http://s239.photobucket.com/profile/Lesforan

Try this address for photos of my railroad.

I don't trust facebook enough to use it.

Good pictures of your train.  I don't think that loco has been available for awhile.  Try calling the Bachmann helpline.  They can repair or replace your loco for a reasonable price.

Les

The strange thing here is that your problem is intermittent.

Do not use a screwdriver to turn the armature!  It is likely to damage it.  If the armature will not turn with pressure from your fingers (and don't force it) there are two possibilities.

The first possibility is that the motor is bent, causing the armature to make intermittent contact with the field magnets.  Look at the laminated plates on the armature lobes.  They are the steel plates the armature wires are wrapped around.  On Bachmann motors, these plates are painted light green.  If these plates are scuffed, it means the armature is brushing against the permanent magnets.  This may be happening only when it stops in a certain location.  This would mean either the armature shaft or the motor frame is bent.  Either way, the motor is ruined.

If the motor appears OK, but still won't turn, it means either the armature is contacting in a place you cannot see, or (more likely) the gear train is jammed.  If the loco ran OK initially, and wasn't dropped, the motor is probably OK.

If you have decided not to return the loco for repair (I would), then your next course of action would be to disassemble it.  If you have never taken one of these apart, study the instruction sheet that came with the set.  Do your work on a well-lighted surface, and keep everything together in a flat pan.

You will want to fix your problem with the minimum of disassembly.  After removing the body shell, lay the chassis on its left side.  Notice the frame is in two halves, split vertically with a black plastic separator to insulate them from each other.

Note how and where the copper contacts on each truck touch the frame.  They will have to fit that way when it is reassembled.

A screw at each end of the frame passes through a plastic insulator and spacer and holds it all together.  Take these screws out and lift off the frame half.  Except for the gears within each truck, the entire drive train should lie exposed.  Look for foreign objects in the gears.

On each end of the motor shaft is a nylon cup that holds a drive shaft.  On the outboard ends of the shafts, they are held in two more cups that drive the worms.  Each end of each shaft has two pins that fit into slots in the cups.  These pairs of pins are at a 90degree angle to each other, acting as universal joints (the worms swivel with the trucks.  Remove these shafts (both are the same) and rotate the cups with your fingers.  Check the armature for contacting the magnets when you turn the motor shaft.  If the motor makes a clicking noise, then the armature or motor frame is bent and the motor should be replaced.

If the motor checks out OK, try rotating the cups on the worms.  If the gear trains are jammed, it will probably be in only one truck.  Look for damaged gear teeth while you do this.

Each truck is held on by a pin that a large gear rotates on.  This pin extends into slots in each frame side.  You can now lift the trucks out one at a time and rotate this big gear to check for material jamming the gears inside the truck.

By now you should have found the problem.  If the motor is OK, then clean out the gears and put it all back together.  This can be rather difficult.  Both driveshafts have to be kept aligned with their cups, and the copper contacts on the trucks have to wind up in the right locations, as do the clear plastic insulator pieces around the motor brush holders.

The black insulators and the plastic washers on each end of the frame have to be in just the right places, too.  There is nothing to hold the plastic insulators that take the screws until the screws are actually fastened, so they will have to be supported underneath somehow.  And if anything gets out of alignment, or if those two screws are too loose or too tight, it won't run even then.

But that is how you would do it.  If I were you, I'd send the loco back to Bachmann.

If you stay in this hobby after all this, you will find that trouble-shooting can be a big part of it.  Get some old used locos of various types, and take them apart to familiarize yourself with how they are made.  You might even be able to resuscitate one!

Go look at my post "What Tools will I need?" to get a good idea of what you will need to maintain a fleet of N-scale locomotives long-term.

Les

I see this bridge is open at the top.  This allows another possibility for its use.

Some bridges are "ballasted deck" bridges.  As the name implies, a ballasted deck bridge carries ballast as well as track.  To model this, just use your EZ-Track as is and run the whole piece the length of the bridge.

Les

I don't know what model your loco is.  If it had flywheels, they would be round brass things on the ends of the motor shaft.

Otherwise, try turning the armature itself.  It is that thing that rotates in the middle of the motor.  If the gears are jammed, it will allow movement in one direction only.  Turn the armature so it moves in that direction, and it should back the gears around so the obstruction gets to where you can pull it out.

Les

Since the lights are on, you are getting power to the train.  Just that much eliminates many of the possibilities for trouble.

There has to be a problem somewhere in the drive train of the loco.  Do not leave the power on when this happens: you can quickly damage the motor that way (all the electricity that should be running the motor is likely getting converted to heat instead).

