2-6-0 gear fault

[casey]

Hi
   Whilst hauling 3 cars up a gradient my 2-6-0 suddenly gave up but I could hear the motor whirring I am gathering that this is a stripped  or loose gear, I noted that "Scrappy" had the same fault last March and fixed it with JB weld, I am hoping that Mine is as easy to fix, question is are there any exploded diagrams to download to assist in this? the one that came with the loco does'nt really cut it.
Thanks.

[Chris9017]

My Eureka & Palisade did the same thing 2 years ago.  The problem with the Spectrum 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s is that their gears are plastic, and plastic on chrome silver axle shafts.   Over time those gears go under a lot of tension and stress, and if running the locomotive for a long time, the axle gets extremely hot causing the main drive gear to expand and spin off the axle shaft.   

This is fixable.  You can weld it, put red lock tight on it, or you can order a new gear box on this site in the parts department. 

Replacing the gear box is pretty easy if your used to overhauling and rebuilding engines yourself, but if you don't want to go there, then I would recomend that you send the engine to Bachmann, and they'll change the gear box for you.

If they came out with metal gears, then this problem wouldn't be occurring.  Plastic gears on metal is not really the best thing, especially if that plastic gear is going to be the main drive gear.

[casey]

Thanks for the reply but I have run into a problem, upon turning the loco upside down and removing 10no screws I have found that this loco (spectrum 2-6-0) has slip eccentrics attached to the axle which have to be removed to gain access to the gear box/gearing. How is this removed? are there any pics etc to aid me?
thanks Mike. 

[Kevin Strong]

Remove the drivers by popping the little "hub caps" off the center of the drivers and using a small phillips head screw to loosen the screw that holds the driver in place. (You may want to remove the side rods first, but it's not mandatory. You should at this point be able to take the axle (with the eccentrics) at least far enough out of the frame to remove the bearing blocks. Next, carefully remove the eccentrics, each side as one unit. Have a small clamp handy to put on this assembly once it's off the axle. You'll want to keep this together. Do the same for the other side. Then you should be able to get to the axle to remove/replace the gear.

Northwest Short Line has a replacement gear for the 2-6-0/4-4-0. I forget what the exact part number is, but it's listed in the same place as their 2-8-0 replacement gear. If I recall, it's one number off, like 2225-6 or something, but don't quote me.

That's going to be a more robust gear than the Bachmann gear, but if the Bachmann gear is not cracked all the way through, you can probably just repair it by using a little JB-weld on the axle to hold the gear firmly. I did this for my 4-4-0 gear, and it's held up well. You can also take some 3/8" brass tubing, cut two thin slices off of it, and use that to reinforce the hub of the Bachmann gear. That in conjunction with the JB-weld, and I think you'll have a good, solid gear.

If the gear is cracked all the way through, I'd replace the gear. You could use the same brass sleeve method to reinforce it and bring it back together, but the $13 for the NWSL gear will be far less headache down the road.

Later,

K

[casey]

Many thanks Kevin I will give it a shot and see how it goes.
thanks.

[Kevin Strong]

I forgot to mention the obvious--remove the bottom plate that holds the axles in the frame...

Later,

K

[casey]

Had a go at removing gear and gearbox Thanks to Kevin! result 1 gear which is in two halves ( have'nt figured out how to post pic yet) and have been in touch with NWSL re new gear, question is as this appears to be a weak link why is this not corrected during manufacture? I am a bit brassed off by this as the Loco has only done about 4hrs running from new.
Close inspection of the gear shows that instead of being solid the gear has a recess cut into both sides in effect the meat driving the loco is only about 1/32" thick no wonder it fractures.
I have elected not to send it back as I reside in the UK and this would not be cost effective. this spoils what is otherwise a very well engineered model.

[Kevin Strong]

That's why we have (and praise) NWSL. While I can't speak to the longevity of these particular gears, they are made from the same material and are of similar (identical?) size to those that are in some 20-year-old NWSL motor blocks that have been in constant use on my dad's railroad under somewhat strenuous conditions. Those gears look and function very well after all those years. I'd certainly expect the NWSL gears to give similar service in the B'mann locos.

Let us know how the swap-out goes.

Later,

K

[Chris9017]

I will order 7 of those gears since I have 3 moguls and 4 4-4-0s, so I should make the change.

[casey]

That's brave Chris, Surely you have better things to do, Whilst I am sure they will go at some point I think I would wait till they do, The info Kevin has given is good and with care comes apart quite easily as it is well engineered.  I have yet to put it back together and past experience has told me that it is not always that easy and unfortunately patience is not my strongest attribute Good luck with it, I have a 4-4-0 as well maybe I should get 2 hhhmmmmmm.

[peterbunce]

Hi,

The reference number from NWSL is as follows - 2223-6

The description is as follows.

#1 Bachmann 4-4-0 axle gear 24T SGd x 15.5mm OD x 1/4″ ID

Thank you 'casey' for the topic, my 4 4 0 has just done the same; did you get yours fixed?

Yours Peter Bunce in England

[casey]

Hi All,
         I must admit to being a bit tardy as I only got around to fitting the gear (bought in Jan- Feb) about 6 weeks ago, I was putting it off as I have had experiences in the past to know that often a loco does not go back together and work as well as it did before being taken apart.
Imagine my elation when after only about 1.5 hrs work it ran a treat! it has since done about 3.5 hrs running.
Thanks for the tips and thank Bachmann for a truly great loco. BUUUT Please use a better class of gear in the future.
Casey.

[Bris Biker]

Hello does anyone have photos of this repair as I think I have the same problem and have not done this before thanks Greg.

[Barry BBT]

The NWSL gear is black Delrin, and no indents in the sides of the gear.

Barry - BBT