4-4-0 modern disassembly

[VTBob]

how do the shell come off the modern 4-4-0? I need to get to the motor & its wiring to check and see if there's a motor problem.

I'm converting the dcc to a straight DC locomotive, as my new shelf layout is not going to be DCC at all. I'm in a bind where if I want a layout at all, it has to be a shelf style one around the room, as opposed to a "takes up the entire room" layout. Most of the smaller engines I have are straight DC & I like the block system with toggles then the DCC style of all on.

Thanks,
Vermont Bob

[Trainman203]

1.  Study exploded drawings on Bachmann website  .  2.  Determine which screws hold the shell on.  3.  Remove screws and store safely.  4.  Remove shell.

[WoundedBear]

Remove pilot truck, brake cylinders and boiler stays. One screw down the stack, 2 screws up near front cab corners. Be careful of sand lines and it should all wiggle free and the cab may even seperate from the boiler if the paint bond breaks. Be careful of handrails and piping.

This is to the best of my recollection........They are similar in construction to the 4-6-0's.

Sid

[VTBob]

I ended up removing the burned out board, & re-wiring it like this:

M+ to The red wire & the black wire attached at Board L

M- to The black wires attached at Board R

I didn't hook up the lights, simply cut & tapes them off. Then I added 1 oz of sticky weights to the tender because it was always derailing in the front. The drawbar & wires tension would lift it up enough to derail the front truck.

She runs like new now, & I'm going to try to replace the headlight with a GOW bulb for better lighting. I didn't like the orange led it had before. She also seems to pull considerably more then she did with the decoder. I'm finding that most of the DCC locomotives pull considerably more when rewired to straight DC. Why is that?

Thanks,
VT Bob

[Jhanecker2]

Zytx  : The decoder and it circuitry uses power all the time , DC  uses power only when you turn up the power with the controller . John2.