Do you know what the smallest radius the EM 1 will handle? I still have 2 18 inch turns and one will be a pain to replaces. Both are hidden so I am not worried about how they would look.
My PCM Big Boy and PCM Y6-b and other 8 wheel steamers will handle them.
If there is a problem, will it be the steamers drive wheels, swing of the draw bar or cab hitting the tender?
Thanks for the coming answers and would love some pictures of your Might EM-1’s.
Cuda Ken
Yeh’the EM-1 will probably take the 18" radius so long as there are no tunnel portals where the cab swing cause’s grief.
And thank your stars you won’t have to watch it lol
But she sure is purty!!
Ken, you might be OK. Go get one now before they all sell out.
I would try to work on getting those 18" radius curves to at least 22" to 24" if you can though.
The details are outstanding and pulls great also. Tender is a little light, could be heavier.
Draw bar sometimes hits the wires, so bend the drawbar down slightly, just a little bit.
I’m putting the QSI Titan in mine, in a few weeks.
Here’s some pics for ya…
The documentation provided by Bachmann clearly indicates that the minimum radius is 22".
I fear if you can not replace your 18" sections you will have a display piece.
“Ken, you might be OK. Go get one now before they all sell out.”
That’s funny - sell out when? three years from now? or five years from now?
It says “Bachmann” on the box, not Broadway Limited Imports.
I doubt there is any reason to fear them selling out, Bachmann will keep making more as long as they sell.
Bachmann is actually in the business of making trains and THEN selling them as opposed to the other way around like some manufacturers.
I’ve seen them run on 36" curves and that was just barely big enough in my view. 18" radius?, if you try that I would suggest a ton of weight in the tender before you even put it on the track.
But what do I know, I’m going to take the decoders out of mine when I get them.
Sheldon
Ahhh Sheldon’s in his groove again.
Aha, I forgot Bachmann does make them, as long as they are selling.
Which is sad because everybody else does the opposite. What’s wrong with this? I find it so irritating, that almost all the popular stuff is a one time production.
And I have some 24" curves and it runs flawless on those.
Thanks for all the answers folks.
Figures the darn 18 inch turns strike again. 1 would not be that hard to replaces, other could be a real pain.
This is the turn that would be the hardest, one at the top by the cliff faces. It has two turnout then the turn (parts is a 22 then the 18 section) then the diamond that cross over to the main bench.
If I don’t use the Bachmann sound decoder. I will use a Loksound 3.5 decoder.
Funny that PCM’s Big Boy can handle a 18 inch turn and the Bachmann EM-1 needs a 22?
Thanks again and thanks for the pictures Micheal.
Ken
I did read in one forum, someone said he ran his on 18 inch radius but looks terrible. Even on 22 inch, radius, a lot of cab swing.
Jonathan in the Bachmann forums show photos of his at the tunnel portals. He has quite a thread going about his EM-1.
Why mess with opinions when you can go to the Bachmann forums and look at what Jonathan has posted and you do not have to join.
Rich
Thanks Rich, I will check it out.
Ken
I posted this pic on a previous thread
It shows the overhang on a 22
I had the same problem and solved it by using that plier-like tool for bending Kadee air hoses to install a somewhat U-shaped bend in the drawbar to provide clearance between the drawbar and the wires.
For those not having this model, here’s a brief description. The drawbar is attached to the back end of the second set of drivers, which swivel and are not rigidly fixed to the frame/shell. The drawbar simply rides over top of the trailing truck and exits to the tender.
Though I solved that problem with the wires interfering with drawbar swing, my tender still derails on a 40-inch radius curve, even at a dead slow speed of 2 on an NCE controller that has 28 speed settings.
The drawbar seems to push the tender off the tracks to the outside of the curve, and actually lifts the driving wheels clearly off the tracks, again, on the outside of the curve and only the rear set of drivers. Weird stuff. We actually see the engine and tender leaning / rocking to the side at times.
Consensus of several of our long-time modelers is that the drawbar is the problem.
We ran the engine and tender with the tender NOT attached to the drawbar and guess what, it ran perfectly, backwards and forwards, through that particular curve, even at 50% speed (setting 14).
My pals recommend I add a short piece of additional drawbar to the existing drawbar, in essence making an articulated drawbar, but I’ve yet to make any changes and want to post here first.
Anyone having this sort of problem with their new Bachmann B&O EM-1 models?
Besides the drawbar/ wire interference, you may also end up w/ the drawbar hitting the piping detail which extends quite low off the cab corners. These may have to be trimmed. I don’t think any mods to the drawbar to that extreme would help.
The tender seems to be a bit light. I only had a couple derailments while backing through #6 turnouts and running through an “s” bend. I wasn’t sure if the trouble was the drawbar in the closer hole creating cab overhang interference w/ tender or the weight of pushing 26 very heavy loaded hoppers throught the switch. Even though there may be trouble w/ the drawbar/ wire clearance, adding additional weight may solve your derailments.
Bob, thanks. One of the guys on the Yahoo B&O list says he added two ounces of weight to the front of his tender and it solved his derailing issues. I’ll give that a try before I get medieval on my rolling stock. Others had to adjust the wiring, as I did, so as to not interfere with the drawbar movement.
Another member on that list (Jon V.) provided this info: “I experienced the derailing issue with 7600, on one left 24” turn. After careful inspection, the drawbar was not shaped exaclty the same as 7627, probably got bent in shipping or packaging. The trick is; the end of the draw bar, AFTER the hump, must be pointing down slightly. When the tender is connected, the drawbar should rest about a third of the way down the king pin. Once I bent my 7600 drawbar to match my 7627 drawbar, no more derailments…"
Thanks!
s/Mike