I’m afraid I let the eBay bug get to me a bit and recently ‘won’ an original Bachmann Spectrum K4s loco.
I was aware of the potential issues with this model going in, primarily Bachmann plastic axle disease. But it was listed as being in “new” condition, never run, etc, so I took a gamble…
… and lost. Every single axle on the pilot, trailing, and tender trucks is split. 3 of the wheelsets were in pieces on delivery. To top it off, the wheels show significant track wear, and the rear coupler has been modified to a Kadee one (fine…), but rather poorly (boo!). Needless to say, this thing is NOT anywhere near
“new”. Going to see what the ebay dispute process yields, but I’m not too confident as the seller has been silent for 3 days on the matter now. On the bright side, it does run, and rather smoothly at that, aside from a slight hitch due to one siderod fouling in a bulging driver insert. So the drivers and gears appear to still be good.
In the meantime, I talked to B-mann service/parts. No parts available for a model this old. They WILL honor the service warranty though - $35, I send it in, and they’ll either fix it (not gonna happen, basically was told) or replace it with a current ‘equivalent’ model - (most likely a DC-only 4-6-0 or 2-8-0 since they don’t sell an HO K4 any longer).
Or, I can repair this guy and keep the roadname and type that I wanted in the first place. Tender wheelsets are easy enough to replace, and I have some ideas to fix the loco pilot truck axles (epoxy + thread wrap - any of you who’ve fixed a broken fishing rod will see where I’m going with this). Some CA to tack down the bulging wheel insert, and I see no reason this won’t be a fine runner - even if it wasn’t as advertised. Once I start messing with it though, I’ll lose the option to send it back to Bachmann.
Would any of you attempt this repair, or am I nuts for not just eating another $35 and winding up w
If you feel confident that you can repair it, then by all means do so.
That sounds like a lot of abuse to that loco though. I had the Spectrum 4-6-2 PRR K4 for 10 years before I sold it, and it was still in very good condition. It exhibited none of the problems that you have encountered. It is a great runner and a great puller.
Exactly why I quit Pay Pal and Ebay. Lost toomuch moey and they could not or would not hel. BTW, I also have a PR K4 and it has n problems. Runs and soundsgood.
Bruce, Bachmann made 2 versions one with DCC and sound which ran very well, and an older run with plastic axles, glossy paint, less details, and a very bad drive mechanism. The OP had the older version.
I suspect it is the old pancake motor. Check the Bachman website and see what is available in HO scale. Online train sites have better prices. As far as a replacement, I sent in an old two motor 44 ton with cracked gears and got a single motor DCC ready model. Came setup to run on DC. I converted it to DCC with sound. Rich
I had exactly the same situation about 6 months ago. Got an old Spectrum K4 off Ebay. The seller stated it need repairs including a pilot assembly. For $35 total I wasn’t expecting a BLI. Got it and had the same issues…cracked axles as well as the stated defects. After putting a pilot on it and some further tinkering I came to the conclusion that it just isn’t worth rebuilding and I’ll be doing with it like was done with 1361 in Altoona…originally. I’m making it a monument in my city park.
I still want a K4…I’ll be looking for a Bowser to work on…BLI is way out of my price range.
Well, I found a newer Spectrum K4 of the later design (metal axles, DCC ready, all-whell pickup), so that will be on it’s way to me shortly. Much better engine by all accounts, and much easier to go DCC/sound when I make that plunge.
Leaning more towards sending the old one in, though I must admit the tinkerer in me wants to fix it. It’s not an awful old pancake motor, it’s still a Spectrum line loco, so it has a can motor and brass flywheel (that’s also the worm gear). I think I’ll open it up; if any of the driver axles are split I’ll stick a fork in it. It’ll never hold quartering if they are, and it will never run right.
I would explore some brass replacements like on Greenway (currently updating their website, unaccesable) try Precision Scale, Cal-Scale (Bowser) Bowser may have left over parts from their steam series but when they run out, they are out. I have the PRR K4 modded into a freelance Club engine (with elephant ears) Even ask BLI for parts, you may have to purchase them but anyways, ask. If you got a good price deal then you wanted a K4, like some brass engines I got they almost all needed some kind of work, you want that model bad enough thats hard to find, you’ll take on the repairs. Part of this hobby is some of the challenge fixing up these engines, and you learn something in the meantime.
I have an old Rivarrossi NKP 2-8-4 I had done all kinds of modding Pre-DCC, constant lighting, mars light, lit number boards and markers, and sound…but time took its toll the motor mount metal broke, like it was like the old Zamack like metal falling apart, I gave up on the engine to make it run since I have now replaced it with LL versions and brass, so its officially retired, I’ll put it in the roundhouse set it up looking like its being serviced.
I also have one of the original Spectrum K4s in the shiny paint and pinstriping. They used gloss paint because it was supposed to look more like the engines that were kept clean for show. The rest had flat paint.
All the axles in mine are cracked too. It took me a long time to get them quartered to run acceptably well, and I used a bit of super glue to help hold them in place so they don’t easily go our of quarter again. There’s a tiny thump every time they go around, but it runs well overall. Compared to other Bachmann steam though, it’s not exactly easy to work on!
The K4 was never made with a pancake type motor. Mechanically, the new ones are actually pretty similar to the originals. They do have solid rod axles now, and the flywheel and worm are separate, so it’s a definite improvement.
A quick follow-up in the interests of anyone who might run across this in the future:
After receiving a newer version Spectrum K4 I also acquired on eBay, the amount of effort required to bring the old one up to snuff is all too apparent. Anyone buying these in the secondary market would do well to avoid the original run altogether, I think. The newer version(s) are much, much better.
Since a teardown revealed 2 of the driver axles to be shot on my original one in addition to all the visible/obvious problems it had, it’s going to be relegated to the display shelf (or Bachmann repairs) for certain.
It is a long shot but just before Bowser decided to drop its line of steam engine kits and parts, English’s Model RR Supply made a retrofit mechanism for the Bachmann K4 and tender, part #3-200. I have never seen one for sale anywhere but that is not to say one is not sitting on someone’s shelf somewhere.
I suspect that with some cutting and fitting and grunting and swearing you could take the mechanism from a Penn Line/Bowser K4s and get the very nicely done Bachmann boiler/cab to fit on top of it. Those at least actually are seen at swap meets.
I bought one a year ago and what happened to it was that the drive gear was stripped completely, the motor would run but the engine would not move. I sent it to bachmann and they said no parts available and sent me a replacement… a week after I get my replacement engine a friend of mine showed me that they had a whole new chassy with a new motor. I was so mad that Bachmann had completely dropped the ball on that. On the bright side I did get a cute Lakawana mogul with DCC sound.
Word of advice, if Bachann’s phone people say there are no parts, look on their website to be sure.
I went through the same deal, bought a Spectrum K4 on Ebay for $30 and it was out of quartering and would lock up every few inches/feet. I sent it to Bachmann with $25 (about 2 years ago) and they sent me a new DCC ready one. I put a Soundtraxx (not Tsunami) decoder in it and it runs and sounds great. So far no running problems. I have about 10 Bachmann and Spectrum steam locos and they all are great running locos. Maybe I have been lucky!
I have two of the early (c.1988) run, one of which has been in the box since I bought it - maybe should check on them. I don’t recall the problems with the axles; the one I used on the layout actually ran pretty smoothly but had very little pulling power.