Loco Bill will be able to give you a complete history of the large scale side tank Porter.

But here is a start.  The side tank Porter has been around, on and off, for years.  The 1997 catalog lists the Porter as "new" for 1997.  Catalog lists two item numbers; they are Item No. 11396 and Item No. 11397.

Both of these locomotives have all plastic detail to include valve gear, side and connecting rods.  They are Big Hauler series.

The latest side tank Porters will carry an Item No. 82XXX.  The one you list, 82598 is the painted, unlettered-black with red and white trim.  These latest Porters are part of the Spectrum series.

Features of the Spectrum models are: DCC ready, operating headlight, smoke generator, hidden gear box, metal connecting rods and main rods, and three position polarity swith; to list some of the engine's main features.

Bill can fill in the rest.

JD

Robert,
Looking at the diagrams that Bill referenced you'll see there are only two small screws involved with the front truck.

First, are you aware that the front truck just snaps in place on the king post?  Just pull down on the truck and it will come off the king post.

There is the screw that holds the plastic piece that has the spring loaded contacts.  These contacts make contact with the circuit board.

The other screw is the one that is in the middle of the king post.  Once the front truck is snapped off you'll see the screw in the middle of the king post.  There should be no reason to go inside the front of the truck in the area of the motor since there is no screw there that attaches the king post to the truck.

Tighten both screws that are depicted in the exploded diagram and the truck should be held in place.  Do note however that there are two small arrows on the piece that has the spring loaded contacts.  When the truck is installed these arrows must face forward since they determine polarity of the front truck.

Hope this, along with with Bill's assistance helps get your rail truck operational and back on the rails.

JD

The locomotive drivers and all tender axles have electrical pickup.  No issues with electrical pickup with this locomotive.  Great runner.

JD

Here is one solution. It may not meet everyone's requiments.

The coach was built to match up with the AMS coach with exception of length.  The car is 18 1/2" long over the end beams. It is 4 7/8" wide, 6 13/16" in height.  Side sill to edge of roof is 4 1/4".  

While short it does look better and matches up with 1:20.3 scale Bachmann freight equipment.  It does not look out of place behind the K-27 or the Connie.  I run it tacked on to the end of mixed freights.

While this is beyond the original question, here is a link to the Edington gear reduction box and its installation.

Rodney has built a quality gear box that is easy to install.  It improves the performance of the K-27 by providing a more realistic gear ratio.  If you want to pull stumps this is the conversion to use.

http://www.grblogs.com/index.php/2011/04/26/k-27-with-edington-gear-reduction-add-on?blog=4

Free-rolling is normal for the K-27.  You don't have a problem.

Bob,
Reference to die cast frame must be that of the pony truck.  The frame and bottom cover on the locomotive is plastic.

JD

Suffolk RR
That will work.  However, I installed the Bachmann coupler boxes with off-set couplers on my AMS coach.  Now everything couples just fine with the lower couplers.  Works better than transition cars.

JD

As Kevin mentions, all of the latest Bachmann 1:20.3 scale locomotives and rolling stock come with a set of off-set couplers.  These couplers are a direct swap with the installed couplers.  These couplers lower the height to match that of the Bachmann truck mounted couplers.



In this picture you will see a set of the off-set couplers for the K-27.  I change the locomotive and rolling stock couplers to the lower off-set couplers to match the Bachmann truck mounted couplers.

Matter of fact, the 2-4-2T, (not a Spectrum) introduced last summer, comes with a set of off-set couplers.



This is a Bachmann 1:20.3 tank car with the supplied off-set coupler installed.

I've built a number of 1.20.3 rolling stock cars that use Bachmann truck mounted couplers.  Changing to the Bachmann supplied off-set couplers solves any problem with coupling these truck mounted couplers with any Bachmann Spectrum locomotive when the off-set couplers are used.

JD

Excellent video. Great railraod.  Production values are first rate.

Thanks for posting.

JD

Not the Bachmann, but here's the answer.

Wheelbase is 2.6 inches.

JD

Don't see any reason why not.



You'll have to fashion a way to attach the truck arm so it pivots where it attaches to the bottom cover.

JD

As a general rule I run all my Bachmann locomotives using 14.4 volt batteries. On occassion I'll use a 16 volt battery.

Locomotives are run using either Atisto on-board TE or RCS radio equipment. With one exception all locomotives are 1:20.3 scale. 

Even the K-27 with the Edington gear reduction case runs just fine on 14.4 volts.  But then again I'm not trying to duplicate Mach 1 speeds.

I'm still running a Version 5 Big Hauler and use 14.4 volt batteries.

JD

Check here for some of the information you seek.

http://www.grblogs.com/index.php/bachmannlocomotives/?blog=4

Tabulated data is included for the Bachmann locomotives contained in this GRBLOG.

JD

Conductor Pops,
Good call on the buildings.  No matter what you do to these buildings they will not hold up out in the weather.  Nice for an inside layout but a waste of time and money if used out doors. 

JD