Hi Michigan Jim.

Well I have another Idea for power pickups for a big hauler tender. I was looking the other day at a real 4-6-0 locomotive and noticed chains attached to the tender's trucks. I have a Bachman 2-6-0 spectrum that has track power pickups on the tender trucks and chains  attached to the tender frame like the real one I saw and these trucks are available from the Bachmann 2-6-0 parts section of their website.

I took the trucks off my 2-6-0 and noticed that they mount to the tender a bit differently than the original 4-6-0 tender trucks but with some modification I think they could be made to work.

I think these 2-6-0 trucks with the attached chains  look better on a 4-6-0 anniversary locomotive than original ones. 

I'm thinking of making this change at lease  to 2 of my 4  4-6-0s in the future as I might need the extra power pickup for future electronics.

Hope this helps
Dr Who 12

Thanks trainman.

I tried the very hot water attack with some success but never thought to use some drifts or punches as in replacing bearing races. I normally think of these kind of approaches but somehow trains and cars didn't register with this process.

I will be getting a new 4-6-0 soon and I want to install 2 more metal bands to the chuff drum also your info about the loose screws is most helpful. You mentioned using washers between the axel bushing and the screws but didn't mention using metal washers but said something about the washer coming in contact with the metal axel. Did you use some kind of non metallic insert in the washer hole and use a washer with a large or drilled out hole? 

I can understand over time and running the loco that the bushings would deform allowing the screws to loosen up. When I installed the screws and wheels back on the axels I used red locktite to help keep them tight.

I like your washer approach and must figure a way to make sure they don't connect with the metal parts of the axels.

Thanks for the help.

  later.
  Dr Who 12

Hi Michigan Jim

I was thinking about doing the same up grade to my 4-6-0s as well but I was thinking of using the bearing pickups on a Piko  truck. I have installed a set a passenger cabooses so I could  install lights in the cabooses.
I think that the wheel/axel assembly would work on the Bachmann truck and the wires would install in the bearings of the axels. These trucks are great as they don't put any drag on the car as the standard truck with pick ups did. I don't know if you could just replace the Bachman  trucks with the Piko trucks but that would be a quick fix if you could. You can get the Piko trucks from Reindeer Pass or order them from some other dealer or from Piko direct. The # for the trucks is 36167

I also was thinking about installing My Loco Sound in my 4-6-0s so please let us know how it works out.

I hope this helps.
Later
Dr Who 12

HI all

I have been having difficulty with the plastic wheels attached to the metal drivers on the 4-6-0 locos.

I have only been able to take one of these plastic wheels off without cracking or breaking the spokes. The newest loco I recently bought I decided to take the first driver apart ( I didn't do this on my other two locos but installed the new bands without disturbing the wheel assembly ) to install 2 new bands on the chuff drum so the loco would make 4 chuffs per rev.  I also found the screws holding the wheels on the axels were loose.

Is this a common thing that these screws would be loose and should I check the other wheels as well? This is a new gen. 6 chassis loco and never ran so I didn't expect to find these screws loose.

The other drivers will be more difficult to disassemble the plastic wheels before I can get to the screws.

  I was thinking of some how using hot water to help make the plastic wheels cooperate with the removal  but if there is a better way please let me know.

Thanks in advance
Dr Who 12

Thanks for the reply Loco Bill.

It's winter here in Ohio and I think I'm in train withdraw because our club had a large diesel loco display set up at a local greenhouse / garden center from late Nov. through Christmas to Jan 5 when we dismantled it.

If your interested go to NAGRS.com web site and see the photos. We also set up another large display  at Crocker Park a shopping center near Cleveland. I helped install both displays and did maintenance on the display at the greenhouse also on Sundays we would run our steam trains so I was able to run some of my Bachmann fleet.

The club I'm in is the Northern Ohio Garden Railroad Society and we have been doing these displays for 4 years now.   

Regarding my recent purchase, a Spectrum 2-6-0 Russian Steel locomotive I recently bought, I'm glad I didn't pay the full price but got a massive discount even though it is a new loco because the loco has no sound. It is advertised as dcc ready.  I would have thought Bachmann would have installed the same sound electronics as in a 4-6-0 Big Hauler for the $12,00 MSRP or even the $790 to $800 price on various websites.

In the future I plan to add sound and remote walk around control to this and my other locos.

I also have a PIko 2-6-0 mogul and an Aristo craft 040 Rogers the Piko has magnetic track pick up sound and the Rogers has some kind of goofy sound triggered from a tender truck. I could buy the Piko dcc controller and install their dcc sound board in the tender of the Piko 2-6-0 but the cost for all the electronics is way  out of my budget and I don't think  the Piko electronics will interface with my Bachmann locos so I think I'll wait for soundtraxx to make a G scale sound system.

Well that is it for now.

  Later, Dr Who 12

Hi All.

I'm new to the Bachmann line of trains and it all started with a $30.00 pond shop train set. One of our club members told me about it and he bought it for me. The owner wanted $50,00 for it in broken condition but settled on $30.00.

The club member also had another 4-6-0 that would not work he let me work on it and I was able to repair it to working order. Someone must have dropped it because the weight on the chassis was broken off among other parts.  This  started my Bachmann train collection.

I have now the original pond shop train a standard 4-6-0 that I rebuilt with a new gen. 5 chassis I built up from ordered parts, a WT&NC anniversary and a E.B.T. gen.6  anniversary. I still have the original pond shop chassis in parts as well. I have modified all these locos to make 4 chuffs per rev. and  additional capacitors soldered to the pcb boards in the tenders for a better sound. I tested these trains yesterday out side as the weather was in the High 60s and all ran quite well.  The newest set is the WT&NC I assembled from ordered parts and it made the best sound of the 3 locos.

I also bought a 2-6-0 ( couldn't pass it up as it was the last the dealer had and I got it for 1/3 the cost of a new one). It came dcc ready and along with the other locos I would like to ad a sound decoder and other electronics to run my trains on RC and battery power  some time in the future.

I have had great :- results working with the Bachmann parts dept. and their friendly staff. 

That's it for now.
DrWho 12 out.