Lost the manual to my Bachmann GP-38

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Among my myriad collection of rolling stock is an old Bachmann Plus GP-38 (I think, they all look pretty much alike to me and I’ve lost the box for it). The motor runs rather well, and I would like to eventually convert it to DCC when/if I start on a new layout.

On casual inspection, I noticed only one set of wires leading from the trucks to the engine, which can only mean the motor gets one pole via the chassis, right? I have no idea how to take apart the motor assembly to ascertain this, and I hesitate to use any kind of force because I’m sure it’d lead to something stupid like shattering a universal joint on the axle or something.

So, does anyone have any tips for disassembling and DCC installation on this family of locos?

2

First–email Bachman and ask for a replacement. They might even have a .pdf to send you.

Second–Bachman has an online forum Ask the Bachman that features a tech rep.

3

oh, cool.

Thanks again.

4

If you send me your regular E-mail address I’ll send you some Bach drawings I have that cover four basic chassis designs.GP35,Dash8,B23-7 and F9. The Trains.com E-mail won’t let me do attachments.

5

Mines [gone]

6

Guys,

Once you make contact, come back and edit out the addresses unless you want the spiders to grab it and fill your spam boxes.

7

Sent them. Contact me if you need the parts lists or anything.

8

Thanks. I wish I knew what type the loco is, all the GP series looks like a blur to me, I can’t tell individual details apart at all.

EDIT: Doh. Serves me right for looking at the Bachmann site all sloppily. Turns out it’s a GE B23-7. facepalms Oh boy, is my face red. It’s a bit like confusing baseball with pesäpallo (Finnish baseball), I suppose.

9

Now you have the exact drawing you need.[:D] I’ve got two of them. They run pretty good for the $$$.

PS- You get the Simpsons in Finland?

10

Oh course we do, we’re not in the dark ages.

The motor runs well, the lights are busted (one of the diodes is dead and there’s apparently problems with the copper strip contacts between the light board and the frame). Of course, the loco was stored in an unheated attic for at least five years. But it still works better than most of the Lima and Piko stuff interred with it.

It looks like there would be enough space inside for a decoder easily enough, but running wires to the motor looks iffy, specially since one pole is fairly hard-to-reach (I can just about see the copper strip between the frame and motor).

11

You would have to pull the motor, solder a wire to that bottom terminal ( the one that contacts the frame) and then isolate it from contacting the frame with some electrical tape. Then run the two motor wires to the appropriate contacts on the decoder.