Remove body from 4-8-4 N-scale

[steve572]

Hello: I'm Steve Christiansen.  I'm new to model railroading.  I have been collecting locos for 25 years and am finally building a layout.  I will be modeling N-scale the 1930's through mid 1950's.  I have several 20 year old bachmann locos that have never been run.  Some do not run and I wish to fix these and install DCC decoders.  I have checked the internet and YouTube to see about removing the bodies to no avail.  The first one is a 4-8-4 loco.  Any help as to how to remove the body without breaking something would be appreciated.  Thanks, Steve

[skipgear]

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/58052.pdf

Hopefully your loco's will run. Bachmann loco's of that era have a habit of breaking themselves setting in the box. The nylon they used for the gears shrunk over time and caused them to crack. Before you go any farther, try to spin the drive wheels, one at a time. If they spin, the gears are cracked. If the gears are cracked, they are done as there are no parts to fix them.

[James in FL]

Hi steve572,

For some disassembly help look here;

http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/bach484.html

If you need parts, donor locos are cheap and plentiful on eBay.

Good luck

[BobZ]

For $15, each engine, plus shipping to them, Bachmann will repair or replace. I've sent in several older engines (two 4-8-4 and one 0-6-0) and they sent replacements.