I recently found some EM1s available for sale at N Scale Supply (great site with excellent preowned and new stuff and simply the best photography of the products on the web).
Previously, i hated the Lifelike mallet (first run) which I never use because it cannot pull 10 cars, yet I am spoiled by Athearn Big Boy which pull 40 plus box cars effortlessly around curved track and up and down grades without ever so much as a wheel slip!!!
My EM 1 has been a wobbling wheel slipping disappointment and I am so disappointed as from reviews on the web, it looked like a sure thing and real winner.
I finally broke down and purchased one and was pleased with its whisper quiet smooth DCC operation with my NCE PowerCab on my double mainline Kato Unitrack layout, that is, until I tried to have it do what my Athearn Big Boy and IM and KATO ABA and ABBA consists do.
>:(I had heard that the EM1 was a terrific puller with drawbar traction to pull up to 40 or 0 cars on level track. For comparison my 2009 Athearn Big Boy pulls 45 40 foot box cars on double elevated curved KATO track effortlessly with no wheel slip.
I noticed that my EM1 was having wheel slippage with 18 to 20 40 foot box cars on the same track. I tried running the engine to break it in but eventually i noticed also that the only the front drivers seemed to be powered in regard to providing traction. i checked the decoder connection in tender for loose wiring but everything looked good.
I am sure if the back drivers were engaging with actual tractive effort instead of just rolling, this engine would give the Big Boy a run for the money. After about a week of operating the engine with a smaller and lighter train, I was backing it up and it seemed to jam and would only run smoothly in forward.
Is there a common cause for this problem or do I need to return this to Bachmann under the 1 year warranty? I bought it last month and was very surprised to find that N Scale Supply still had inventory on hand as most everyone has been sold out for a months or longer.
Does anyone else have a EM1 in which the rear drivers did not engage to provide traction followed by transmission failures in reverse where the gearing seems to be slipping, locking up or not engaged?
My fear is, the Bachmann won't be able to repair it but will instead send be a Pennsy K4 which while a very nice loco is not really what I want as i often turn off the sound on my locos and simply watch them run, even the Broadway Limited E8s and Alco PA and M1A 2*8*2 (probably the best sounding N Scale engine of all time to date). I hate to admit it, but I get tired of the sound as I tire of holding the power cab and simply like to watch the trains. I mean the horns are cool to blow but after a couple of minutes, I wish they would just sound by themselves as macros.
I sometimes think the hobby was easier and less frustrating before DCC as my ABA and ABBA consists of IM and Kato F units don't seem to clear off my power cab and the engines then won't respond to their individual long addresses and I spend an hour trying to reprogram engines just to be able to run some trains. Right now of the 8 F units I added to decoders, I can only operate 5 of the engines and I am finding that Kato engines are particularly unreliable with their decoders.
Frankly, before i bought some BLI locos wherein the decoders stopped controling the motor, i never once sent a loco back to a manufacturer for being non-operational other than the very disappointing KATO GG1 and GS4 which can't keep their traction tires on and are therefore essentially junk in terms of pulling long trains.
I modeled Scale O and had Lionel engines with sound and smoke and frankly found the noise and smoke to detract from the enjoyment of watching the trains after a while. After a while I abandoned these as N scale was simply so much easier in terms of operations (no remotes and offered more consistent operational reliability).
I fear I am almost ready to abandon DCC and go back to pure analog as a I run E and F multi-unit consists or large articulated steam with long trains on double main lines.
I find trying to manage traffic on double track to be work and not that enjoyable as even with Powercab recall, switching back and forth between multiple trains to adjust speed is a pain and watching more than 3 trains at a time is nerve wracking when you have 200 pieces of rolling stock running around a layout. I like to fiddle around and work out when the trains are running and too often inattention can lead to a failure to notice uncoupling or derailments with catastrophic consequences such as when i had a kato double track container train derail and fall to the floor. Have not even tried to figure out where all the pieces go. Threw it all in a box and just went back to running my IM and Kato F units and steam as the Kato container cars have always been a pain to couple and keep on the tracks.
Wow - I did not realize how frustrated I was with the hobby, yet I love it so much. I could post pictures and a movie of the EM1 on which the only the front drivers have traction. When I pick up the rear drivers, they do not even spin when the power is on. This tells me the motor powering the rear drivers is not engaged with the worm gear correctly. Needless to say, like a front wheel drive articulate, the front end wobbles under heavy load which detracts greatly even when running just 20 cars behind it. As the BLI M1A runs betters and pulls better and offered sound for the same price, I now feel like an idiot for taking the plunge on another Bachmann steamer as my other Bachmman DCC steamer (a C&O mallet is also a poor performer). When I add up the money I spent, I feel like a degenerate gambler since I could have bought another Broadway Limited M1A or waited and bought another Athearn Challenger or Big Boy for the money. The last thing I need is more unused trains sitting in boxes. I am at the point, where I am ready to just throw these things in the trash because I don't like being reminded of my stupid purchasing decision in this hobby.
