Railbus gears

[Chris333]

Just wondering if there are replacement bevel gears for the railbus yet and if so who makes them?

My brand new rail bus had 3 cracked bevel gears and has sat on the shelf for over a year now.

Thanks
Chris

[Stevelewis]

I have  had  several  Rail Buses since  they were  launched, used  on various layouts i have  built, to the best of my knowledge  they  are   all still running  fine.

Can you clarify  if the   railbus you have  with  the  3  cracked gears,  was  like that  when purchased or  did the  gears   become  faulty  after  some  use?

I dont  know  what  the  law is in the USA  but here in  the  UK , if any item purchased  is found to be  faulty then the  supplying  retailer  is  legally  obliged to  refund  the  cost  price on its  return.

[Chris333]

It was a railbus still in the shrink wrap that I took out and tested on a piece of flextrack since I have no layout. It was about a year ago so I don't remember which one, but one wheel wouldn't spin when it was running. I took it all apart and found the cracked gears. It has been sitting in pieces ever since.

I mailed NWSL and they planned to make them, but weren't yet.

There are 6 bevel gears inside the railbus and I would like to replace them all. With metal if possible.

Thanks
Chris

[Chris333]

Here is my post back when I found the problem:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,17097.0.html

[LeoSt]

The railbus is a nightmare gear wise :-(((

I just unpacked sets 10, 11 and 12 and one set 'runs' sort of, the 2nd set only struggles forward and the 3rd set just sits there imitating a bad coffee grinder. Out of the 12 sets I bought in the last 3 years over 2/3 of the buses had defective gears.

I use the sets as a basis for kitbashing and it is a shame that I expect them to be defective !!!

That said, they're wonderful models, not only appearance wise but also the way they are made. Pity the gears are lousy !

Bachmann must know about this, but the railbus sets keep on beeing sold as they are :-(

My 2 Shays and 2 Climaxes are in the proces of beeing re-geared with aftermarket gears, the original ones were as 'good'as the railbus ones.

Living in The Netherlands makes returning them a costly affair, so I opt for the bashing way out.

[railtwister]

Chris & Leo,

Are you guys talking about the Bachmann On30 Railbus which looks like a lunchbox on four wheels, and comes with an unpowered trailer coach (also on 4 wheels), or the little RGS Railtruck which looks like an early stake bed truck and has a pivoting 4 wheel lead truck and single axle drive in the rear?

The Rail Truck is notorious for having bad gears, and is out of production. The RailBus is still listed as in stock at most places (I believe including at Bachmann).

Bill in FtL

[LeoSt]

the lunchbox :-)

This is how I made them run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USJ9QYe7MCs&list=UUYJ63CYyAhoNkL7XCIr6cKw&index=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQaLFYr1Ez0&list=UUYJ63CYyAhoNkL7XCIr6cKw&index=17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfBDRso88-w&list=UUYJ63CYyAhoNkL7XCIr6cKw&index=16

[mabloodhound]

Nice Leo.
Miss your cooking over on the other forum;  stop in sometime.

[Biglars]

If anyone doubts that there are issues with gears look here.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/888/384/236/open-letter-to-bachmann-regarding-their-on30-products/

[gnryrob]

LeoSt,
Thank you for posting your videos.  You said in a previous post that you have 2 Shays and 2 Climaxes being worked on to fix the gear problem.
I have the NWSL gears for the Shay, but what parts are you using to fix the Climax?  I have one of each and I am waiting for one or both to break.
Thanks for any help you can offer.

Rob Morrison

[LeoSt]

Rob,

Bachmann got some nice news out a couple of days ago, I expect them to publish it either here or somewhere on their website.

I would wait just a bit before buying new gears 

cheers, Leo