Bach-man: Cracked gear on 1st-run Doodlebug

[gmcrail]

I have an old Doodlebug (1st-run) that has developed (while sitting on a shelf) the dreaded cracked-gear "thump".   Can I get replacement wheelsets?  If so, How do I go about it?

Gary M. Collins
gmcrailg@gmail.com

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

Here is a link to the front power truck on the parts page for the doodlebug. It is for the new one but that is all I could find for the doodlebug.
http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_163&products_id=1070
Unfortunately it is out of stock so I would try ebay for a replacement doodlebug power truck or a replacement doodlebug and just put the old body shell on the replacement.

[gmcrail]

Thanks, 261 - I'll do that.   

BTW, I like 261 - a nice engine.  I remember her when she was at the National RR Museum in Green Bay, before they sold her for restoration.  In fact, I was the guy who pulled her out of the "hole" where she had rested since she was donated to the Museum.  I drove a 20-ton Plymouth gas-hydraulic switcher to do it, and it was quite a challenge.  She had been sitting for so long in the same place that the rails under the drivers had sunken into the ground until the railheads were at ground level, and the pilot was resting hard on the railheads in front.  We put some STP oil treatment on the railheads in front of the pilot, and some sand under my engine's wheels, and up she came, slick as a whistle.  Fun. :-) 

Gary M. Collins
gmcrailg@gmail.com

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

Nice! I myself have been to the National Railroad Museum and have been on a train pulled by the 261. When I was the museum was a year ago this month, before the NRM in York England and the NRM in Green Bay decided the Dwight D. Eisenhower was to return to England for 2 years to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Mallard's record breaking run (a record that has stood tall since being set in 1938). Of the engines at the museum, mine are the Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Big Boy, the DM&IR 506, the 101, the C&O 2-8-4, and the Santa Fe 2-10-4 (the 261 wasn't listed there because [1. it isn't at the museum. And 2. it is kind of obvious.])