2-8-4 pulling power

[sedfred]

i have heard the 2-8-4 is kinda well, weak! is there any way to fix this because i just ordered one and it's on the way! is this a very good locomotive? in terms of mechanical stuff and pulling power?. i did my research but can't find any really good information about it.

[rogertra]

I usually stuff my locos with lead weight.  Steam dome, sandbox, up out of sight in the cab roof, between the cylinders in the steam chest, removing the springs from the trucks also helps (Newton's third law) and most any place you can place weight that's out of sight and doesn't interfere with the mechanics.  One thing to keep in mind is to always balance the locomotive to keep the centre of balance centred on the drivers.  Simple balance can be made from a pencil and a ruler.  The loco, without the tender, must not be too cab or smokebox heavy but should balance nicely with the balance point centred on the centre of the drivers.

Some people like to use a product called Bullfrog Snot but I'm against anything that reduces the number of wheels picking up power.  That includes Bullfrog Snot and traction tires.



Cheers

Roger T.

[jonathan]

Indeed. The 2-8-4 is not weak, it's misbalanced. Adding some weight up front will double the pulling power, with no adverse affect to the motor. The idea is to get the center of gravity between the middle drivers. As purchased the 2-8-4 balances around the fourth driver. There were lots of posts about this several years ago IIRC.

Regards,

Jonathan

Addendum: search my name and 2-8-4, on this forum. You should get some posts about performance and the like. Grrrrrreat locomotive!

[sedfred]

thanks, though it is a bit of a shame people bash bachmann stuff without giving them a chance. people are like: " it's weak because it's a bachmann piece of junk blahblahblah!". yet if the same thing happened with bli people would say it's fine and just needs more weight.

[RAM]

Some people think the kid down the block will never grow up or change.  Some do, some don't.  Bachmann did.

[ACY]

It has decent pulling power, but it can be improved by adding lead weight as with almost any locomotive. Honestly on a 3-4% grade it has trouble though even with the added weight, but so did the real life counterparts. Perhaps also consider adding bullfrog snot to help if you plan on steep grades.

[Trainman203]

Has any one tried rebalancing a decapod?  Out of the box they don't pull much at all.  I have 3 remotored ones that now can do 15 cars or more on level track, but I wonder about the balancing, not that it's been brought up.

[West Bound]

Where did you hear this Sedfred? How could anyone know this when it's not on the market yet. Why not wait till you receive it and see for yourself. This model has already been speculated to death because it's not a Spectrum. Lets not add to it till you know for sure.

[Bucksco]

I believe he is referring to the Berkshire - not the upcoming Mikado. And you are correct - speculation and opinion should not be relied on.....

[sedfred]

i have heard mostly good things about this locomotive, i was mainly wondering about the performance of it. it looks amazing, it almost looks like a spectrum in terms of detail. i am very happy to be getting one, when i get it i will test how many cars it can pull and if i am not satisfied i will add weight. i also plan on adding sound to it someday, i watched jlwii2000's video of it and love the sound but did not want to spend that much, is there any way i can get the exact sound decoder from the sound version? is it available separately? i do not want the mikado just yet, maybe later

[ACY]

is there any way i can get the exact sound decoder from the sound version? is it available separately?

You would have to buy a Bachmann Berkshire (2-8-4) with sound and take it from that locomotive, put it in yours then sell the extra locomotive. No it is not available separately, however you can buy a full featured Tsunami Sound Decoder from Soundtraxx that suits this locomotive. It would actually have more features than the decoder that comes with the Bachmann Sound Equipped version.

[K487]

Two thumbs-up for rogerta and jonathan.

And, here's one way I make "flexible" (malleable - you can shape it) weights for the front half of the 2-8-4's boiler (and other engines).  I bought 5 lbs. of used shotgun shot (bbs) off ebay, cleaned some of it up with a rag and rubbing alcohol, put the cleaned bbs on a clean surface and put some clear (comes out white - dries clear) caulking on the bbs, and mixed it up.  You can add or delete some of the caulk or bbs to get the right consistency.  Then you apply it almost anywhere in the boiler and it sticks on and then dries clear.  It will even stick on the underside of the upper part of the boiler.

K487

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

I have one of the DCC on-board 2-8-4 Berks and since the day I got it have never once had any trouble getting it to pull around 30-35 cars on nearly level track (the floor of the room I had my model railroad at the time was slightly angled towards the outside of the house so one side of the layout was a little higher up than the other). And that is with out any added weight as I have never even bothered putting any additional weight in any of my locomotives.

[jbrock27]

Doug, sent you a PM on 6/23/15.

[electrical whiz kid]

K487;
For years I have advocated using birdshot (yes, the spelling is correct) for weight.  I usually use a dry condom, put the desired amount of weight in it and seal it; then install it where I want.  This has the added fellipe of cutting down the vibration, as the shot isn't a hard mass.  It is loose, and as it will be out of phase, so to speak, with the side to side to side business, it acts so as to cancel out the vibration.
For engines; I, like Roger et al, use lead-BUT...I use lead wool!  You can get it into the most unbelievable places, a little ACC to keep in in place (God knows, lead is a conductor...).
Balancing a locomotive is, as has been said, crucial to good performance.

Rich C.