Will the shell from the old two-motor Bachmann HO GE 44-ton loco fit onto the chassis of the new one-motor DCC model? I love the Great Northern green/orange paint scheme of my old Spectrum DC model (that no longer runs well) and cannot find it in the new DCC offerings.
While I’m at it, are the gears on the new DCC model better than on the old DC one?
Yes, they are interchangeable.
The drivetrain is a decent upgrade with the new version. One good motor is better than two flaky ones.
Some years ago I had the two motor. I ran it on a DZ125 decoder quite nice. The motors tended to hang up a brush. Touch the brush and it was running again. The loco finally cracked a gear. Converted it back to DC and with a check sent it to Bachmann. Got a single motor 44 ton DCC ready and converted it to LokSound from a message from a fellow in South Africa. Did a second one also.
Rich
Just make sure the new one you buy is the 3rd generation. The 2nd generation suffers from the cracked gears and has axle gears like the athearn spilt axle design. The 3rd generation has a complete new drive wheel design with a solid axle from wheel to wheel. It’s too early to tell if the 3rd gen will have the crack gear issue or not but hopefully this design change eliminates it.
If I may go off topic for a moment, when you said that the motors “tended to hang up a brush.”, you’re saying that the brushes physically snagged on the commutator, right? The reason I ask is I have an Athearn DD40 with twin motors that I think may be having the same problem, and I was wondering if you could describe the problem in more detail, and how did you fix it?
Thank you in advance.
I remember one truck would drag as the motor was not running.
With the shell removed, I would touch a brush and the loco would run normally so I called that a brush hanging up. Best assumption. Happened a few times. Ohter than that, it ran fine until a gear cracked. I never looked closely at the motors.
It ran fine with a DZ125 decoder. A DZ126 would work also. Really small decoder. Nice action. I used the light bulbs. Isolated both motors. Found an article in MR or RMC some years ago. Mag somewhere. Have to pull the motors. Series the motors.
Last I knew, Bachmann still sells motors for two motor 44 ton.
That might be why some said the two motor had motor issues.
Rich
Thank you. Unfortunately, the rear motor won’t work no matter what I do, so I’m going to have to replace it.[:'(]
Thanks, everyone — Very helpful replies. I’m gonna try to make sure the Bachmann DCC-equipped GE 44-tonner I’m looking at is the 3rd generation. If so, buying the new one is the way to go. Sorry for my slow reply. I’ve been enjoying sunny Florida and returned just in time to get the low of 8 degrees (F) last night and the high of 17 today.
Mike — Do you have experience removing the shell of the new DCC-equipped HO Bachmann GE 44-ton loco? I have removed the couplers and the two screws that go through the “gas tanks” under the loco. It was easy to remove the shell from the old DC one. Not having much luck with the new one — and I don’t want to break it!
As you may recall, I’m wanting to put the shell of my old two-motor DC loco onto the chassis of my new DCC one. (I like the GN paint scheme.) I’ll appreciate any ideas or pointers. My excursion into Google and YouTube have only turned up stuff about removing the shell from the DC model — which was easy.
JHF
I have a couple of these, so I checked the exploded diagram that comes with 'em… and it shed no light on the matter whatsoever. :-/
I’ve had the shell off one but it’s been a while… I believe it was a matter of remoting those four screws and wiggling it around a bit.
I think my operating 44-tonner is a late model, It says “K101116” stamped in white ink on the bottom of the fuel tank. I seem to recall it fitting better, but I think you have the right screws out. Try toothpicks along the seam between the sheel and the chassis to see if that pops it loose…
I would take mine apart to see what’s up, but it has dual gauge couplers installed on both ends and they are somewhat fussy to get right so I don’t want to take apart was is all installed and adjusted to work.
Hi — Got it. Just had to be a little braver after removing the couplers and the two screws — nothing more to remove. Slipped right out after I tugged in the right place. In switching the old (DC) body onto the new (DCC) chassis, I kept having a problem with the wheels not being level on the track. (Center-most wheels were raised.) Turns out there’s a significant difference in the length of the screws that hold the old shell (short screw) and the new shell (longer). Over tightening the long screws on the old body causes the problem. Loosening them a bit solves it. Wheels are level. Loco runs fine. Now that article in the January issue is calling out to me to add sound. If it ain’t one thing… JHF
P.S. Mike — you were right not to take yours apart! The hardest part of the whole thing was getting the couplers back in place.
Imagine that, but the main coupler is a 714 and the NG coupler is a Micro-Trains something…
Some years ago I put a LokSound 3.5 Micro with the speaker that came with it into my single motor 44 ton. Had to cut a real small piece of frame out to allow the speaker and baffle. Did it to two 44 tonners. Union Freight many years ago ran these in pairs between North and South Station in Boston. Found an article in RMC or MR about modeling it.
Rich
If you do add sound, I’d love to read about how that goes!