Quote from: Conrail Quality on September 20, 2007, 09:20:34 PM
This doesn't seem like the way Bachmann operates. They already have an established brand identity, they don't need another one. Besides, why would they need or want to go into O scale anyway? It's a much different world than G or especially HO and N.

I could think of one reason: Bachmann already has a US-profile O-scale line of Plasticville buildings, but no O-gauge trains. If the price was right, why not acquire a quality line like Williams if it became available?  It's at least plausible. 

Hoping the Bach-man might chime in here...

Did Bachmann just acquire Williams Trains?  Heard a rumor from my dealer today.

Postscript -
I finally found TOC's June 2004 Heisler review. Was looking in the wrong place (the GR forum) and finally looked in the GR magazine online product review archives. Good review!

Al

Sounds good!  I am going to ask Bachmann for a replacement owner's manual.  Apparently the one that came with mine was nicked out of the box prior to my buying it at the store.  When the shop owner and I checked, it looked like everything was still sealed in poly bags inside the box so we didn't take a full inventory.  Live and learn... 

Al

Quote from: Curmudgeon on September 15, 2007, 07:20:36 PM
Also, check the review on them in GR.
Find the lube port in the bulkhead shown in the manual.

BTW, the manual that comes with the locomotive discusses opening the trucks and lubing.

TOC - I cannot find your review in GR.  Searched extensively thru the garden railways forum but no luck.  Could you post the URL to it. 

I did not get a paper manual - only exploded parts/assemblies  diagrams and a warranty card.  Since the bag was obviously factory sealed I assume they intended the DVD to be the "manual".  The DVD does address lubrication details, and the 25 hour service part of the video shows removing the motor covers (I missed that earlier - duh!). 

Except the video completely omits showing the small noise suppression PCB attached to the inside of my engines covers and the pain-in-the-butt connecting wires snaking around one axle and barely mising the offset pinion gears.  Video must have been made on earlier (pre-production?) version that did not have this PCB.  The PCB's wires also look like they could easily rub against the central drive shaft universal joint which connects to the drive  (the one Kevin & TOC discussed earlier).
.

I lubed everything per the video and got everything re-assembled again and the engine seems to run OK.  But...still has the noise - very apparent at slow speeds - but runs fairly smoothly at slow speeds.  I think I'll let it be. When the doctor installs the battery/RCS/Sierra system    I'll let him perform any corrective surgery he may recommend. 

Thanks to all for their advice and comments.

Al

Good question, Dave.  From what I could find, Peter Witt/Brill trolleys were in service from the 1920s forward to the end of regular streetcar service in the US.

Most (all?) of Bachmann's 1:20.3 is modeled after prototypes from the mid/late1800's thru early 1900's.  There could be a crossover period where Brill/Witt trolleys were found in towns where 4-6-0 Annie's (& similar) ran thru on the railroads.  I am not sure that one would find Witt trolleys out in the woods and mining areas where geared steam Shays, Heislers, and Climax locos were used. 

But 1:20.3 would leave out the 1:29 modelers, and from what I have read they model mostly American themes from the 1930s forward which better coincides with the Witt trolley era..  LGB modelers have equipment that roughly centers around 1:22.5    so actually 1:24 might "play well" with both ends.  But doesn't Hartland already have a jump on this market/scale?

Sheesh.  I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.. 

I guess if Bachmann wants to keep promoting 1:20.3  than that's the answer, plain and simple.  Let Aristo/Märklin-LGB/Hartland etc develop their own smaller scale versions.

That'll be a big streetcar!

I did the chuff contact modification per TOC and it did reduce some of the hesitation in the central crank shaft rotation. Thank you sir!

For anyone interested who has not done this - be careful when handling the Heisler and especially around the cylinder heads.  Don't ask me how I found this out.      All is well now thanks to Faller plastic cement... 


I gently pried off the cylinder caps....


And v-e-r-y carefully bent the contacts upwards out of the way of the piston at TDC


I wanted to get into the drive blocks to check the issues TOC mentioned but did not see an obvious way to remove the bottom covers. The screws in this pix did not release the cover (without exerting more prying pressure than I was willing to use...) so I stopped there.  I popped the round cap and could see grease on the pinion gear, but that was all I could see from that little opening.


The shuddering in the rear truck is still present on every revolution of the wheels. It does not seem to be present in the front truck.  It seems to run on the track OK so I may live with this for now. 

