Few questions?!?!

[visser]

Hello, I have a bachmann train from when I was young and I'm trying to get it going again to have around the Christmas tree this year. I'm trying to figure out what what scale my trains are? Also do the trains all take the same size tracks or is there different sizes? Also I'm going to need tires for my engine as the old ones were dry and cracked, can I just find a proper size o-ring or is it easy to find them online? Thanks in advance.

[visser]

Oh and when hooked up it struggles with getting power to the engine, I'm guessing that just means track and engine wheels have to be cleaned? Does anyone have a good link for this? Thanks

[Jhanecker2]

To visser :  your best bet would be to go to the website of the NMRA . There you would find articles that would answer a number of your questions. First of all scale can be determined by the width of the track you are running them on. That would give you the standard  gauge dimension.  You will definitely have to thoroughly  clean both train tracks as well as the wheels  and check for foreign material in the train bodies .  Running model trains on the floor is not conductive for a long life for your train set .   Tires for trains can be purchased  still but you might have to check out the Walthers Reference catalog to find whom & where . Good Luck in your search. John2.

[RAM]

What you have is ho scale.  The cars have x2f couplers.  These are no longer used and only ho used them.

[Trainman203]

One can't expect a model engine to run well, if at all, after sitting boxed up for years.  Electrical contact points oxidize as does the track, and lubrication congeals.  Cars don't run well for long without being driven around the block periodically for exercise, neither do trains.

[visser]

To Jhanecker2: I will defiantly those places out, thanks I put it on the floor just for testing and picture sake.

To Ram: Thanks that helps me narrow things down

Trainman203: thanks I realize I'm going to have to give it a good cleaning.

[jbrock27]

This sectional track you have is really meant to be secured to something like a board sub roadbed or foam board, with some form of permanency, not free floating on a floor like you have.  For that, frankly, you would be better off using interlocking track with roadbed, such as EZ Track.  If you buy any, be sure to get nickle silver track.

That said, a floor is also not a good place to run trains; dust, dirt, crud in general, gets in the moving parts of the loco and other places as well as on the track, making running less than ideal.

That Atlas rerailer you have with the white piece in the middle, that is not meant to be on a main line.  It's a Dead End uncoupler and is meant to be placed as it is named.  It is used to uncouple your cars with the horn hook couplers.  It will provide problems if you are just running the train over it.

Since you mention this was an old Bachmann set, I am going to guess that many, if not all, the pieces that are "silver" are steel rails.  To be certain, take a magnet to them.  (This is a test I present to many of the thieving Ebay Sellers who are pawing off steel track as "nickel silver" that I come across.  The crooked ones block me, oh what a shame...)  Steel is a poor option for running trains, gets rusty and gets dirty, cutting down conductivity.  Nickle silver is the best in terms of maintenance.

The loco, likely has traction tires.  Not the best running set up.  It likely also has a poor (pancake) motor in it.  It if were me, I would not spend the money to buy traction tires, I would purchase a newer (even used) loco, that does not employ traction tires.  And TM203 is correct, with the loco sitting idle for a time, it has been done no favors.

This is not meant to rain on your parade, just trying to give you important info and tips so you can actually enjoy seeing a train run around the tracks .

[Len]

Actually, that rerailer/uncoupler is directional. Go across from one direction, with what looks like a '>' on it, and the cars uncouple. Go across from the '=' end and nothing happens. It's actually intended for spurs, so you can get dropped off cars out again. But it will work on the mainline if you watch your direction of travel.

If the loco moves at all, you'll need to do two things at a minimum. Clean the wheels, and pop the shell and lubricate the motor. Using a needle oiler, Labelle 107 comes with the needle built in, is the simplest way. Or you can use a toothpick to apply a drop of oil to the appropriate places. Be sure to get a bit down behind the large gear in the center on the gear side, and the shaft bearing between the brushes on the other. Use some test leads with alligator clips to apply power until it runs smoothly, and check for smoke coming from anywhere.

Before you reassemble, you can pop the truck sideframe off and install the traction tire of your choice. I prefer the diesel tires by Calumet, they're clear and don't show as much. Or you can get the black ones from Bachmann parts dept, and several other places.

Like jbrock said, if you're going to operation on the floor you should replace the track with a roadbed type nickel silver track. The three most common are Bachmann EZ-Track (Code 100 rail, pain to get the rail joiners off), Atlas TruTrack (Code 83 rail, track can be seperated from roadbed), and Kato (Code 100 rail, uses proprietary rail joiners). Life-Like also makes a sectional track, but it has a limited selection of pieces and can have electrical continuity problems if not cared for properly.

Also, like jbrock said, you should seriously look at getting a better, all wheel drive, loco if you get "hooked on trains". You can find deals in the $50 - $70 range on Bachmann, and other brand, locos if you look around.

Len