… of a Bachmann 4-4-0 American?
No, i don´t mean the new Spectrum “modern” 4-4-0, but the cheap one.
Has any one done this?
Yes, this has been done before. I’ve also done quite a bit of work on mine to get it running better.
The biggest thing is the electrical pickup. The tender needs to have all of its wheels picking up electricity. I replaced the original wheels with better looking and performing Intermountain 28" semi-scale wheels. I used the original axle wipers, and then used Kadee centering springs as wipers to get electrical pickup from the other four wheels.
The drive itself runs pretty well as is, but the older ones with a pancake motor (like mine) need a new motor. If yours has a pancake motor, I would recommend replacing it with a medium-small sized can motor running at 12 to 13,000 RPM, like this Mashima motor (this one is slightly larger than the one A Line sells, and has enough power to drive a 4-4-0). I used a larger Mabuchi FK-130SH motor (available from Bowser) in mine, which required more work to mount, but it made my 4-4-0 a much smoother runner. The newer ones with the 5-pole open-frame motor should be fine.
As far as improving looks, I can’t think of much that can be done except replacing the pilot and tender wheels. The tender wheels need replacing anyway to work well, and as I said before, Intermountain 28" wheels do the job very well.
I have done that with a flat can motor that use to be sold by Mantua for the General 4-4-0. I am talking about the Bachmann old time 4-4-0 American with the motor in the tender and drives the engine via a drive shaft.
You did not specify “which” Bachmann American… I think there was a more modern version that used the pancake motor like the 0-6-0.
Rich
No, the 4-4-0 has always been a tender drive. The earlier ones did have a pancake motor, but it was mounted in the tender like Mantua and Rivarossi did with their’s. The pancake motor had no torque, no low speed control, and ran at about 20,000 RPM, so that’s why it needs to be replaced by a good can motor. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to do so.
Thanks for the input, folks. It sounds, as if you have to go through quite a lot of trouble to turn this loco into a performer, which may not even worth it, considering the rather crude look of it. It is a pity, that there is no “quality” Civil War time 4-4-0 on the market, other than this train set stuff.
I was offered a brand new loco for very little money, but I won´t be going for it.