Help With GS4 4-8-4 War Baby

[rowdyjoe]

I recently purchased but, have not taken delivery of,  a GS4 4-8-4 War Baby with Bachman part no. 11322.  Can you please tell me if this locomotive is "DCC ready" ... i.e. does it have an NMRA socket for decoder plug in or must it be hard-wired? 
I haven't been able to find this stock/part number on the Bachman web site.  Any further information you can provide will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Garry Rife
Arlington, TX

[richG]

This is what I found in a search. There are NO "DCC ready" words in any search results for this loco.
http://www.traintrack.net/Engines/HO_Bachmann.htm

It is probably not DCC ready as the ones that are advertised, light and smoke are the standard line. It is not the Spectrum line. Do not know anything about the motor wiring.

Rich

[rowdyjoe]

Thakns Rich.  I didn't find anything on the www either so, here I am hoping the "Bach-Man" can give me some answers. 

Garry

[richG]

Click on the link I provided, you will not see the words DCC Ready which by definiton means, no NMRA connector, not DCC ready. Only the Spectrum are DCC ready or DCC equipped.

Rich

[the Bach-man]

Dear Joe,
Current production models are DCC Onboard, but you have purchased and older model. I don't believe it's DCC Ready.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[rowdyjoe]

Thanks Rich and Bach-man.  Shucks!  I was looking for an easy/plug-n-play install but, when I saw "discontinued" at a few retail outlets on-line I suspected what you guys have confirmed.  Iit looks like I'll have to heat up the old soldering station again. 
Hope the disassembly and reassembly isn't too tough.  I'm a bit impatient with a new toy and I want it to work right away.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Garry Rife
Arlington, TX

[robman]

Gentlemen, and any ladies present. Can someone please enlighten this unenlightened one on where the term "War baby" came from in relation to the GS4 loco. Cheers from over here in NZ. Rob.

[Woody Elmore]

Rob -" War Babies "refers to the fact that the SP ordered locomotives but because the war was raging the government didn't want the SP to build a locomotive just for passenger service. They wanted smaller, more utilitarian locomotives so the GS-4 was a bit smaller than predecessors. Since they were built in 1943, they are referred to as "War Babies."

Might I add that my dad was in the US Navy during WWII and he always raved about the hospitality of New Zealanders (not that Australians weren't).

[Ozzie21]

The Older GS-4 war baby is of the split frame design. You will have to seperate the chassis halves by undoing the screws set in the chassis halves. Take care not to damage the the plastic screw locators or loose the palstic spacers that sit over them. These will most likely fall out when you seperate the frame halves. The motor will have to be insulated from the frames as the frames form the pickup path. If it has the smoke generator I'd toss it away as it's current draw can cause problems. I can't remember if the lights are 12V or not as It's been quite a few years since I've worked on one of these locos.

Best of luck.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

Thanks Rich and Bach-man.  Shucks!  I was looking for an easy/plug-n-play install but, when I saw "discontinued" at a few retail outlets on-line I suspected what you guys have confirmed.  Iit looks like I'll have to heat up the old soldering station again. 
Hope the disassembly and reassembly isn't too tough.  I'm a bit impatient with a new toy and I want it to work right away.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Garry Rife
Arlington, TX

[rowdyjoe]

Charles,
     Thanks for the tips on disassembly.  It appears to be a delicate operation and I hope I can successfully complete it.  I've wanted one of these locos for a long time and now that I have one, I hope I don't foul it up making the conversion to DCC. 

Woody,
    Thanks for the history of this loco.  I've always admired the design and appearance of the War Baby and I'm very happy to have a model of it.  These were an important part of US RR history as,  I think, all steam locos are.  Before I leave this earth, I'd like to ride as many of the steam excursion trains I can.  However, with fuel prices as they are I may have to use my imagination.   

Garry
Arlington, TX
 

[Woody Elmore]

They are great looking locomotives expecially in Daylight colors. If I were emperor of the world I'd banish the American Freedom Train red, white and blue.

[Jim2903]

Rob -" War Babies "refers to the fact that the SP ordered locomotives but because the war was raging the government didn't want the SP to build a locomotive just for passenger service. They wanted smaller, more utilitarian locomotives so the GS-4 was a bit smaller than predecessors. Since they were built in 1943, they are referred to as "War Babies."

Might I add that my dad was in the US Navy during WWII and he always raved about the hospitality of New Zealanders (not that Australians weren't).

My understanding is that the "GS" stood for Golden State until the war, when the SP started referring to them as General Service to slip them past the War Production Board.

[daylight]

For the record: the GS-4 (and GS-5) class had nothing whatsoever to do with War Babies. That expression refers to the GS-6 engines, which were slightly smaller and had smaller drivers than the -5 and  -6. Actually the GS-6 were more based on the GS-2 and -3, with some GS-4 elements mixed in.

GS-4/5s were painted black in later years, but GS-6 were delivered in black and never got Daylight colours.

More information can be found in Dr. Robert Church's book "4-8-4  Daylight The Complete Story of the Southern Pacific GS Class 4400 Series Locomotives"

D.

Rob -" War Babies "refers to the fact that the SP ordered locomotives but because the war was raging the government didn't want the SP to build a locomotive just for passenger service. They wanted smaller, more utilitarian locomotives so the GS-4 was a bit smaller than predecessors. Since they were built in 1943, they are referred to as "War Babies."

Might I add that my dad was in the US Navy during WWII and he always raved about the hospitality of New Zealanders (not that Australians weren't).

[rowdyjoe]

To all who are interested.
     My War Baby was delivered on Tuesday of this week and it ran very well as DC.  As some have pointed out, this particular loco is not DCC ready so, I did it the hard way ... I wired it myself.  The wiring was not difficult to figure out and isolating the motor was easy enough but, reassembly was difficult for me.  In the process I broke an important part of the right front valve linkage support ... it's a plastic part that guides the linkage.  The linkage binds up and stalls the the motor without this part. 

I've written to Bachman parts dept. requesting the parts but, in the mean time I'm trying to epoxy the part back in place.  Wish me luck.

Garry

[rowdyjoe]

To all who are interested #2:

The repair job was successful and the loco runs fine.

Garry