4-6-0 Tweeks and Tips (revised)

[duddy09]

Hello everybody !


I have four  2-8-0 ;  three of them runned nicelly at their very first time, but the other one barely moved; I had to send it to a shop , and some days later it was perfectly running - I don't know what  was done in the shop , but they did it right !


4-6-0 were , as were the 2-8-0, very used in Brazil , and I  re-painted my 2-8-0 in  Brazilian old companies.


As I am just starting in this hobby, I do not know how to go through the changes that you very kindly  posted here.

Shoud l I wait for some months to buy the "re-builded" 4-6-0

[tweetsieengineer]

I wouldnt say wait but be ready to do some adjusting, the 2 4-6-0's I have both came out of the factory in pretty fine shape.  They also seem to pull my trains far better than all 6 of my 2-8-0's. 

Actually I have had only one of the 6 2-8-0's that came from the factory in perfect condition. The rest all had drivers out of quarter, eccentrics that were binding the rotation of the drivers, and poor connections between the tender and engine. But with a little patients and some adjustments I now have 6 perfect 2-8-0's that will all pull 25+ cars. But this 4-6-0 is something else, granted Ill be using it for passenger use mostly, but ive already pulled 15 freight cars behind it and not a slip of the drivers or a stall.

Tim

[skipgear]

If you don't have one now, you may not get one till the second batch arrives anyhow. They are drying up at most places. I know the Undec versions are all but gone. There are some decorated units still floating around.

[sd45elect2000]

I have three of the undec engines , one of them has a hitch and I will be using the techniques described here to fix it . There's no way I'm sending it back !! Beautiful work Bachmann !!

[Roger Perkins]

Tony (SkipGear), Thanks you for sharing your suggestions and photos.  I am still very interested in this engine which I had been eagerly awaiting.

I am not satisfied if it is necessary to tweak an engine to get it to run properly.  I do not think that should be expected of any purchaser of any product.  Accepting defects lowers the bar for the manufacturers in my opinion.

At age 71 years and with cataract surgery on both eyes in December 2010, I am not adept at soldering or handling many of the small parts.

Now I eagerly await the second release of this engine with hopes problems found in the first run will be corrected and perhaps a USRA short tender used as replacement for the one in the first run.

[Albert in N]

You are right that a new ($150) N locomotive should not have to be repaired by the customer to run.  That shows a total lack of inspection prior to shipment to the consumer.  Also, why would a nice looking steamer have such a mis-matched tender just to house a DCC decoder?  Anyway, with Bachmann's inflated pricing, you will find other locomotives (such as Kato, Atlas, Athearn) more competitive.  By the way, I never had a Kato lemon.  As a matter of fact, all of my early N scale European made locomotives ran well out of the box!

[skipgear]

Anyway, with Bachmann's inflated pricing, you will find other locomotives (such as Kato, Atlas, Athearn) more competitive.  By the way, I never had a Kato lemon.  As a matter of fact, all of my early N scale European made locomotives ran well out of the box!

Inflated pricing??? This thing is a great deal for the money, even with the issues, which I'm sure will be sorted out before the next batch.

Other loco's, steam loco's from Kato, Atlas, Athearn.....seriously?
  Kato makes one, the GS-4 which has exceeded $200 retail now. The Kato Mikado's are no longer in production and Kato has no plans to run them again. You can pick them up under $100 used but you can't get the traction tire retrofit for them anymore which makes them pretty useless unless you want to pay $30 on Ebay for the tire retrofit.
Atlas doesn't make any steam. They repaint the Micro-Ace Mogul and sell it as their own and then there is the shay, which I love but is just a diesel in disguise.
Athearn 2-6-0 and 2-8-0 haven't been made in over 2 years (there is a new batch due shortly though) and they are a PITA to add DCC to should you want to. Curent pricing is about the same as the Bachmann Ten Wheeler. The Athearn Challenger and Big Boy are very nice loco's that are pushing $400 and are VERY large and VERY road specific.

There is nobody out there completly free from defects. The last Kato loco's I purchase were the Heritage SD70 ACE's. Out of the 7 locos, 3 of them were bad. The first loco I received was missing gears from the truck. The other was a bad light board and the third was a truck broken in shipping. Yes Kato took care of them but just the same, they are not without fault. About one in 5 Atlas loco's we sell at the shop I work at needs the motor contacts adjusted so they will run.

[LGBfan17]

I just got my Union Pacific 4-6-0 and the painted side of the pilot truck faces the track.  I don't know anything about pilot trucks on steam locos, but I think it could be upside down.  Seeing that my Atlas MP15 only goes in reverse and my Bachmann 44-tonner stops after about 6 inches with an analog power pack, the 4-6-0 is the only N gauge DCC equipped unit I have that runs at all on DC.

I also want to upgrade from the factory decoder to something like a Digitrax DZ125 but the MP15 has an NCE decoder and I plan to upgrade to NCE decoders in my Bachmann HO gauge GP40 and my Atlas N gauge RS-3.  If anything, which NCE decoder will fit in the 4-6-0?

[skipgear]

I just got my Union Pacific 4-6-0 and the painted side of the pilot truck faces the track.  I don't know anything about pilot trucks on steam locos, but I think it could be upside down.  Seeing that my Atlas MP15 only goes in reverse and my Bachmann 44-tonner stops after about 6 inches with an analog power pack, the 4-6-0 is the only N gauge DCC equipped unit I have that runs at all on DC.

Read the first page of the topic to see how the pilot truck should be installed.

What are you using for a DC power supply. It sounds like it may be a pulse power pack and the decoders are confusing the pulse as input. Dual mode decoders run best on pure DC without pulse power. Pulse power can confuse them.

I also want to upgrade from the factory decoder to something like a Digitrax DZ125 but the MP15 has an NCE decoder and I plan to upgrade to NCE decoders in my Bachmann HO gauge GP40 and my Atlas N gauge RS-3.  If anything, which NCE decoder will fit in the 4-6-0?

I have installed a DN135 in mine after I replaced the tender. The DZ125 would have been easier but I had a DN handy and wanted to see how it performed. There is nothing wrong with the stock decoder if you don't plan on going to a smaller tender.

[LGBfan17]

My DC power pack is an MRC Tech 4 model 260.

[Mark.S+10]

I bought a new 4-6-0 N scale.  It had a "click" and I sent it back to Bachmann.  I'd like to save some shipping cost and avoid the slow turntime from Bachmann and fix it my self.  Thanks Skipgear for the recommendations:

"Make sure the cross head guides are angled outward, away from the cylinders slightly. Even better if the bottom guide sets out a touch farther than the upper guide. The Crosshead was hitting on the vertical link attached to it and causing the click. Tweaking the cross head guides cured the sound and click."

For those of us that don't know what a crosshead is could you include some pictures?  Thanks, Mark.S+10

[skipgear]

[Mark.S+10]

That's exactly what I wanted.    Thanks you so much, Mark

[rkindermann]

Ok...have seen many comments about the new 4-6-0 and about dual mode decoders on analog layouts.  The new 4-6-0 is nice, but to get it to crawl, how do I change the CV values if I just have an MRC analog Tech II pack?  Also, any recommendations for a replacement pack with pure DC as I don't think any of the Tech II packs are pure DC.  I also have the same problem with the 44 tonner and several other dual mode engines to a lesser degree.  Any ideas?  Great information on the tweeks to the 4-6-0...I'll try them.  Hope Bachmann hears the comments here and applies them to what is already a great engine in N-scale.  Give us more!!!

[skipgear]

You need to find a friend or a shop with a DCC system to change the Vmin unfortunately.