ryeguyisme:

Just a note about HO 2-6-6-0 locos - if you remember I (we) had a thread on this in February 2012 here: 

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,19868.0.html

With a metal shell like on the HO Heavy Mountains, talk about the possibility of a great, all-around* steam locomotive(s) for model railroad layouts - WOW.

* 6 powered axles; metal shell for traction; small wheel base; minimal overhang (pivoting both driver sets) for basically no cutting back scenery; tender booster (fake but visually cool); various road names (I wouldn't even care if some of the road names were not prototypical); crew in the cab; plus more.

If Bachmann were to produce these they would be continuing a line of very successful steam locos - the EM-1, the 2-6-6-2, and now the 2-6-6-0.  A win-win for all concerned.

I'll confess that my favorite way of model railroading is watching loooong, sloooow, drag freights.  A pair of these 2-6-6-0s on the head end would fit that perfectly.

K487

jonathan:

Thank you for the reply.

K487

jonathan:

From one of your posts above in this thread:  "By the way, the universal drive belts are now back in stock. I ordered two, along with the motor, just to have a couple spares around."  So I decided to get me some extra belts too (those "funky" belts are keys to the locos' operating.)

I looked on Bachmann's parts site and saw a drive belt for $3 for the 2-10-0.  I email Bachmann's Parts dept and asked if they had any for the 4-8-2, and they said no.  So I emailed the Parts dept and Customer Service dept. asking if the 2-10-0 toothed drive belt will work on the 4-8-2s - no responses yet.

Maybe I'm going the long way around the barn, but which belt did you order?  Do you have a part number?  Have you received them yet?  And if so have you tested one to see if it fits?  Thank you.

K487 

iv4142003

At least some of my Bachmann HO SD40-2s' truck/gear tower units are press-fitted to the metal body.  Whether press-fitted or screwed in, a check to see if they are installed properly might be helpful.

Also, remove the loco shell (so you won't bend the horns, and it's easier to balance up-side down), lay the loco on its back, remove the snap-on truck bottom plates with a small flat-heat screw driver tip, then connect a couple of wires and run the motor  slowly while watching the wheels and gears turn and checking for any wobbles.  I've done this to all of my SD40-2s and have never found a wobble (good engineering and production - I'm impressed.)

Consider too that sometimes a surging action of the loco when moving can, especially at slow speeds, imitate wobbling.  My guess is that any surging is caused by the two T drive shafts* (one on each end of the motor, connecting the motor drive system to the gear towers) that are not quite straight (I've seen some straight shafts and some bowed ones on my engines.) 

* As info Caboose Hobbies has a paragraph on their site basically stating that model train engines run smoother if the two Ts on the ends of the drive shaft are not parallel (like Bachmann's) but at 90 degrees to each other.  To me that makes sense.  Of course if the shaft itself is bent that would probably negate 90 degree advantage and/or exaggerate the problem.

I wish Bachmann would use the drive trains that are used on another brand - these plastic drive trains look AND function like they were machined (maybe they are), and in my thinking are key to making the locos run smoooooooth. This would increase the price (hopefully just a little bit spread out over a 10,000? thousand engine production run) but I think it would be worth it.

Extensive running-in new locos usually helps a lot on getting them to run smooth(er).

If your problem is significant enough contact Bachmann.

Hope this is helpful.

K487

All:

I want to correct a small error that is in my initial post that started this thread.  The error is in this comment:

"F. These engines with NO modifications will run around my 22", 19" and 16" radius loops. I use them only on the 22" and 19" loops - my visual barf-meter maxed-out  when I ran one on my 16" radius curves for the first (and last) time."

I did indeed run one of Bachmann's SD40-2s around a 16" radius curve, BUT a few days after this thread started I remembered that in order to do that I had modified it.  I had taken the loco, disassembled it, and using a grinder had cut back a little of the two openings where the trucks swivel, thus widening their travel.  That gave them enough room to take the 16" radius curves.

My apologies to all.

