Need Info

[Joe Zullo]

Bill,
Can you give me some data on a 2-4-2 Columbia P/N 91114? It was donated to our club, looks almost new but has bad gears. The axle gear was split and I 3-D printed a new one. It ran once around my railroad and stopped with the motor running. Upon examination it was the worm gear that is the problem now. Really a bad design.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi Joe,

It came out in 1989 and was problematic.  They reran it in 1999, with a new mechanism, but it was in the catalog for only 2 years.  The new release has the same product number as the original release 91114. The new release has a new motor, metal gear box , metal bearings and all metal wheels.  I have never seen a new one and and an old one side by side so I have no idea how to tell them apart other than doing what you did, take it apart.  Looks like you have the older one.  I seem to recall that someone used JB Weld to glue the worm gear to the shaft, but never heard how successful it was over time.

All in all it is a great looking little locomotive.  Mine is an older version and looked great as a hangar queen only.  I sent it to NWSL so they could design a replacement gear box for it, but they never did and after the sale to the new owner they never sent it back.  I have never seen anyone complaining about the newer version here on the forum, so I have no idea how reliable the newer version was.  Shame that Bachmann did not change the product number when they upgraded it. 

Bill

[Joe Zullo]

Bill,

Thanks for the info.

I am pretty sure this is a Gen 1. All gears are pinned through the chassis and are plastic except the worm. BTW it is the worm gear (plastic) that is shot in this one not the brass worm. Also the motor is horizontal in the chassis and I think the Gen 2 has a vertical motor. I had contacted NWSL and got a same day reply to my email stating that they did not have the axle gear and have no plans to produce it because there is no demand. That is why I spent the time to 3-D print one and it did work. What I did not notice at first was the axle gear was not the only problem with the gearing. It is not worth any more of my time.