4-6-0 start

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Might be overkill on the gear issue.  In my own case I have not had any problems with the replacement gear on my 2-6-0 and I have not yet seen even a single report on the failure of one of the replacement gears.

Anyone have any failure reports on a failure of a replacement gear??

As for the caboose, a little lube goes a long way!  Teflon grease at the bolster and lite oil for the axles.

[Dr Who 12]

Thanks for the reply Bill.

  I'll take your advice about the gears and not go beyond the replacement gear/axel I ordered.
I found some ball bearings for the die cast trucks  and installed a set in 2 of the 3 trucks I have but I think I will leave the last truck as is and use the oil and grease as you recommend.

On another note I was thinking of installing body mount couplers on these tenders with the die cast trucks but Bachmann is sold out of the spectrum ones in the parts listing so what would you recommend as replacements?

Thanks in advance
Dr Who 12

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Back to the caboose,  they do have some very fragile parts on the trucks.  The brake beams for sure.  they are easy to break if they hit something in the track, so be careful in that respect.

I have not done a body mount coupler on a 4-6-0 tender, so maybe someone reading this can give a recommendation.  I do know some have used the Kadee brand of couplers with success, but I don't know which model number.

[Dr Who 12]

Well the weather has been rainy and cold so I decided to buy some body mount couplers and install them on my 4-6-0 Annie loco's tenders.

At first this seamed like a daunting task but I made a height gauge ( I could have bought one but I figured I could save some bucks by making my own) so all the couplers would be the same and the install went quite well. I haven't modified the loco's pilot couplers yet but hope to sometime.  The install on the tenders required making some custom height spacers and adjusting the coupler length but the result is very realistic and the couplers I bought couple very well.

I hope to be outside expanding my layout soon, weather permitting.
That's it from the North Coast.

Later Dr Who 12

[Loco Bill Canelos]

I like doubleheading my Annies and so I added an operating front coupler. This is how I added an operating front coupler on my Annies using a Bachmann coupler in a stock coupler box.   I posted it about 4 years ago.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,23753.msg188258.html#msg188258

It works fine on 10 foot diameter curves and switches.  Down to the second last post in that old thread is a short video of a test I did using this modification.

Bill

[Dr Who 12]

 The rain quit and our RR club went to east Cleveland Oh. to install a garden railroad at a farm themed metro park. This was hard work and we had 25 club members helping. This inspired me to take out my 8' dia.curved track in preparation for a 10' curved track layout and make the straight sections longer as well. this is going to require a nice 10' dia. curved  trestle  at one end. I want to build this instead of a lot of fill dirt I would have to buy also I think a trestle would look better.

I haven't installed working couplers on the front of my Annie's as Bill has but perhaps over this winter I might make that happen. His video shows another step in realism with our Railroads. Thanks for the inspiration Bill.

Later
Dr Who12 

[Dr Who 12]

 At a recent club function one of the guys told me he learned  from an article he was reading that it warned of not using power transformers with the momentum function. This function starts your loco/train off in a slow speed progressing to desired running speed. The article stated that the Bachman motors will eventually burn out from this low voltage at startup.
I have an old 10 amp transformer with a rheostat/speed control that does somewhat the same thing and I'm wondering if I'll have problems with my locos. I have run quite while with no problems.  The club member said it would be better to start the loco/train off at a higher speed then running speed. In my thinking starting off from a dead stop with a running speed would do more damage to the motor/gear box than starting off at a slow speed then ramping up to running speed this is more realistic as well.
Any thought on this would be appreciated thanks in advance.

Later Dr Who12

[Joe Zullo]

If I were you I would back away from this "genius" as he is wrong. See if you can find the article he got his info from so we can debunk it! 

[Dr Who 12]

Thanks Joe for the quick response.
  I'll try contacting the club member and get the article.
Later Dr Who12

[Loco Bill Canelos]

 I agree totally with Joe on this,  I have used momentum throttles with my 4-6-0's and others with absolutely no problem.  Although I am now mostly battery and radio control I still use track power in my big yard, and I use a momentum throttle for the track powered switchers I use there.  I have never had a problem.

Bill

[Dr Who 12]

I haven't posted anything for quite a while so I thought I would update and mention my latest. I just bought a Spectrum 120.3 caboose and it is amazing. If I didn't know it was a model, under the right setting it could pass for a real caboose.

Bachmann sure put the detail in this car a bit on the fragile side but that is to be expected with such detail. I was able to get it at a very low price so I couldn't pass it up.

The only thing is the couplers don't work with the Bachmann regular couplers however the caboose did include an extra set of couplers that I could attach to another freight car and run it ahead of the caboose.

Well that's it for now.
Later DrWho12

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Actually the extra couplers were for replacing the ones on the caboose so it could run anywhere in the train with the 1:22.5 couplers.

Have fun!

Bill

[Dr Who 12]

Thanks Bill for the info it will be most helpful being able to run the caboose with my other Bachmann cars.

Later DrWho12