Bachmann 4-8-4s Selling Like Hotcakes

[WGL]

  I just bought a Spectrum 4-8-4 DCC Santa Fe on eBay NIB from thefavoritespot for $83.  Their BuyItNow price was $95.  modeltrainstuff's price on sale is $110, so I think I did okay, considering the furious bidding each time one comes up for auction.

  If anyone on the forum has one & some comments, I'd be interested.

  I thought that I'd get just one steamer.     Watching videos on UTube of the Milwaukee Road 261 recently running through Wisconsin got to me, though.  Maybe I can change its name to Milwaukee Road.  I saw that BLI has a Great Northern version, but it costs $400!

  I find myself, like YampaBob, averaging 1 new locomotive a month, but he's been doing it for a lot more months. 

[SteamGene]

The 261 doesn't look like any Bachmann 4-8-4, other than the wheel arrangement.
Gene

[RAM]

 I am glad you just bought a Spectrum 4-8-4 DCC Santa Fe on eBay .  The only thing is that Bachmann does not make a spectrum Santa Fe 4-8-4.

[WGL]

  Then, I guess it is not a Spectrum!  I should change the title of this thread.

[Yampa Bob]

The 4-8-4 is a very nice locomotive, and you got it at a good price.

I travel to Denver once a month to see an eye specialist, I can't help it if Caboose Hobbies just happens to be a few blocks from the clinic.  My steam roster is pretty well filled, but I do have some SD70 Macs on pre-order. 

Lots of new locomotives coming out this year, hard to decide which ones NOT to get.  Don't forget my "four" policy.   

[WGL]

 Thanks, Bob!  I noticed that one bidder paid more for Bachmann's 2-10-2 DM&IR than MB Klein charges on sale, so I gave up on that auction.

  Try not to buy more than your usual one a month.     I might restrain myself from buying too many locos by mentioning my intended purchase on the forum & reading a discouraging word.   

  Then, I can't always get exactly the locomotive I want (no Bachmann Milwaukee Road or Great Northern 4-8-4-s) or I can but can't afford it (BLI DCC & sound GN 4-8-4, BLI Twentieth Century Limited Hudson).

Bill

[WGL]

  My Bachmann Santa Fe 4-8-4 arrived today.  A bolt was loose where it holds the piston shaft to the wheel.  I saw threads, so I turned it as much as I could, not having a wrench that size.     Was that the thing to do?

  Bob, I see what you mean about the difficulty of getting all of those steamer wheels on the rails!  Also, the front coupler catches on the turnout's rails.

  In a plastic bag are two tiny silver objects shaped like the backs of captain's chairs.  I can't identify them in the parts diagram.  Can anyone tell me where they go?

  Is that a coal or an oil tender?

[Yampa Bob]

You need to bend the trip pin up a bit.  Some use needle nose pliers, I prefer the special tool by Kadee.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNLK9&P=SM

I bought a set of small metric nutdrivers for maintenance work. A 2.5mm fits all my Connie side rod bolts. If you need small precision tools this site has it all.

https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=58-0430

The little pins in the bag are jumpers, in case you want to remove the decoder and run it on DC power. There should be a small note in the bag with install instructions.  Keep them in a safe place.

Tools, tools, gotta have lots of tools. 

[WGL]

  Thanks, Bob.  I think the trip pin is plastic, because the coupler is plastic.  There was no note in the tiny bag with the jumpers.  Now I know they aren't to be stuck onto the shell somewhere.     With the trip pin out of the way, the locomotive still tends to de-rail at turnouts.

[Yampa Bob]

The trip pin should be metal, since I don't use magnets to uncouple I bend all pins up out of the way.

If there is a spring on top of the pilot truck, it might be binding a bit and keeping the truck from swiveling, or lifting the front drivers.  Try removing the spring and try it. A tiny bit of extra weight on the pilot is better than a spring.

I took the pilots off my Connies, got tired of messing with them. 

Run a loose truck with metal wheels back and forth through the turnout with an index finger, listen and feel for any bumps or catching on the points, frog or wing rails.

[mf5117]

my gf told me i could spend as much as i wanted to on trains as long as i didnt shoot my a-k out the back door anymore . i ordered a 4-8-4 steamer dcc from train world yesterday .and another 50' boston maine passenger set yesterday .sapposed to be here friday . i was having pains cause i wanted one so bad ....wow    am i gonna be able to make the house payment now lolol. good luck with your steamer .

[RAM]

WGL The Santa Fe 4-8-4 has an oil tender?

[WGL]

mf5117, not to shoot an AK out the back door wouldn't be difficult for me!  I broke in my 4-8-4 last night.  The turnouts give me fits:  first the trip pin caught on a curved rail in the turnout.  Then the turnout bounced the loco & caboose loose from each other.  Finally, the turnout shorted out, leaving my middle & inner tracks without power!  I had to take the turnout from my siding.  Now, I have to buy spare right & left ones.

  RAM, your question mark makes me wonder:  are you saying that the Bachmann 4-8-4 Santa Fe Northern's tender is oil?

  I was also following Bachmann 2-10-2 DM&IRs on eBay auctioned by thefavoritespot, an authorized dealer.  Since I'm from the Mesabi Iron Range & went to college in Duluth, that's my kind of steamer.  The BuyItNow price is $85.  One person "won" an auction for $86.  I bid up to $75, expecting someone to bid dollar by dollar until they got to $76, but I won it for $69.  Then, I re-read everything I could find by Grumpy & other fans of the 2-10-2.   

[Yampa Bob]

Considering the usual street price, I think you got a fantastic deal. Did you get #508 or #511?  Whichever one you got, you need to buy the other one to make a set.  Are you up to "Anniversary 2015" yet? 

Anyway, congratulations, it's a beautiful locomotive.

Are you trying to beat my "quota"? I've been "on the wagon" lately, but getting a bad case of the DTs.  I'm about due for a fix. 

I have the 2009 Bachmann catalog on the way, I understand it is about half the size of previous editions, hope I can read it ok.

[RAM]

The ? is in error.  The santa fe tender is oil.