This is my first day on this site, so if this has been discussed before, my apologies…I had 2 Bachman 44 tonners in May of '89, and both experienced disintegrating motor windings after about 3-4 hours running time. This reinforced my opinion that Bachman was not necessarily the best loco manufactuer out there.
Now I want to try them again, but I’m a bit gun shy. Are the new 44 tonners reliable? Are there any reviews I’ve missed on these new engines? Help me out folks!
WELCOME ABOARD!
Some of our members haven’t returned from working the extra board and prevents them
from responding. No on board computer on the older diesels.
Bachmann generally has a poor reputation with their diesel models, and a very good reputation with their Spectrum steam line. Their newly-released 44-tonner is by far the best HO diesel they have. The old version had two independently motored power trucks. While a nice idea, they had a tendency to fight each other, causing mutual destruction. The newly released versions of this engine have a more traditional single motor, and run much more smoothly. I’ve got one. While I haven’t put much time on it, it seems to run just fine, and has good slow speed control.
If you want a 44-tonner, head straight for the new ones by Bachmann. Don’t be tempted by a good price on the older versions!
I just wi***hey’d release the new mechanism in a form that would fit the 70-tonner shell easily.
I’ve put the new mechanism under an old 70-tonner shell for an industrial unit, but had to make significant externally-visible modifications to the shell in order to be able to mount it to the frame. I ended up having to detail it out to look like a much heavier switcher (85-90 tonner, mostly due to the thicker-looking frame I ended up with) in order to make it look plausible.
I own three Bachmann 44-tonners–two newer single-motor versions and one two-motor version. The single-motor definitely does run more smoothly, and I generally find that it is a high-quality motor, with good low-speed characteristics and a satisfyingly slow top end.
I am not too bothered by this because I bought the two-motor one specifically to cannibalize it for use as power trucks in traction box motors! I discovered upon this cannibalization that one of the two motors was barely functional–I will simply remove the motor when it is installed in the traction body and run off the remaining motor’s power. And since the now-unpowered truck has power leads, I can just install some jumper wires to feed the motor from both trucks.
I have a couple of the 70-tonners too. Their performance is a little rougher than the single-engine 44-tonners but better than the double-engine model.
I use the old 2 motored 44 tonners for powering kit-bashed gas electrics. I just use one of them per gas electric and replace the side frames w/ MDC Pullman 4 wheel side frames which are a perfect match for the power truck’s wheelbase. I use a complete Pullman truck at the aft end of the gas electric and install metal wheels w/ wipers and run jumpers to the motor for 8 wheel power pickup. The compact design of the power truck is perfect for powering box cabs, traction and gas electrics because it is easily hidden in a ‘baggage’ section of the FYI - I used Spectrum hw combines, shortened w/ typical gas electric profile roof made from bass wood w/ appropriate roof details. There’s plenty of room in seating section to add full interior details-I use Pike Stuff modular seats, cut apart and rearranged and make bulkheads from card stock and/or styrene sheet.
It’s alot easier & cheaper, however, to just buy Spectrum gas electrics from Trainworld for $15.-$25. when they’re on sale !