I picked up one of these on ebay for cheap (15.00) and free shipping, so what the hey, I'd be stupid not to, based on Spookshow's review, and Mark is very rarely wrong.
It looked to be in fantastic condition but as part of an estate purchase by someone who could not verify if it even worked, I was taking a chance.
It showed up in all of it original packaging complete with paperwork, and looking at it, I'd swear it had never been run, or very little at the most.
Well.... Binds in RH curves going forward with unreal gear noise, and noisy in reverse. It has an acceptable noise level going straight, and in LH turns but I have noted a slight slow down but with no gear noise.
I have had this completely disassembled including trucks, and although it was spotless, I cleaned everything with DeOxit, and lubed with WS ultralite oil, checked freeplay front and rear, which seemed good if not excessive, and reassembled but no joy.
I have now spent hours trying to sort this out but to no avail. I isolated the issue to the front truck by finally removing the driveshaft but the motor does not have enough nut to move this thing on just one truck without also using finger assistance.
Any ideas on what I may be missing, and how to accurately adjust the shafts on this unit.
I really like it, and it is pretty much dirt simple but I am missing something.
Thanks,
Stephen.

I have recently acquired one of these from ebay, and while overall very good, there is a bit of noise coming from the rear truck. As compared to the front truck which is very quiet, there is very little freeplay for the worm gear. How are these, and can these be adjusted?
I also wonder if there are contact strips, and driveshafts available for these as one strip is broken (can be soldered) and one shaft is missing a nub. If I can get these taken care of, it would be an outstanding locomotive.
I am hoping that someone here has experience with these, or possibly that Bachmann will service it.

Why so buzzy? And can anything be done about it? Outside of the buzz, I think these are great locomotives, damn near exact as their prototypes, and for the price they can be had for on ebay, hard to beat with a stick. I'll continue to purchase them. Nothing a good cleaning and lube can't fix.
I have found most have been filled with grease (I assume to quiet them down) but then they will barely move. Off to ebay.
If it is what it is, so be it but if I can quiet them down without destroying performance, all the better.

Also, I am missing the front coupler box on one of mine. Is there a replacement?

I am also in need of some sunshades in CR blue. I lost one on my 2nd Gen, and need 2 for a 1st Gen. Anybody?

I have the aforementioned loco and it suffers from constant uncoupling. It seems like the couplers are too high (actually, the whole model seems to sit high), and as it travels across my layout, when encountering a 9-3/4 radius (of which I have many) or any uneveness, the headend car uncouples. It is worse the more rolling stock I place behind it.
I have tried bending the couplers buit to no avail.
It still has the factory Rapidos on it.
Does anyone have a remedy?
Outside of this issue, it is a decent loco but I hesitate to use it because of this.
None of the rest of my fleet does this, and I have Atlas, Bachmann,  Kato, Life Like, and Proto N.
Here is a pic of it along with my Model Power/Life Like hybrid