I have a Bachman Engine (#251) that was given to me a few years ago. It is not running good at all. I took her apart and the driveshaft’s that comes out of each side of the motor are not in there tight and have a bit a lubricant on them. Is this normal or should they be in there tight so they can yurn the gaer assembly’s on the wheels?
In my experiance bachman engines tend to just fall apart after a while, i had a spectrum F7 that ran as good as my proto 1000 switcher one day, and the next it ran like it was underwater.
It’s normal for those drive shafts to fit loosely. Your main problem may be dirty trck or dirty locomotive wheels. Clean both and see if it doesn’t run better.
The drivetrain on their all-wheel-drive locos is pretty good in my experience - not sure which loco you have, but the usual setup is for the motor driveshaft to have a universal joint at both ends, which in turn connects to the trucks (there may be another UJ in there, depending on the loco). If the wheels are turning when you turn the power on then the drivetrain is ok. On an old loco that hasn’t run for a while I’d try cleaning the grease out of the trucks (warm soapy water, rinse, dry, reassemble and regrease), add a drop of light oil to the motor bearings and the bearings on the worm gears on each truck, reassemble the loco then try running it. Old grease sometimes hardens and the tip about adding oil to the bearings will make it smoother and quieter particularly at low speeds.
What type of loco is this by the way? For some reason I’m thinking of a Bachmann Plus F7 here.
I have had nothing but good experience with Bachmann, with a minor exception. But, if anything is wrong with it, email their service dept. and they may be able to help.
~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~
Brit, you are correct. It’s a N Scale Bachman Plus F7A. I’ll try what you say. Thanks!