I’m back again. I’d like to add a front coupler to an undecorated Bachmann 0-6-0 with a Vanerbuilt tender. What is the best way of doing this? I am not beyond getting a fellow from my local model railroading club to do it for me should it be to difficult for a beginner.
Also, I plan on buying a Digitrax system as soon as ai figure out what I should buy, and from what I’ve heard, the Bachmann DCC locomotives come with Lenz decoders, which is the system I used to use.
Can these be used with a Digitrax system ir should I replace the decoder and should I need to replace, how would I do that?
Is this Bachmann 0-6-0 a Spectrum or standard model; if it from the standard line, you may have difficulty converting it to DCC. There was a similar question in another thread where I described the problems I had and saw with a standard Bachmann 0-6-0
Here’s what I did to put a front coupler on an IHC 2-6-0. It ain’t exactly the same as the Bachman 0-6-0, but it’s close. I used a Kadee 30 series coupler, the kind with a roundish coupler box and a centering spring made from wire. The coupler box is a little easier to wedge into place. The 30 series have 9 members, giving you all the permutations of long, medium and short shanks, combined with overset, centerset and underset heads. For a steamer the coupler shank has to reach out over the pilot, so I’d go with a long shank. Get a coupler height gage (or use the NMRA gage) and check the height of the existing dummy coupler. If the dummy coupler is the right height, go with a center set head. If the dummy is low, go with an overset head, and if the dummy is high go with a underset head.
The coupler mounting hole in the pilot is probably scale size, which is too small to pass the shank of the Kadee. I had to do quite a bit of Dremel work to make the hole big enough. Then I drilled a hole in the deck behind the pilot to accept the Kadee coupler box mounting screw. The black nylon Kadee screwheads are almost invisible against the black plastic deck. Then with three steady hands assemble the coupler box, top, spring and screw and tighten things up. With three hands it’s a piece of cake. If you only have two hands like most of us, getting things together can be a struggle, but it is doable.
The locomotive is a standard line item. It is part of the EZ DCC engine and controller packs selection. It is a wonderfull locomotive and the system is fine for the small floor layout I have set up right now.
However, like I mentioned earlier in this and another post, I plan on upgrading to a Digitrax system (I decided on the Zephyer), so I will not need the contoller for much longer.
Here is a link to the Locomotive’s page on the Bachmann site.
assemble the coupler box, top, spring and screw and tighten things up. With three hands it’s a piece of cake. If you only have two hands like most of us, getting things together can be a struggle, but it is doable.