I've got a 44 Tonner, and it has broken gears on the drive axles. Replacements for my model are made of unbotainium apparently. Repacement listed in the parts section have bushings on the axle, which mine does not. Does anyone know if the axle set is the same other than the bushings? And, does anyone know of someone who has 3d printed replacements for older 44 Tonners? I saw a repair here where someone put sleeves over the edge of the gear to strengthen it. I'm going to try that and see what happens. JUst looking for other options.
Sam,
Here's what I did. The loco still runs well. It's not as quiet as when new. I use the 44-tonner to test trackwork and to display in the yard.
The gears are still working... so far.
Regards,
Jonathan
https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34426.msg253468.html#msg253468
Thanks Jonathan, much appreciated. That is basically what I was going to try, altho I was told NOTHING will stick to those gears. I was thinking maybe epoxy might be better, with copper tubing, was told 5/32", for reinforcement. I was even going to buy the replacements that Bmann sells in the hopes that the gears and axles would be the same. The ones in the parts dept have square bushings on them but I was hoping I could just remove them and the rest would be the same. The person I was emailing at Bmann was unable to confirm that so it's just a crap shoot.
EDIT: I just revisited the post I saw about the sleeves, and discovered it was YOU that tried this fix. Hopefully I will have the same success that you had.