The motor block of the Lyn does not even come close to that of the new side tank or saddle tank Porter.

The Lyn was introduced sometime around late 1993 or early 1994.  It was Bachmann's first offering to carry the designation of Spectrum.  The Lyn was never catalogued, to the best of my knowledge.  The locomotive was sold in a regular Bachmann box with a sleeve that has the picture of the Lynn and the Spectrum 'G' designation.

They are very poor runners, by my estimation.  Geared way too high. They will not pull much and have no low speed power.  Being geared so high they run like a scalded dog, overheat the motor, melt the motor mounts, and at that point end up on the rip track.

The motors have very large diameter brass worm gears.  Bachmann's claim at the time they were introduced was that these heavier worm gears would act as flywheels.  Maybe so, but they sure did not help locomotive performance.

The motor case is made in two halves, right and left.  In order to get into the case the drivers must be pried from the nylon drive gears.  Once that's done the case can be taken apart.

On balance, not a locomotive that would provide good service.  It would be a shame to use a Lyn for a bash if its motor block was retained.  All that work for a locomotive that won't pull much, melts its motor mounts, and is only comfortable at running at about Mach I.



This is a bashed Lyn.  I did this work shortly after the Lyn was introduced.  Had I known what a poor runner and short lived the drive train was my time would have been better spent on some other project.

If it were me, I'd take a pass on this one.

Shayman,

This is too easy.  The answer is build them!   It's being done every day.

JD

Polski,
Yes, the Bachmann large scale sets are designed to run outside.  As has been related many times before, the tin track is for indoor use only.  Put the Bachmann track outside and it rusts away in no time.  You need track such as brass or stainless, or aluminium for outside use.

Tinibert,
That's not too difficult to figure out.  It's called sales and $$$$$.  If that's what Sam's wanted then Bachmann supplied. 

JD

Here is a picture of the Version 5 bottom cover with the lube plug and hump that Bill describes.



Photo quality not the best, but folks should be able to see the features.

JD

I checked Bachmann catalogues back to 1994.

There are three locomotives that carry number 14 that I could find.

They are all locomotives sold in sets.  I could find no number 14 locomotives cataloged prior to 2000.  There is a number 14 White Pass & Yukon set listed for the first time this year.  It is a set but contains the Annie version locomotive.

Most likely the engine you have is either a Rocky Mountain Express or a ET&WNC Mountaineer engine. The Rocky Mountain engine would be a wood burner.  The ET&WNC would be a coal burner.

The two locomotives listed above would have plastic connecting,  and side rods. The valve gear would be plastic.  These are the Big Haulers that have less detail than the Annies. 

Since Version 5 drive came out in 1999-2000, prior to the Annies introduction, there is a high probability that you have a Version 5.

Now, there may well be folks that are the Bachmann "experts" that will have more detailed information.  If so, I have no doubt they will jump right in and set things straight if I have posted incorrect information.

JD

Prewired may be a little overstated.

There is power in the tender along with the wire plug to trigger the chuff.

The power will be used for the sound card.  Wires need to be run from the chuff trigger plug in the tender to the sound board.

The other items to make a good sound system functional will be provided with a good quality sound system.

Sierra sound or Phoenix would be my choices.  Either of these systems will come with installation instructions.  I prefer the Phoenix sound.  Choice is yours.

Installation is rather straight forward.  The 4-4-0 should be a simple installation.  If you don't think you can make the installation then find a installer to do it for you.

JD

smontero

As Snoq.Pass mentions, Lionel made the Large Scale (G) Thomas and Freinds engines and sets.  E-Bay is probably your best source to find one. Just be careful when making a selection.  Many of the Thomas engines offered on E-Bay have seen better days and are worn out.  Not much fun to have a Thomas and then find it will not run.

You also might check with Lionel dealers.  There could possibly be one still around in the hands of a dealer.  Not likely but worth a shot.

Ignore the reference to the HO scale Thomas engines and sets.  That comment was more a throw away and not germane to your question.  In no way will any HO scale work with what you have.

JD

Aluminum rail has worked well for several of our club members.  One uses only track power and he doesn't seem to have any serious problems with his aluminum rail.  It's been in service for at least eight years.





Just don't let the squirrels get to it.  These are pictures of aluminum rail that the squirrels have used to sharpen their teeth.  Or they like it better than corn.  

JD

I measured axle length of the Aristo ball bearing electrical pickup wheels and axle length of SanVal ball bearing wheels.

Aristo ball bearing with electircal pickup have axle length of 2.570 inches.

San Val ball bearing with NO electrical pickup have axle length of 2.785.

No wonder the Aristo axle sets would not stay in place in Bachmann trucks.

Plus, the San Val ball bearing won't solve the electrical pickup issue since they have no electrical pickup tabs.

JD

According to the Hartford site the Ely-Thomas log car is 20' in 1:20.3 scale.

You can do the math.

Here's the link to the Hartford site.

http://www.hartfordpr.com/


JD

I may be wrong, but looking through Bachmann catalogues for 2007 and back the older less detailed version 10-Wheeler is the engine that is included in sets.

No doubt the sets being offered by Bachmann have the Version 5 drive but Bachmann continues to sell old castings in all but a couple of sets that are listed in the 2007 catalogue.

As I mentioned previously there are just two sets listed this year that have the Annie locomotive.  So the older casting with the large rivets and less detail continues to be sold.

The Bach Man should be able to confirm just what locomotive is being sold in the majority of new sets.

JD

Bachmann sure must have the dies and tooling.  All of the sets pictured in the 2007 catalogue, with exception of 2, use the tooling with the "pie-plate" smoke box rivets.  Same goes for the headlights.

The OSH locomotive's paint scheme is very close to the ET&WNC Mountaineer Passenger set #90048.

Good looking OSH set but a little pricey.  After Christmas sounds like a good time to pick up a set. 

This topic has been beat to death.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,2565.0.html

Guess it's easier to ask than to do a search.

JD

Rod,
Looks like you've done a good job with the oil bunker.

Nice work, but a couple of larger pictures would be nice.

JD
http://cdandstlry.grblogs.com

Kevin,

I don't have any Kadee couplers for comparison. 

The AML boxes measure:

Length: 1.569 in. (outside measurement)
Width: 1.00 in. (outside measurement)
Depth: .166 in.

The AML boxes have no lids.  The box fits against the bottom of the car with three screws.  They're a little tricky to install since the coupler and spring must be held in place while installing the box. 

I don't use body mounts of any type except on the Bachmann 1:20.3 rolling stock.  I did test fit one of the AML boxes with coupler on a PS1 box car just to see how they might work.  Not impressed.

JD