Bachmann Locomotive tips - as requested by J Whitten

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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The following are a number of small improvements I have developed, in some cases with the help of others, for many of the current and recent Bachmann HO locomotives, mostly those in their Spectrum line.

After mentioning some of these items in another post, John requested I elaberate. Much of this info I have posted before, either here or on the Bachmann board, but for those who missed those - here goes:

But first a disclaimer - I run DC, using Aristo Craft Train Engineer wireless throttles. Some of my performance related changes are directly related to the use these throttles or in some cases, you may see an improvement with any DC throttle, but maybe not to the same degree as the Train Engineer which has a pulse width modulated output.

Tip #1 - remove the motor circuit RF suppression capacitors. They are generally located on the circuit board often right near were the motor leads are attached. Sometimes they are disc type, on most newer models they are PC board type. Removing them will lower the starting speed and lower the slowest operational speed. It will also correct problems with some brands of aftermarket decoders.

This mod is especially effective on the 2-8-0, but does improve EVERY loco, and I have now removed ALL such capacitors.

I do this to all brands of products that have such RF filters in place. In addition to Bachmann, I have found them on some Intermountain and Proto2000 DC versions.

Tip #2 - add weight to the tenders - if you run long trains or do lots of backing, or back whole trains into staging, this will vertually eliminat

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Bachmann Locomotive tips - as requested by J Whitten

Thank you very much, I appreciate your tips! I have a fair number of Bachmann locos. So far I haven’t had any trouble with the 2-8-0’s backing up, but I am starting to have some issues with tender pickups and electrical drop-outs.

John

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Good information, Sheldon - thanks.

A couple of my first 2-8-0s were wired differently due to the tender trucks being reversed, with the result that the tenders were not interchangeable. I discovered this after shortening the tenders, then picking one at random to couple behind a loco for a test run. Once I realised the cause of the problem, each tender was identified with a number matching that of its loco. Eventually, I completely removed the circuit boards from the tenders and did away with Bachmann’s plug system, replacing it with a pair of wires between the loco and tender. I also run DC and had already removed the lights from the loco in favour of some added weight. I model open coal bunkers on all tenders and use loose “coal”, but removal of the circuit board allows more room for additional weight within the body shell. With a fairly full bunker of coal, this gives a weight of just over 6oz. for the 28’ long tender. This improves tracking and current collection, although, for test purposes, these locos run just fine without their tenders, too. [swg]

Wayne

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Hi Sheldon

Thanks. Good tips. I copied the article to an Open Office document and created a three page PDF which can easily be read by Adobe Acrobat Reader which I believe most have in their PC’s.

If you ever get time, you might consider adding photos as this will be a great help to the model railroad community. A picture is worth at least a thousand words.

The nice thing about PDF’s is the document can be expanded and details in photos will show up better than just looking at a jpg.

Rich

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Rich, When I get a few minutes I will take some photos and post them. My understanding of PDF files is that you need a subscription version from Adobe to create them, which I don’t have.

I don’t work in a big office and have no practical use for that stuff, and a computer is not a major part of what I do for a living. So even taking, uploading and posting pictures is a time consuming thing for me.

Spending a few minutes on this forum, doing a little research now and then, using word processing and Quick Books is about the limit of my computer use.

But, I will post some photos in a day or two.

Sheldon

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I have been using Open Office for about six years which is a free version of Microsoft Office and has the capability to convert to PDF.

There is a Windows version also. I recently downloaded and installed Open Office for my girlfriend who wanted a good word processor application. It is very easy to download and install.

Think, Open Source software like Firefox web browser. The link is below.

http://www.openoffice.org/

No good reason why everyone cannot have this application.

Rich

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There are several free programs that can produce PDFs. I use one called CutePDf that installs as a printer. Any application that can print can then make a PDF. Just print to this ‘printer’ and it will prompt you for a filename. Simple.

–Randy

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Here is a little info on the Spectrum HO USRA Medium Tender. I think this one comes with the Spectrum 2-8-0 which has had a 12 volt light bulb in the beginning.

The two jumpers reverse each pair so the tender was re-wired, caps removed, 1k resistor for the LED and the copper trace cut to isolate pin 7 which can be now used for a tender light if I so choose. With the caps out, the inductors are not an issue.

The jumpers are needed when used with the small driver 4-6-0. I might just completely re-wire the tender in the future so the jumpers are not needed.

Rich

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OK, It took me a while, and the pictures are not great, but here are some pictures of the extra weight added to the Bachmann 2-8-4:

The extra tender weight is typical of what I do to all Bachmann tenders. And in addition to what is shown, I added another 1/2 oz stick on weight to the inside of the backhead and filled the sand box and steam dome with lead pellets and epoxyed them in place.

Sheldon

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Very cool, thanks!

John

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Thanks for the “info” here Sheldon!!! Seems as though there are always little “quirks” to everything and it’s a heck of a lot easier to “go in” knowing what those “quirks” are than having to find them out for one’s self everytime.

Tips such as what you have related here have saved me countless hours and much frustration over the years not only in my model railroading but also in my other hobbies such as working on the old clocks or even doing something as ordinary as working on my car/truck.

Info like this is truly “priceless” as it saves a person a lot of grief over the years.

Thanks again for taking the time to share these…

Mark

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Mark and John, Thank you for the kind words and you are most welcome.

In the picture below, if you look close, you can see the modification to the drawbar to improve clearance for the wires.

For me, these Bachmann locos are such a good value and so easily improved.

Sheldon

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Bumped regarding recent Bachmann loco problem thread.

Additionally, anyone doing Bachmann tender swaps I have lots of data on Bachmann loco and tender wiring/pin assignments if you need it. Send a PM.

Sheldon

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Thank you for the information…very timely for me. Take care…John

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Moved up again in response to a related thread.

Sheldon

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Definately a lot of good and helpful information here. I have a Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 and the wiring connecting the engine with the tender drags really badly and will not allow to loco to sit squarely on the track let alone go through a turnout. Any suggestions?

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Take the top off the tender, add about 2-3 oz of weight, relocate the wires to the loco so that more of the wire in the tender. Carefully position the wires after pluging them into the loco to help avoid conflict with the drawbar.

The extra weight will improve electrical pickup from the tender and help keep the wires from interfering with the free motion of the tender.

Sheldon

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I thank you Sir.

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BobL609, you are most welcome, and you need not call me Sir - we are all friends here - even when we disagree.

Sheldon

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MY GAWD MAN! That is a BEAUTIFUL tender scheme there! Simple, but elegant!