If the thing ran before you lubed it, then it is likely your maintenance is directly tied to the problem.  Possibly, the fresh grease attracted foreign material into the gears and jammed them.  Try rotating the motor or flywheels backwards to see if you can back the obstruction out of the gears where you can pull it out with tweezers or a toothpick.

Almost all oils, including plastic compatible oils, can migrate from the motor bearings into the motor if applied too heavily.  If the oil gets on the commutator it can either short it out or soften the carbon brushes to the point they fail.  I doubt if that is your problem, because of the short time span involved.

How far did you disassemble the loco to do this?  Is it possible you reinstalled the motor incorrectly, and it is not able to draw power?  If so, the motor will not be harmed, but it won't run, either.

There are a lot of things you can do to try to troubleshoot this problem, but with a new loco I suggest you return it for repairs or replacement.

Les

My cat narrowly avoided injury last week when a set of light Diesel units derailed and fell on the floor.  He saw them coming and got out of the way.  Damage was limited to a broken coupler mounting.

He leaves the trains alone, but has been known to operate a turntable.

Les

SHB,

Yes, that's right.  The contact in front of the motor is actually attached to another contact strip that runs beneath the motor.  This in turn contacts the brush holder screw opposite the one on top.

Les

SHB,

Yes.  That is a vertically-split frame model.  The fix should work as described.
The important thing is for each light wire to be in contact with the frame on its side.  A lot of Bachmann locos I have don't even use blade contacts, they just rely on the natural springiness of the wires to maintain contact.

Les

Probably the most common problem encountered with N-scale rolling stock is out-of-gauge wheel sets.  This is most often encountered on older pieces which were frequently out of gauge even when new.

Newer cars usually avoid this problem by use of a plastic spacer on the axle, or by molding the entire wheel set as a solid piece of plastic.  However, there is an easy and quick way to correct it.

To do this fix, you'll need an accurate way to measure back-to-back wheel spacing.  I use a MicroTrains coupler adjustment gauge.  Other tools exist for this purpose, such as a stainless steel rule with spacing marked.  You can even make your own gauge if you have an accurate wheel set to use as a guide.  Cut two narrow notches in a straightedge at the correct spacing for the wheel flanges to fit into.  As this tool will not be taking any strain, you could even use stiff plastic sheet.

Begin by fitting the gauge against the wheel sets while they are still on the car.  You will quickly be able to identify any that are out of gauge.  While you may find some that are too wide, most of the time any that are wrong will be too narrow.  If you find any out of spec, take a second check 180 degrees from where the first check was made.  A deviation from the first measurement would indicate a bent axle or wheel.

Remove the problem wheel set from the truck.  Since virtually all N-scale trucks are made of a slightly flexible plastic, you can gently spread the frame with a thin-bladed screwdriver between the wheel and the side frame, and the wheel set should pop right out.

Next, identify which wheel is the insulated one.  It will have a black plastic center.  Some cars have both wheels insulated.  The insulated wheel will be the one to adjust.

Grasp the axle with a needle-nosed pliers.  Take a regular slip-joint pliers and adjust it so the jaws don't close completely.  With this pliers, gently hold the insulated wheel (so you don't damage the flange).  Slowly pull the wheel toward the end of the axle until the wheel checks true with your gauge.  If you pull too hard and the wheel comes off, don't worry.  It can be put back on easily.  Check the gauge spacing at two points 180 degrees apart to be sure everything is still straight.  If the gauge is too wide, gently push on the face of the wheel.

This works on both freight and passenger cars.  Cars such as Atlas use a thin metal axle, Bachmann uses a thicker axle, but they both can be adjusted the same way.

If you wish, you can ensure the wheels stay as adjusted by putting a small drop of glue on the back side of the wheel where the insulation meets the axle.

Tools you will need:
Wheel gauge (purchased or home made).
Needle-nosed pliers.
Slip-joint pliers.
Small thin-bladed screwdriver.
Optional: glue (I use Superglue Gel).

Les

SHB,

You did not say who made your SD-45, but from the description of the headlight contacts, it sounds like you are dealing with a model that has a vertically-split metal frame.  The left and right halves would carry opposite polarity current.  The thin plastic sheet would be an insulator between the two halves.

Reinstall your light bulb so that each blade is in contact with its respective frame half.  That should do it.

Les

If MT has tooling for FT bodies that they don't plan on using again, maybe it is an opportunity for Bachmann to buy it at a good price.  Injection mold tooling is a major factor in the cost of production.

As for the rest of the unit, the F-7 chassis and trucks should fit.

Les

It's getting close to Christmas, and, hopefully, there will be lots of newcomers to our hobby.  I was thinking it might be helpful to present a list of tools that are necessary to build and maintain a model railroad.  While this list is aimed at N-scale, most of the items will apply to other scales as well.