K487

Jeff:

Per your, "Perhaps the most extensive rebuild program is the one emd is doing for Canadian pacific, where the old 645 engine is being replaced with a new 12 cylinder  710 which meets more stringent emissions standards. these are getting a flared radiator section similar to the sd70m's on Norfolk southern and UP." 

Well, between all the various upgrades and additions to date including the now flared radiator sections, it looks like the 1-to-1 scale folks have discovered the model railroad decades-old practice of kit-bashing.  

Also, it looks like the original "clean lines" of the SD40-2s are increasingly morphing.  Be interesting to count how many "morphs" of the SD40-2 there are in say 2030.  If some of the 1972-built units are still operating then they will in essence be 58 years old.

K487

Jeff:

Thanks for your list of SD40-2 trivia.  I'll add some more if you don't mind. 

I've read and believe it's true that the UP RR has embarked on a program to refurbish/upgrade at least 500 SD-40-2s to last another 20 to 30 years, and are currently doing so in their North Little Rock AR shop to the tune of about 5 to 6 per month.

And as a sort of counter point I've read that the the BNSF is refurbishing/upgrading GP38-2s.

My take on the "why" for both of these programs is based on the Baltic Dry Index - a measure of world wide ocean transport of dry goods.  In 2005 the index was 15,000; last month it was 950.  I believe the railroads have seen "the writing on the wall" and are saving money with the rebuilds vs. purchasing new power. 

Also, on another forum a BNSF engineer chimed in with (and this is a quote), "The SD40-2 is an engineer's engine and almost perfect in every way."

K487

Balrog21:

Your first pic made me think, "Somehow Balrog21 got it to rain SD40-2s on his layout!" 

If you can come real close to matching the ICG 6032 in your second pic you'll have a super winner.

K487

jbrock27:

Thanks for the input.  For all of us it's beneficial to have some choices.  You sound like you're headed toward DCC, but while I've no intention of going there I won't say "never."

K487

I posted this on another board because someone asked about Bachmann HO SD40-2s.  Because of the subject matter I thought it would be suitable here. 

Regarding Bachmann's HO SD40-2s, here's my 3 years of experience with them. They are my all-time favorite diesel locomotives, and I have many of these. Here's why.

A. To me they look great (any missing or molded-in minor details or potential prototype/model measurement discrepancies don't bother me).

B. Price is attractive (generally can be found for under $50 for a new one).

C. SD40-2s are my favorite real railroad diesel locomotives (I used to ride in them on the Missouri Pacific RR in the Ozarks of Missouri in the 1970's as head end brakeman) - powerful, dependable, and comfortable to ride in.

D. I remove any DCC or light boards (I'm strictly DC only) and use the space (plus elsewhere) to add 4 ounces of weight, and doing it while balancing the total weight equally over both trucks. The locos as-is weigh in at 18 ounces each and with my additions total 22 ounces.

E. After lubing and running them in just one of these will walk off with a 60+ car train - forward or backwards - with no slipping from a dead start.

F. These engines with NO modifications will run around my 22", 19" and 16" radius loops. I use them only on the 22" and 19" loops - my visual barf-meter maxed-out  when I ran one on my 16" radius curves for the first (and last) time.

G. The "negatives" are (1) sometimes they slightly surge while running, (2) sometimes they have some minor (fairly quiet) gear chatter, and (3) once in while I get one that has very noticeable wheel chatter - from cracked gears?

H. Their overall noise level is - well, if an Atlas engine is the standard for "quiet running" and we give it an A grade, then 9 out of 10 of my Bachmann SD40-2 engines  (and most of my other Bachmann HO engines) would rate about a B to an A-. I can easily live with that.

I. I change out the orange headlight and install a 3-to-18 volt with resistor warm white 3mm LED. Since I run the three big trains with at least two locos I don't put any backup lights in (I'm lazy.)

J. Most (85%) of my engines are Bachmann (SD40-2, GP30, GP35, GP38-2; GP40, Berkshires and Heavy Mountains, plus some others), and I've found that about every 40 to 50 hours of run time I need to lube the motor and two gear tower bearings (and I also VERY lightly lube the commutator plates while they are spinning in the motor housing with LaBelle 107). Most of these engines will "tell" you when to lube them by beginning to jump-start sometimes and/or making some small unusual and/or screeching (dry bearing) sounds.

