, but sure to mark the bearing blocks because each one goes in a certain spot.  After you marked or labeled the bearing blocks, gently slide them out with the motor, gear box and axles.   The valve excentrics will slide off the front axle, and will easily slide back on.

You should then have full access to the wires.

Honestly, it's not worth doing that, so I would not worry about it.

[Rob Roy]

Hi Chris9017, thank you for your detailed reply. I have had discussions with the Chief Engineer & she agrees with your suggestion to cut the thing off & get on with it. The CE is one of 11 siblings with 8 brothers so she has a substantial grasp on mechanical matters. If you would care to look at our web site, it is
www.kurremigardenrailway.com.au , We have 650 ft of track , an Australian village circa 1920. The main theme is loco engineering, from small US loggers to shays ,climax,heisler,& the big Challenger,Big Boy & triplex which is a big hit with the viewing public at display days.Thanks again  Rob Roy

[Chris9017]

No problem, any time.   

Sure, I will definitely look into it.

If you want sound in the 4-4-0, the best sound for it is Phoenix, and the best sounds for it are 4-4-0, 2-6-0, and Virginia & Truckee, they will go very well with your 4-4-0.   So right a letter to them, and in the letter tell them the sound name with the sound code that you would like to have in your engine.   Also since one of your wires broke, put in a request that they install the chuffer sensor on one of the tender axles, and remove the sound of the dynamo (all their sounds have dynamos, and they don't fit right on a turn of the century engine).   Then place the letter with your engine's box, place your engine's box in a nice large box to ship, and then send the engine off to Phoenix.    It is expensive to do it, but it's worth every penny.