Previously, i hated the Lifelike mallet (first run) which I never use because it cannot pull 10 cars, yet I am spoiled by Athearn Big Boy which pull 40 plus box cars effortlessly around curved track and up and down grades without ever so much as a wheel slip!!!
My EM 1 has been a wobbling wheel slipping disappointment and I am so disappointed as from reviews on the web, it looked like a sure thing and real winner.
I finally broke down and purchased one and was pleased with its whisper quiet smooth DCC operation with my NCE PowerCab on my double mainline Kato Unitrack layout, that is, until I tried to have it do what my Athearn Big Boy and IM and KATO ABA and ABBA consists do.
>:(I had heard that the EM1 was a terrific puller with drawbar traction to pull up to 40 or 0 cars on level track. For comparison my 2009 Athearn Big Boy pulls 45 40 foot box cars on double elevated curved KATO track effortlessly with no wheel slip.
I noticed that my EM1 was having wheel slippage with 18 to 20 40 foot box cars on the same track. I tried running the engine to break it in but eventually i noticed also that the only the front drivers seemed to be powered in regard to providing traction. i checked the decoder connection in tender for loose wiring but everything looked good.
I am sure if the back drivers were engaging with actual tractive effort instead of just rolling, this engine would give the Big Boy a run for the money. After about a week of operating the engine with a smaller and lighter train, I was backing it up and it seemed to jam and would only run smoothly in forward.
Is there a common cause for this problem or do I need to return this to Bachmann under the 1 year warranty? I bought it last month and was very surprised to find that N Scale Supply still had inventory on hand as most everyone has been sold out for a months or longer.
Does anyone else have a EM1 in which the rear drivers did not engage to provide traction followed by transmission failures in reverse where the gearing seems to be slipping, locking up or not engaged?
My fear is, the Bachmann won't be able to repair it but will instead send be a Pennsy K4 which while a very nice loco is not really what I want as i often turn off the sound on my locos and simply watch them run, even the Broadway Limited E8s and Alco PA and M1A 2*8*2 (probably the best sounding N Scale engine of all time to date). I hate to admit it, but I get tired of the sound as I tire of holding the power cab and simply like to watch the trains. I mean the horns are cool to blow but after a couple of minutes, I wish they would just sound by themselves as macros.
I sometimes think the hobby was easier and less frustrating before DCC as my ABA and ABBA consists of IM and Kato F units don't seem to clear off my power cab and the engines then won't respond to their individual long addresses and I spend an hour trying to reprogram engines just to be able to run some trains. Right now of the 8 F units I added to decoders, I can only operate 5 of the engines and I am finding that Kato engines are particularly unreliable with their decoders.
Frankly, before i bought some BLI locos wherein the decoders stopped controling the motor, i never once sent a loco back to a manufacturer for being non-operational other than the very disappointing KATO GG1 and GS4 which can't keep their traction tires on and are therefore essentially junk in terms of pulling long trains.
I modeled Scale O and had Lionel engines with sound and smoke and frankly found the noise and smoke to detract from the enjoyment of watching the trains after a while. After a while I abandoned these as N scale was simply so much easier in terms of operations (no remotes and offered more consistent operational reliability).
I fear I am almost ready to abandon DCC and go back to pure analog as a I run E and F multi-unit consists or large articulated steam with long trains on double main lines.
I find trying to manage traffic on double track to be work and not that enjoyable as even with Powercab recall, switching back and forth between multiple trains to adjust speed is a pain and watching more than 3 trains at a time is nerve wracking when you have 200 pieces of rolling stock running around a layout. I like to fiddle around and work out when the trains are running and too often inattention can lead to a failure to notice uncoupling or derailments with catastrophic consequences such as when i had a kato double track container train derail and fall to the floor. Have not even tried to figure out where all the pieces go. Threw it all in a box and just went back to running my IM and Kato F units and steam as the Kato container cars have always been a pain to couple and keep on the tracks.
Wow - I did not realize how frustrated I was with the hobby, yet I love it so much. I could post pictures and a movie of the EM1 on which the only the front drivers have traction. When I pick up the rear drivers, they do not even spin when the power is on. This tells me the motor powering the rear drivers is not engaged with the worm gear correctly. Needless to say, like a front wheel drive articulate, the front end wobbles under heavy load which detracts greatly even when running just 20 cars behind it. As the BLI M1A runs betters and pulls better and offered sound for the same price, I now feel like an idiot for taking the plunge on another Bachmann steamer as my other Bachmman DCC steamer (a C&O mallet is also a poor performer). When I add up the money I spent, I feel like a degenerate gambler since I could have bought another Broadway Limited M1A or waited and bought another Athearn Challenger or Big Boy for the money. The last thing I need is more unused trains sitting in boxes. I am at the point, where I am ready to just throw these things in the trash because I don't like being reminded of my stupid purchasing decision in this hobby.