New Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I posted this message yesterday in an older thread but some might have missed it.

I just received my new Bachmann Spectrum unlettered 4-4-0, wood cab, with DCC. I noticed the bottom of the tender has holes for speaker. Apparently Bachmann is planning for sound. I am wondering about substituting a DCC/sound module or just adding a sound module? The engine can be close coupled and comes with wood pile, coal pile, oil tank top options. It definitely looks better than the new Roundhouse 4-4-0 with DCC/sound. I bought mine from Micro Mark.
Here are some trouble shooting suggestions for this engine from a Yahoo group.

first, check the front sand hoses. they are spring-quality wire, and if they aren’t resting against the brake rigging, they are caught up in the valve gear. The coal casting on the tender deck can wedge under the engine apron if you’re using the close coupling on the drawbar. Finally, and this is likely the problem, look for flash
on the back of the driver brake shoes. I lightly passed a sharp Xacto blade between the driver flanges and the shoes from under the engine, keeping the blade away from the flange and scraping the shoe.
After this last item, my gimpy Richmond ran like a champ.

Mine had flash on the driver brakes. Cleaning off the flash was a great help.

rich

2

Yep, I saw it on the other thread, but very good to give this its own thread. I just got mine from the UPS man today!!! [8D][8D][8D] I got the unlettered with the wood cab. It will be decaled for the S. L. O. & W.

I won’t have a chance to run it for a couple of days, but the detail is awesome and its fantastic that Bachmann has included so many extras to be able to detail and individualize the loco for different roads and time periods. If it runs as good as it looks, all I can say is WOW! Can’t wait to get it programed and in operation.

3

Bachmann has contracted with SoundTraxx to use Tsunami sound decoders in their products, so it sure would be nice if they decide to put one into the 4-4-0.

I just received a new catalog in today’s mail from Micro-Mark and he is offering the Spectrum 4-4-0 for less than some of the Internet dealers.