I heard a rumor that Bachmann will be coming out with a new HO Shay with metal gears.  Any truth?

Thanks,
Marty

 I have 3 Bachmann HO Shays that developed the usual cracked gears in the drivetrain.  That is not the what the question is. I accept that I need to periodically replace the gears.  I thought that buying the replacement driveline sets from Bachmann and replacing the broken ones would be an easy fix. It was easy to do.  However, now I am plagued with front and rear truck derailments.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Any solutions?

The parts I am talking about:

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_92&products_id=1651

Thanks,

Marty

My two Bachmann HO Shays are suffering from slipping gears on the sideshafts.  Some of the gears on the sideshaft are sliding out of place when pulling loads on steep grades, resulting in one or more axles dragging instead of turning. You can slide them back, but they work lose again.

Now, I thought I found the solution ... Bachmann sells replacement truck assemblies (front, center, and rear).  You just order what you need and in a few days they arrive and you just pop out the bad truck and put in the new one, hooking back up the drive train ... an easy 1 screw job.

I did find that some of the replacement trucks may have small burrs or something, causing them to bind a bit ... but otherwise things seemed OK.

However, I now see that Bachmann only has the front and year truck assemblies in stock.  They are out of stock on the center truck assemblies and those are the ones that seem to fail the most often.  Are other having this problem and does anyone know if Bachmann is going to get these items back in stock?

Thanks,

Marty