52" 4-6-0 Spectrum Drivers

686 Shooter · January 29, 2024, 10:21:16 PM

Hi all. I rebuilt a Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 that had suffered an unfortunate fall. Once I got it all put together, I found out that there was more damage than I thought. I am now in search for a set of 52" drivers for this unit. If any of you have a set, or a basket case loco that you would like to get rid of please let me know. Thanks in advance.

trainman203 · February 01, 2024, 12:38:13 PM

Looking for parts is often a quixotic quest.

You may find that you have to buy a second engine for the parts. Try to find one that doesn't run on eBay. Or, even better still, buy a new one that isn't broken and keep the broken one for other parts. Especially the tender. People look for those tenders all the time and you may be able to sell it and get a lot of your money back for the new engine.

That's a nice older spectrum engine with the separately applied plumbing details like Bachmann should not have gotten rid of. You may be able to sell that engine to someone that just wants the shell. I'll believe it is worth more than you think it is.

686 Shooter · February 01, 2024, 06:21:50 PM

Oh, I will never sell one of my Spectrums. You are correct, Bachmann never should have stopped making these. I like them because if you shop around, you can get one of these and install sound for half the price of a steam engine from the likes of Rapido or Broadway Limited.

Hopefully Bachmann starts making steam engines like these again some day.

trainman203 · February 01, 2024, 10:39:52 PM

You can always buy a new engine and put the better boiler shell on.

686 Shooter · February 04, 2024, 11:45:20 AM

Quote from: trainman203 on February 01, 2024, 10:39:52 PMYou can always buy a new engine and put the better boiler shell on.

I never thought of that.

trainman203 · February 04, 2024, 06:59:15 PM

Then you'll have a nice extra tender. Someone will buy it from you if you don't want it. Maybe even me.

Actually, the best use for that extra tender would be behind a Bachmann mogul. it would look a lot better there than the tender that comes with the mogul, an oddball to say the least.

686 Shooter · February 08, 2024, 07:34:05 PM

Well, it turns out the drivers from the newer 4-6-0 are the same as the Spectrum 4-6-0 with the 52" drivers. Ordered the new ones and now the rebuild is done. Now I just have to decal, get a Soundtraxx decoder for it, and she is ready to go. It runs like a dream.

trainman203 · February 09, 2024, 07:50:46 AM

It runs like a dream because it has a five pole motor. The new ones have a three pole motor.

ScottyB · February 22, 2024, 04:52:40 PM

Quote from: 686 Shooter on February 01, 2024, 06:21:50 PMOh, I will never sell one of my Spectrums. You are correct, Bachmann never should have stopped making these. I like them because if you shop around, you can get one of these and install sound for half the price of a steam engine from the likes of Rapido or Broadway Limited.

Hopefully Bachmann starts making steam engines like these again some day.

Ahem, ahem.. can this be put in all caps, bolded and stickied? Preach, my friend!

russ daley · February 26, 2024, 12:16:21 PM

Hello 686 Shooter...That's great...Like finding gold!!!!

trainman203 · February 28, 2024, 08:10:45 AM

You want to search for gold ... try finding a 63" driver ten wheeler.

686 Shooter · March 02, 2024, 04:55:01 PM

Quote from: trainman203 on February 28, 2024, 08:10:45 AMYou want to search for gold ... try finding a 63" driver ten wheeler.

I'm lucky enough to have one of those too.

trainman203 · March 02, 2024, 05:31:18 PM

You cannot find one of those 63" driver engines anywhere to save your life today. I'm lucky to have four of them. The first two I got way back in the Jurassic when they were available everywhere. Then, when I realized they were going away, I hopped high and hard to get another one. The third one was the very last one at Walthers. The fourth one I got on eBay, just about the last one I ever saw there. If Bachmann ever brings it out again, I hope it has separate pipe detailing like the ones I have now. Since it shares the same boiler casting with the 52" driver engine, that may be hoping for too much.

The 52" driver engine's prototype apparently was a Maryland and Pennsylvania locomotive. I bet it was a catalog locomotive since so many of the railroads had very similar engines, including the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley whose engines I'm familiar with. The 63" driver engine has the same boiler raised up higher on a different frame with higher drivers, but it too closely resembles multiple prototypes, including the famous still-existing Nevada Northern number 40 I'm told.

https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/Nevada_Northern_No._40

News:

52" 4-6-0 Spectrum Drivers