At one local hobby swap & meet I aquired a bachmann steam locomotive out of the firms Overland Limited train set as a project locomotive and to run around the xmas tree. It is a 4-8-4 and it look great, BUT, it only has elecrical pickups on the rear trailing truck, and it is a pain if a small section of track has loose rail joiners and the locomotive stalls with a heavy train up a grade. Does aneyone know how to add more wipers on the wheels WITHOUT damageing the apearence? I’d aprecate anything that will help. Thanks!
This is completely off the cuff but …
How about mounting some commercial brass wipers on the underside of the loco and have them touch the inside of the wheel flanges. You could use sheet phosphor bronze (good stuff) too or kaydee coupler box springs.
Also it seems hard to believe that a $150+ set wouldn’t have pickups on at least one drive axle. [%-)] Perhaps there is a broken or disconnected wire?
Anyway good luck and Merry Christmas!
I’m not sure, but if you were to lift the boiler off, you’d see that the loco itself has a split-frame and picks up power from the driving wheels, also. What you actually might need is a little more weight to the loco. I had a Bachmann GS-4 a long time ago that had poor running qualities simply from the lack of weight over the drivers. I used some double-sided thick tape (to insulate the weight from the frame) and added a couple of ounces of sheet lead on top of the weight over the first and second drivers, and it did the trick pretty well.
This might help.
Merry Christmas.
Tom [:)]
I have used the suggestions in the first link since my tender trucks are four wheel types. All that I have seen indicates this loco has the split chassis with pickups on the loco for both sides. Bachmann diagram does not show a split chassis. I know Bachmann is upgrading their locos. The standard line (yours I think) have been different than the Spectrum line.
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/bachmann_4-4-0/wipers/
http://www.westportterminal.de/tender080.html
Rich
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/references.php
There’s a couple of their standard line 4-8-4 diagrams on their site. Doesn’t look like a split frame. Can’t tell much about wiring from the diagrams.
For my English Yardbird, I modified Kaydee coupler springs for extra pickups. I bent the spring part around to make the wipes. In some cases I wiped the tread of the wheel and in others the inside back of the wheel. I cut about 1/2 of the body of the spring piece off all together. I then drilled a small hole and soldered on a lead wire. I then drilled and taped a small hole in the frame and attached with nylon machine screws. It seems to work. Though it took a while, once on it stayed. For my shay I used commurcial wipes that rub on the rail. They are stuck on with glue and also work. I tried several other easier ways, all of which took much longer and did not work.
Thank you Harold. I knew I had seen that somewhere, but could not remember where. When I needed it on the English I just did what I remembered and it worked. Now I can give you the credit you deserve when I talk about what I did.
no larak, there is only one set of wire on the circit board that goes to the wiper contacts.
Thanks for the info everybody! [:)]