Has anyone else bought one of the new Buddy L locomotives?
I just recieved mine yesterday. I can’t say I’m very impressed with it.
The loco doesn’t look bad, but there isn’t much there for quality that I can see.
First off, it looks like the only power pickups are on the lead and trailing trucks.
Secondly, the center driving wheels don’t even touch the track. They are flangless and come to only about a 64th inch above the track.
Third, the loco is so light that it will not pull anything more than itself on anything other than perfectly level track. No wieght, and no traction tires. Even my Stainz is heavier at half the size.
Fourth, the wheels are rough.
Fifth, on mine, the sound doesn’t work., and the loco won’t even run unless the tender is plugged in.
I haven’t as yet tried the smoke unit, so I can’t tell about it.
The best I can say about the loco is that it looks to be a fairly good source of parts for scratching and bashing. Maybe I’m just spoiled by LGB, but I would expect a loco that lists for $300 bucks to be alot better quality.
I’m just glad I got it from Ridge Road Station and only paid $100 for it.
Has anyone added wieght to the loco and if so, how much? I’m wondering how much you could add without worrying about overstressing the gear train?
I agree, send it back and cast your consumer vote. I’ve gotten USAT and Aristo-craft locos on sale for just a little more than the Buddy L junk.
The Buddy L cars on the other hand are not bad. I bought several as an experiment and I was surprised at the quality. They are certainly not on par with LGB or USAT, but they are quite acceptable and with a repaint for your fav road name, a good way to build a stable without spending a lot of cash. I did install Kadee couplers, an easy job, and so far the only problem is that the cars are a little under weight. Just add a load of some type and that cures the problem easily.
Persoanlly I’d spend my pennies on a good Bachmann Annie, you’ll be far happier in the long term. But I’m not going to say keep or toss, keep and add weight to the boiler, or send back and get an Annie.
I bought the loco just to see if it was worth using to kit bash. I’ve been wanting to build a Byer Garret. The cost of most locos large enough to use as bases for the scratch build are just to much for me to want to cut them up.
I got a 4 1/2 pound chunk of lead today to try weigthing the loco. So far I’ve only set the weight on the frame to run it around the track and see how much difference that would make. With the lead, it will pull 4 LGB short boxcars. I plan on trying to weaken the springs on the trucks and see if that will help. They are much too strong. I don’t know if the gear train is going to hold up though. There is a fair amount of gear whine with the extra weight. To install the weight in the boiler, I going to have to cut maybe a pound off the weight.
I’ll try to keep everyone posted on how it comes out.
The chunk of lead is probably worth more than the engine… Ya know when life gives you lemons… I bet the enjoyment factor of turning the Buddy L frog into a workable prince of an engine has a lot of worth also, go for it… and have fun![(-D]
I’d vote for the Bachmann Annie, even though I don’t sell them. I like mine a lot. Smooth, reliable, strong, nice detailing. A lot of loco for the money.
It keeps me out of the bars! I could easily drop more in one night out, than the loco costs. I’ve already spent two evenings fooling with the thing trying to make it even acceptable, and the chunk of lead was only nine bucks, so I’ve gotten my moneys worth already![(-D][4:-)]
The centre drivers don’t touch the rails so that the loco can get around tight radius curves. Same with the Annie. It’s also why they are blind. If a 6-coupled engine had flanges on all wheels it’d need a lot bigger radius than most of us have room for.
Blind drivers were common on prototype locos for the same reason, especially those used in tight areas, eg, shunting etc.
This presents an interesting idea for Scientific Locos, on all those “sow’s ears” every wheel is flanged. If I filed down the flange, do you think it might handle the switches better?
