Quote from: DoubleDAZ on April 29, 2011, 04:11:16 PM
[ I assume you're saying I should do that for a few hours each day until I get around 10 hours of running in.  Is that correct?  Can I vary the speed every 10 minutes or so or does it have to be more often than that?

that's what i did, the two hours recommended was no where near enough and i still saw major improvements up until about the ten hour mark.

I just thought id let you know that if youre using atlas code 80 turnouts, youre in for a ride. When i first got into n scale, i bought some turnouts with the 4-8-4. i had a diesel from some years back. the diesel was fine, the steam had continuous issues. if it wasn't jumping the points, it was stalling on the frog. not well designed turnouts. i would honestly recommend trying peco turnouts as an alternative for any future purchases. the tie spacing is slightly different than the atlas, but they are a much better product and are held in position by springs. hope this helps some
  like mrmtox said there are some solutions that were listed on his post that should work. also,you should know the loco performs far better with an extensive break in period (mine was like 10 hours before i started getting consistent performance.

Quote from: en4cer on April 25, 2011, 10:40:23 PM
I'm sorry ACY but that last comment you made makes no sense at all. I work in a service industry and something that has a warranty is repaired free of charge and along the same token if that item were not under warranty then it would still be repaired at a cost to the consumer.

lets see, what happens if you have a 10 year old train from like model power or something. suddenly, it stops working for no apparent reason other than it is old. Model Power and many other manufacturers offer ZERO customer service and will simply be of no help at all. On the other side, let's say you have a 10 year old bachmann model that has cracked gears, bachmann will simply replace the ENTIRE model for a newer and comparable one for a pretty small fee ($25 dollars for spectrum versus over $100 for a new model). Seems pretty reasonable to me no matter how you look at it. I had an old bachmann 2-8-0 with cracked gears, they sent me a new 4-8-4 for just $15 dollars and the cost to send in my loco. 4-8-4 new is over $90 local hobby shop. that's a saving of around $70, wheras any other company's loco would just be hopeless sitting on a shelf.



Also, yea  it may be discressionary but i haven't hear of anybody being rejected for a warranty if its simply a mechanical flaw in a loco (such as the infamous white gears).

what would be really nice is if bachmann decided to provide two separate shells for a pacific with the same frame. seems somewhat cost inefficient, but the model would appeal to modelers of regular rail lines and modelers of the unique prr k4 pacific. the lack of a well running, somewhat economically priced k4 would definitely sell.

like i already said, a washer over the back truck will redistribute the weight slightly so it rides a little more towards the front. mine had the same issue until i fixed it like this. really the only other way i could think of is a few pieces of led over the pilot to weight it down a bit.

Hey guys, i got a 2-8-0 a few days ago and needless to say i was excited after all the hype about it. After putting it on the track, it didn't perform too well and made a low screeching noise so i assumed it needed breaking in. however, after a lengthy break in period of about 6 hours, performance still hasn't improved and the loco is making a regular clicking noise every revolution of the wheels. If the Bach man reads this, my question is should i seek the hobby shop for help or just contact bachmann about any suggestions or servicing the loco.
Thank You,
Eric

hey bach-man, any word on a k4 4-6-2 in the works

i really cant agree more, a k4 available in a wide array of railroads from spectrum would really be a great product. hopefully we'll hear more in the coming months about a new loco.

hmm, i didnt get a tension screw. must be some manufacturing issue with the new line of 4-8-4s. Mine runs surprisingly well for a standard line loco so i think ill hold onto it as long as my solution holds up.

putting a washer between the rear truck and the frame around the screw back there is a very cheap and somewhat effective short term solution. if i remember correctly, i got like 100 minute sized washers for like two bucks. it took a while to find something the perfect size to balance the thing correctly, then i had to readjust the screws underneath to find a balance at which the wheels weren't too loose. All in all, it took about an hour of tinkering with washers and screws underneath but it runs fine now. I probably woulda gone with a slightly more reliable loco if it was my choice, but this was a decent warranty replacement.

hey mrmtox, i had the same problems with a bachmann 4-8-4 northern i got a few months ago. Let, me tell you, the thing did not run too well out of the box. I had to make minute adjustments to the three screws on the bottom just to get the pilot to stop jumping the rails on turnouts, only to find the rear truck was not low enough to touch the rails. What i ended up doing was getting the smallest washers i could from radioshack and placing them over the truck on the screw holding it to the frame, and this corrected the issues for the most part. I think the issue is the weight distribution of the model, as it seems to lean towards the rear out of the box. hope this helps

nice looking couplers, far more prototypical than the mtl ones. imop, the mtl look way too light compared to the actual janney automatic coupler, but these look great comparitively speaking. Will they be compatible with the old dummy knuckles?

yep

as far as I'm concerned, I'd just be happy with a 4-6-2 k4 available in a couple of railroad names. Something from PRR would be nice as there is very little in n scale (i live right near old PRR tracks).

the instructions should contain a diagram of how to disassemble the rear truck and the pilot; just swap out the rapidos for the knuckle coupler and you should be good to go. Remember to keep the spring in position when switching out the couplers.