I'll divide this into train maintenance tools and layout building tools.

For mechanical maintenance of the trains:

Two good sets of miniature screwdrivers, one each of flat-blade and Phillips.

A medium-duty hobby knife (X-acto is a good brand), with an assortment of blades.  A good sharpening stone can extend the life of the blades.

A small needle-nose pliers and a slip-joint pliers.

Fine sandpaper, 400 grit or finer.

A Microtrains coupler gauge.  This is a little device that can be used to set coupler heights, trip pin clearance, wheel spacing, and to check track gauge.

A stainless steel scale rule.

Pointy small tweezers.

Assortment of straight pins and flat toothpicks.

An extra powerpack (like from an old trainset) and a foot or so of straight track.  A pair of lead wires for the powerpack.

A small makeup brush for dusting.

Plastic cement and/or gap filling superglue.

Lubricants:
Light plastic-compatible oil.  Light plastic compatible grease (LaBell 106 or equivalent).  WD-40 (use sparingly, never directly from spray nozzel!).

Two other items are needed in any railroad shop for railroads of any scale (including full-size):
A variable speed hand-held motor tool (Dremel or equivalent) with assortment of drills, cutters, cutoff discs, sander drums, and wire wheels.  Safety glasses!
A small bench vise.

A soldering iron is very handy.  Use rosin-core solder and have a stand for it.

Model railroad building tools:

All of the above, plus:

A good wood saw.  Doesn't need to be a power saw, a good crosscut will do.  Plywood can be cut dimensionally at the lumber yard.

A variable-speed electric drill and assortment of bits.

Flat blade and Phillips screwdrivers.

Tape measure or yardstick.

T-square.

Spirit level.

Soldering gun.

White glue (like Elmer's Glue-All).

Small wire cutters.

Small fine-toothed razor saw (X-acto or Zona).

Very handy:

C-clamps.
Multimeter.

I've probably overlooked a few things, but that should get you started.

Les

Something else that has helped my passenger trains is to add a little weight to the head-end cars.  This is easy because the design of the baggage, RPO, and combine cars hides a weight placed inside.  For these cars I use 1/4 ounce lead egg sinkers, held in place with either Blue Tack or silicone glue.

Sometimes the cars are just too light to track well.  For cars with windows and interiors, sometimes the egg sinkers can be installed inside the ends of the cars were they are out of sight (try two 1/8 once sinkers, one at each end).

If that doesn't work, try using flat 1/4 ounce wheel weights.  I had some old streamlined cars that seemed just too light to run well with other cars.  I think they were made by Rocco.  These cars use a plastic underframe and a flat steel weight between the floor and the frame.  On the underside of the car, there are two rectangular "tanks" cast into the frame directly opposite each other.  If you use the rotary file bit in a Dremel tool, you can narrow each tank by about half and the flat wheel weight will fit between them against the frame.  Peel the adhesive off the weight and glue it on directly to maximize rail clearance.

A little extra weight inside can improve the tracking ability of non-powered Diesel units, too.

Les

Tony,

I think the FT should sell because it was so commonly used, and because of its great historical importance.  These units were in service far beyond the 1945-50 time frame you mentioned.  I personally recall seeing these in service well into the 1960's.

These units were used in both freight and passenger service.  They were the only road freight unit allowed to remain in production during WWII.

Maybe the reason the IM and MT FT's didn't sell well was because of their high price.  These units sold in a higher priced market than the contemporary F units sold by Bachmann.  They were at least double the price of Spectrum F-7's.  Even at that, I feel they were worth it.  Perhaps the market for FT's at that price wasn't big enough for IM and MT both at the same time.

Les

Tony,

I disagree that FT's are the "most overproduced loco in N scale."  The companies that aim for the mass market (Bachmann, Life-Like, Atlas) have never produced an FT, although F-7's and F-9's have been churned out in awesome quantities since the late 1960's.

As best as I can recall, the Microtrains and Intermountain FT's were the only ones on the market.  And these are small-volume manufacturers, compared to the other three.

If you were able to purchase a MT or IM set of these for $50, you did very well.  For my FT set I paid $150 at a Hobbytown, and that was discounted $50 below list price.  Maybe the poor sales you mentioned were not so much due to the choice of prototype as to overpricing.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as an overproduced loco in N scale, but if there is, it would surely be the F-7.  It's hard to think of a manufacturer who did not build these.  Just the same, I love them.  They are a great loco for modelers of the transition era and post transition era.  Used on Class Ones, regionals, and short lines.  Passenger and freight versions.  At home on almost all railroads in the fifties and sixties.

Les