Big Hauler Weights

[DoyleS]

I am retrofitting 3 new Annie Chassis on 3 older Big Haulers.
In reading the instructions from Loco Bill there was no mention of the large weights that sit over the motor gear assy inside the old engines. 
It looks like these can be moved to the new chassis but unsure if this is recommended. 

[DoyleS]

Looks like the old weights come off easily and fit the new Annie Chassis.
Doing a search on weights,  I was able to find enough info to indicate it would be a good idea to install the weights to improve pulling power.

[Joe Zullo]

I'm sure Loco Bill would say  "you are on the right track!" 

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Joe You got it!! 

The weights should install  ok and yes traction will be greatly improved.

Loco Bill

[Dr Who 12]

I have made my own weights similar to the bar weights in the gen.5 Annie 4-6-0 locos.
I bought bar stock in the right width from a local hone improvement or hardware store and cut to length like the orig. cast weight. As I recall it took 7 -1/8 " thick lengths of bar stock glue them together with epoxy and drill the mounting holes. Make the bar weight the same design as the orig. cast ones.

  Later DrWho

[Stokerman]

I've replaced the original cast iron weight with two 7.2 volt 6800mAh six cell battery packs hooked in series for 14.4 volts, surrounded by some sheet lead until it just fits, so a slight increase in weight and slightly better tractive effort, using Radio Control off of the same battery packs.

A wonderful way to go in my experience!

[Fred2179]

I've replaced the original cast iron weight with two 7.2 volt 6800mAh six cell battery packs hooked in series for 14.4 volts, surrounded by some sheet lead until it just fits, so a slight increase in weight and slightly better tractive effort, using Radio Control off of the same battery packs.

A wonderful way to go in my experience!

Me too. I had a long argument with certain learned experts about using batteries in the loco as weights rather than putting them in the tender.  Seems obvious to me that hauling around the weight and the batteries was silly.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi All,

Batteries in place of weights is a good way to add weight, but it does have some disadvantages depending on your point of view.  In my own case I put the batteries in the tender for the simple reason that if they run down I can simply replace the dead battery pack with a fresh one.  doing it the tender has not hurt my pulling power by much, and I can also simply add a second locomotive just like the prototype would if the train was too heavy.  In the event I have a battery go bad, it is a simple matter again of just exchanging the pack without having to dissemble  the locomotive just to get to the batteries.  I have all my locomotives with dummy front couplers replaced with with an operating front coupler just so I can double head.

I post this with the thought that each of us has their own way of doing things and none of them are "wrong", just the persons preference.

Loco Bill

[Joe Zullo]

I am of your persuasion Bill.

[Greg Elmassian]

Lithium batteries are not as heavy as the old nicad ones.

I like the idea of the batteries and some lead coming up with about the same weight.

On the other hand, if you pull a lot of cars, you will quickly learn what happens if your tender is too light, pulls right off the track.

If you can have good bearings in the tender, I'd put the batteries in there, just for convenience of access...

Greg

[Joe Zullo]

Greg is 100% correct about too light a tender. I know first hand.

[Stokerman]

Separating the chassis from the boiler shell on the Big Haulers is not all that much of a problem, so battery packs mounted in there are still reasonably accessible. Been battery powered for a few years now without any cells failing, so at that frequency I still think the boiler shell is a good way to house the battery packs ... in the Big Haulers.

I have removed the chassis from the shell a few times over those year, just to experiment with shimming the gears to get more gear tooth mesh, as it seems Bachmann designed the gear train backwards, such that the worm is pushing the worm gear out of the way (sideways) when going forward under load making it so that the axle gear is only about 1/3rd in mesh. In reverse it pulls the gears into 100% mesh, which is nice, but should have been designed the other way around, or built with less lateral slop. Teflon split washer shims to block that lateral movement seem to help a whole lot. But I digress, and perhaps should do a separate thread covering all that.

There is a huge caveat to mounting the battery packs in the boiler shell however, and that is that several of the engines do not have boilers nearly as large as does the Big Hauler. So of necessity, the smaller boilered engines, like the 4-4-0 & 2-6-0 need to have the battery packs mounted in the tender just as Bill and other's have said. Certainly there is nothing wrong with this, even on the Big Haulers, and other larger engines as well, and just as they have said, it does make access somewhat easier!  

Have yet to lift any wheels on my tender pulling uphill around corners, but then I rarely pull more than ten cars, so maybe I haven't hit that wall yet. If I ever do, I'm sure the addition of some extra weight there will make the cure, but then we're back to why not just put the batteries in there to start with ... perhaps I'll just do that next time myself!?!?

[Fred2179]

. . . . .
There is a huge caveat to mounting the battery packs in the boiler shell however, and that is that several of the engines do not have boilers nearly as large as does the Big Hauler. So of necessity, the smaller boilered engines, like the 4-4-0 & 2-6-0 need to have the battery packs mounted in the tender just as Bill and other's have said. Certainly there is nothing wrong with this, even on the Big Haulers, and other larger engines as well, and just as they have said, it does make access somewhat easier!  
. . .

If the packs are rechargeable and you put the charging jacks on the loco, I can't see why you'd need access until the whole pack fails. And taking atender apart is just as cumbersome as taking the boiler off!

On the subject of the smaller locos, I agree that you can't do much with the small boilers (although I did manage to cram 2 2x4 NiMh packs in a modified boiler that was the same size as a 2-6-0. Now where did I put that project?) Anyway, when I added batteries to my 2-6-0 I added a new tender as well - that standard one is just too small for me.

[Joe Zullo]

If you think a tender is just as cumbersome to take apart as the loco you are a half a bubble off of plumb!