HO Decapod 2-10-0

[Alan.L]

I inherited a Decapod which needs a lot of work. The drive belt is missing and is out of stock according to the parts website, dated 2010. Where can I get a new belt?

[Trainman203]

Get another dec off eBay for scrap parts.  Or use the one you have for scrap parts.  I'm doing that right now with a USRA light mountain.

[J3a-614]

I'm not positive, but I think Jonathan said the Decapod belt is interchangeable with that of the 2-8-0, just a different part number. 

Look around, if need be on something like e-bay, you should find one.

[electrical whiz kid]

Insert Quote 

I'm not positive, but I think Jonathan said the Decapod belt is interchangeable with that of the 2-8-0, just a different part number. 

A fair amount of parts are interchangeable.  Makes sense to me.  Almost every other thing works that way, why not Bachmann?

Rich C.

[Trainman203]

I'm still not certain about light mountain vs heavy  mountain mechanisms.  I'd like to get a light mountain that runs and put an IC heavy mountain shell on its mechanism.  You'd think that in the Bachmann world they would be so,  as they were with the prototypes.

[J3a-614]

I'm still not certain about light mountain vs heavy  mountain mechanisms.  I'd like to get a light mountain that runs and put an IC heavy mountain shell on its mechanism.  You'd think that in the Bachmann world they would be so,  as they were with the prototypes.

I think you should be OK, though you may want to also use the heavy cylinder block.  Smokebox diameters are different, and overall block size is, too.  That may require some fiddling with valve gear and possibly replacing some rivets, but that's not a big job in steam models. . . 

[Trainman203]

How do you do rivets in valve gear these days?

[Alan.L]

Thank you for your inputs I checked the belt for the 2-8-0 and it too is out of stock.
I think I may have to kitbash the loco as a last resort.

[Trainman203]

Make your own rivets?  Man.  I'd have to get a leprechaun to help.  My eyes aren't that good anymore.

I remember my first steam engine kit in 1961, a Mantua mikado, the fattest, heaviest HO steamer on 8 wheels ever made, always wondered if it had a prototype.  You had to rivet the valve gear together on that one.  I was 12 turning 13 and had no idea how to do it.  The LHS should have known to tell a kid to get the Penn Line "rivetool" but didn't, so I tried to flare the rivets with a nail and a hammer.  Of course I ruined everything, and ran that engine without valve gear for 5 years before destroying it in a misguided kitbash.

[Woody Elmore]

There is a website called Yardbird trains: www.yardbirdtrains.com. They have a lot of parts and out of stock items. I bet they have rivets. I got rivets in a parts grab bag that some guy had on Ebay. I paid about $15 for the collection but there were many good parts. I give them away - I can't be bothered shipping a dozen 2-56 screws.

This website is interesting all by itself. Browsing it is always interesting.

[Woody Elmore]

Well, since I last looked at Yardbird, they are slowly going out of business. My Bad. They have an Ebay store where they are selling off all the parts.