I'll admit that I really enjoy running 2 SD40-2s together (which I do most of the time), and sometimes 3 SD40s MU'd. And I change road names in these power consists when I feel like. Right now on the outside loop I have a CSX on the head end with a BNSF (facing aft) coupled to it.

Lastly, I'll also admit that I enjoy viewing the locos' railings.  Why?  They are painted appropriately and look to be to scale.  This is opposed to the Blue Box Athearn diesels I ran for many years - they served well but (A) I never painted the railings, (B) the railings were over-sized, and (C) the railing stanchions were easily pushed or bent out of the vertical .

Hope this is helpful or at least interesting.

K487

Larry:

I'm a big Bachmann fan when it comes to HO engines (over 85% - I won't go into actual numbers, it's embarassing ).  However, I do have a few Atlas RS32s, and they will run easily with NO modifications around my tightest loop that has 180 degree, 11" radius curves.  (The "eleven inches" is not a typo.)  And yeah, I was surprised, but if it works......  The RS32 pulls a 32-car ore train so it doesn't look bad to me.

K487

Donaldon:

Per your post above - I was thinking along those lines the other day.  Well said and I agree 100%.

K487

PatMacDec:

When I have that issue with Bachmann steamers what fixes the problem about 90% of the time is I take a drill bit about two or three sizes diameter larger than the hole in the truck (that the screw goes through.)  I ream both ends of the hole with the bit, and do it by hand, so the the hole has a V type of shallow  saucer entrance on both ends.  That usually does the trick - it lets the truck stay on the rails while the loco's front end moves up and down. 

And if need be you can take a drill bit just a little bigger than the truck swivel hole diameter and using a drill, drill out the hole so it's just a little larger.

If there's still a problem check that the wheel axle(s) on the truck slide back and forth easily in the truck, and if needed check the wheels' gauge (if you have the tool for it.)

Often the front trucks (and sometimes the rear loco trucks too) just need a little more verticle flexibility where they are attached to the loco frame.  Had to do that to the first Bachmann Berkshire I bought, and the fix (described in the first paragraph above) worked perfect first time. 

K487

GtrsnTrains:

You're welcome.

And I see you're like most of us - customizing our locos.  For me it's very satisfying seeing a successful up-grade.

K487

GtrsnTrains:

I'll take a stab at answering you.  Here's what I just did a few days ago.

I had purchased a "used" (not run) Bachmann Spectrum Heavy Mountain 4-8-2 about a week ago and among other things a couple of days ago changed out the headlight to a 3 to 13 volt soft white LED.  For me it looks really nice now.

I took the metal boiler/cab shell off by removing the tender coupling bar's screw on the underside of rear of the engine (holds the rear of the shell too).  Then removed the pony (front) truck's screw and set the truck aside, which revealed another screw that I removed.  This then lets you rotate the shell off by lifting the rear of the shell up (the smoke box front pivots some in front) and then pulled out the two black metal rods from the holes in the bottom sides of the smoke box front.  Then set the shell down.  (By the way I have a hard time puting those two metal rods back in the holes in the smoke box front when reassembling.)

You will notice a longitudinally vertically split frame, and the two wires in the split frame that lead from the back of the engine to the front of the split frame (the headlight lens is installed in the smoke box front.)  I pulled on the wires and pulled the "light bulb" (not the headlight lens) out. 

Now since I was going to install the 3 to 13 volt LED I cut the wire leads for the factory-installed blue headlight at the little computer board on the engine in the rear.  I then installed the LED by pushing it forward between the two frame halves until it protruded a little from the front of the split frames, ran it's two wires to the back, and then soldered them to the two motor brushes' electrical contacts - bypassing any of the electronics on the board in the engine.

I did some other things which required taking the two split frames out (like lubing the motor which it needed - it did run but had been sitting idle for years; oil slowly dries out.)  But if you're just changing out the headlight, you now need to put the boiler shell back on.

Maybe some other folks on this board have a better, different and/or easier way to "change the light bulb."

K487