Otherwise....what a neat and beautiful locomotive model.  I can see why many guys get into 1:20.3 narrow gauge geared steam with logging and similar themes on their RR's.  Just watching this engine is a joy.  Can't wait to convert to battery/RC and get some sound onboard.  Yeah I know it ain't easy.  Already got a doctor lined up...

AL

Kevin -
How did you gain access to those couplings?  I can see them but they are rather buried up close against the trucks and I cannot reach my stubby fingers into that space to wrap tape around them...

Al

Quote from: Kevin Strong on September 15, 2007, 03:12:52 PM
One thing that I did with mine was to wrap a small bit of masking tape around the end of the square driveshaft where it fits into the coupling coming off of the truck. This removes some of the slop and smoothes the motion out nicely.

Later,

K

Bach-man, thanks.  I will try TOC's suggestion first and if that does not resolve the issue then I will look for some warranty repair help.


TOC - Thanks very much for the advice.  I will try that today. Hopefully that won't void my warranty in case this is a more serious mfg. defect issue inside the power trucks.  I will post the results here.

Al

I have a brand new 1:20.3 Bachmann Heisler (actually purchased it 3 months ago from Star Hobby but never had it out of the box until today).  I watched the DVD, performed the lubrication as specified, and placed it on a test track.

On the track with low voltage, the loco moved slowly OK with no binding in the actual motor drives - in either direction. Increased throttle yielded a comensurate increase in loco speed.  All seemed OK, except.....

In forward motion, there is a minor binding/hesitation of the linkage/piston mechanism with each revolution. The mechanism hesitates despite the engine's steady forward motion and then quickly catches up. I canot see where the "bind" may be occuring.  Going backwards, it does the same thing.  There is also an audible "chuk....chuck" sound that coincides with each wheel revolution but that seems to come from the rear truck (i'm not sure - ears aren't very good.

I turned the loco upside down and laid it in the foam packing top.  I took some wires from a small LGB power pack and touched them to the wheels. The motors ran but with each revolution of the wheels the front truck shudders significantly for about 1/4 to 1/2 turn. In reverse, the rear truck has a similar but less noticeable shudder.  I can still watch the linkage to the steam pistons / crankshaft bind and release on every revolution.

Are these mechanical issues normal for the Heisler?  Never having been inside one of these before is this something I can resolve or does it need to go to Bachmann? 

Al
Sykesville, MD

Quote from: tac on September 03, 2007, 10:57:48 AM

Dear Mr Carlson - there is NO competition.  Nobody else makes a plastic K-27.

tac - with a tin one.

tac  - I thought TOC has a plastic K-27 in 1:22.5 from Magnus

-GB

How abut explaining for those of us who aren't quite fully conversant in engine / model lingo what "fully equalized chassis" means? 

Does it use basically the same drive as the 2-8-0 Constellation?

I had lots of Plasticville on my Lionel layouts as a kid. The product is fine as is. It is the year 2007. Wages (even Chinese wages), energy, cost of benefits, cost of plastic, distribution/transportation costs are all up!  None of those costs are going down. Let's be real.  Now if certain models command high prices on eBay it's only because collectors bid them up that high.

Personally I would like to see Bachmann scale up the O-gauge line to ~1:24 so that Garden Railroaders would have a low-cost option for structures. The plastic compound would have to be UV-resistant and the panels (especially the roofs) would have to be reinforced or thicker, but otherwise the "undetailed" kits could be enhanced / bashed to create all kinds of unique buildings for the budget garden railroad. 

Just my 2 cents.. 

GB

Quote from: Curmudgeon on August 22, 2007, 12:02:18 AM
Not forgetting anything, just remember to remove the 2-wire circuit board, solder 2 chuff wires to it, mount your external volume control (on r/c jobs, I put on/off and volume in the front wall.....there is a trick to it), then find the 4 screws on top of the floor with wires going to them.
Follow the wires from the trucks to determine which 2 screws are track power (the reason I say that is I have seen no consistency here), connect wires there for your track inputs on your sound system.
Remember to mount a speaker.

If a 2K2, I mount the program port through the floor, since you will have the tender off the track and at your computer anyway for re-programming.

TOC

Thanks TOC!  I am sure this will make sense when I get inside the tender - have not touched it yet.  I have read your comments before about wiring inconsistencies so I was alerted to that.

I don't yet know if I will be installing R/C in this loco or ESU or Massoth decoder.

A train store close to me stocks the 2K2's - and I read a lot of good opinions about them in the forums - so that will most likely be my choice for the Connie.

I went a bit nuts and bought a new 38T Shay, Climax, and Heisler over the past two months so this is just the start.. 

-GB