I have an older Spectrum DD40. One of the plastic pieces that connects the drive shaft and the gear shaft is slipping on the gear shaft. The parts department does not seem to carry that piece. Does anyone have any idea about how to repair or replace that piece. I have tried using a small amount of various glues, but that does not last long. In my opinion that part seems prone to failure since it is thin plastic and it only depends on friction to stick to the gear shaft.

I have a Bachmann GS4 that is about 20 years old. It has run very well until this last weekend. I put it on the track to run and it ran around the loop one time and then the rear two drivers on the right side fell off. Has anyone ever had this problem before?

Upon examination it looks like the drivers have a short metal axle with square end, that fits in the end of the plastic center section of the axle. Are these supposed to be a press fit or were they glued in some way? If I clean all of the grease off will CA glue work to attach the drivers to the axles?

Any observations or suggestions would be appreciated.

I have an HO Bachmann Spectrum DD40AX that runs very well. It is one of the pre DCC ready models. Has anyone installed a sound decoder in a DD40AX?

I understand that the prime movers are the same as what was in a GP40. Is there any way to use a sound decoder for a GP40 and make it sound like 2 prime movers?

I have a HO Bachmann Spectrum Union Pacific GP-30 shell that is about 6 years old. I want to transfer it to a current Spectrum GP-30 frame that has DCC on board. In order to do that I need to glue a couple of short styrene tubes to the bottom inside of the shell so that I can screw the shell to the frame. I have tried both styrene glue and CA and neither seems to adhere to the shell. Does anyone know what kind of plastic is used for the shell.

I called Bachmann and asked them but they acted like it was a dumb question. They said I would need to ask the Chinese! Surely someone at Bachmann must give the Chinese some sort of specs when they order something.

FYI. The older Spectrum shells snapped around metal ridges on the side of the fuel tank. The newer Spectrums have a screw on each side of the fuel tank that screw into the shell.

I am considering using optical sensors to activate crossing signals on my HO layout. I want to embed them in the roadbed between the ties. I like to run my trains in a "night setting" so there are no ceiling lights on, just building and street lights. How much difference do optical sensors need between light and dark. Will a nearby street light on the layout provide enough light to work? Can most sensors be adjusted for sensistivity?

From what I understand IR sensors are usually placed beside the track and I do not have any place to hide them.

I have an HO scale Bachman GS4 that is about 7 years old, which has run very well until the last time I put it on the track. It now has a grinding noise when running at slow speed. When it is running fast the sound is not noticeable. I do not know if it goes away or is just covered up by the normal noise.

I removed the drive wheel cover plate and lifted the center drive axle so that its gear was not engaged to the rest of the gear assembly. I could still hear the sound at slow speed. This seems to indicate that it is something in the motor or worm gear assembly.

Any suggestions about what to do next?