Well I have Spectrum J class 4-8-4 dust collector that isn’t much good for anything else. I have read numerous accounts of how baldy they run etc. and all of them are far from exaggerations The design of the pilot and trailing trucks is horrific to be kind. But every once in a while I get the urge to try and fix this piece of jun, it’s no gone past the point of being a challenge to becoming an obsession.
Both are held in place be a bar so to speak and with a countersunk screw attaching the draw bar to the locomotive.Well the trucks can freely move up and down a tremendous amount leading to constant derailments. One looks at the way it’s put together and says hum? looks like there should be a spring here like the older ones had. nope no spring just a wild amount of free play with nothing to keep the trucks on track. The first hurdle was to shim the front bar with two .015 Kadee shims to get the front pilot off the rails. yes it was resting right on the rails but it still has a ton of wiggle room and shimming the trailing truck made no difference.
Now to add insult to injury I can run any number of other Bachmann locomotive on the same tracks with zero problems . I have four of their Heavy Mountains and they run extremely well and have no issues what so ever.
So anyone got any ideas? Has anyone reached the level of frustration or have you come up with a fix for this problem?
I keep a thin lead sheet and a roll of double face tape on hand at all times. Try some weight on the trucks and see if that helps. If not, call Bachmann Customer Service. For $20, they will fix it or replace it. You may not be able to replace it with another J Class but at least you can get a more reliable engine up and running.
Yes I recall reading that on one of the many message boards I visited trying to get some information on this problem. Swapped them out but still not much better I recalled one guy mentioning he replace that close coupling draw bar with a conventional straight plastic one and it helped to keep the tender on the rails. It seems that in their infinite wisdom someone at Bachmann threw out the laws of physics when they designed that draw bar set up.
As far as sending it back to Bachmann, this is locomotive #3 of a continuing on going problem of poor if not non existent quality control at Bachmann. This whole mess started out in 2005 or 06 when I got this J as a Christmas gift. J#1 had the drives completely out of time so when the wheels made one complete revolution the drive rods on the fireman’s side would actually push the engine up off the rail never allowing it to go more then a few inches. Sent it back get a free replacement, J#2 take it out of the box and before I get a chance to put it on the rails a pair of the main drivers drops out almost hitting the track, flip it over and the under frame is cracked. Send it back and now I have J#3 with the flopping pilot and trailing trucks and the tight draw bar that lifts the tender off the tracks.
Hey at this point what do I have to loose maybe they will send me a J#4 with a sound decoder so at least it can sit on a siding and make cool noises…lol
I’d send it back…again…with a letter asking them to please take the time to test the replacement because you are becoming vexed with this particular model. Or, do like I did with my Spectrum J and sell it ‘as is’ on eBay.
I understand your frustration and do remember you mentioning this before. as Nigel pointed out there is a known problem of at least one whole run having the lead and trailing truck drawbars reversed.
I do not have a “J”, from Bachmann or anyone else, so I can only offer info based on what I have read over the years on the Bachmann board, etc.
I would however submit the following thoughts in general:
This locomotive, or any locomotive should not require springs to keep these trucks on the track. In fact I remove many such springs from many brands of locos and have no problems with derailments. Springs simply transfer weight from the drivers reducing pulling power.
Adding weight to the lead or trailing truck directly is a better solution than springs. And, looseness of drawbars and mountings when off the track should have little bearing either so long as when on the track front to back play is minimal. In fact, if the truck its self is heavy enough, loose mounting will be better, not worse.
As for the drawbar question/problem, again not having one personally but being familar with them and going on the experiances of others, I would add weight to the tender and lube the drawbar assembly. Close coupling drawbars like these require enough weight on both sides to “make” them move as designed. My two PCM Reading T1’s have a similar system, it works fine.
It is also my understanding that the the loco is a little on the light side. Adding weight to the loco may well make it track better overall which may in fact help with the lead/trailing truck issues as well as the drawbar issues. It is my understanding from many that there is plenty of room to add weight.
I almost bought one last week as a local shop had the older freight version on sale. I have considered repainting just one for my ATLANTIC CENTRAL for passenger service but I ha
Don’t forget to check all of the basics, guage, nicks, burrs…and so on. Make sure the wheels are free spinning and free of any corrosion, which would give them additional “grip” to climb the rail. I’ll use a dremel with a wire wheel and hold one wheel with my thumb and clean the other with the brush, allowing it to slowly revolve. I’d also look at the pivot point on the trucks to see if there is a chance they are binding any, and maybe even try putting a small washer in if possible. If a spring fixes the problem, great!, as long as it’s not a band-aid. Sure, it will take away from the pulling power, but if it won’t even pull at all due to unreliability then anything done is a gain. Besides, I wouldn’t put any monster spring on it that makes it do backflips when it hits any bumps.
I have one of the first Spectrum J Class locomotives to come out. The red stripe was the wrong color, and it would not negotiate ANY curves without derailing. I discovered the TRUE fix for the drawbar problem which eliminated the “crabbing” out of curves, and any and all binding problems. I re-airbrushed the red striping to the correct color. painted & detailed the interior (gauges too). and added realistic coal to the tender. It is now a REALLY GREAT running, looking, and pulling locomotive. The only thing it doesn’t like is really tight radius curves, and #4 turnouts (#6 are fine!) I even put safety chain on pilot wheels! I truly guarantee it to be one of the best running engines you’ve seen, and it can be had for a hunnerd bucks. No need to take a chance with new junk! My tightest curves are about 24" radius and my mainline is 30" minimum. It works great on these! Adopt this baby! you’ll love it! I gotta bail my girlfriend outta jail.
I have one Bachmann J, actually a gift for my grandson, the standard one which cost less than $100 new. I installed a Soundtraxx DSD100-LC decoder and 1-inch speaker in the tender.
I have never had any problems with this loco. It ran on the 22 1/2-inch radius main line without trouble. It even runs on the 20 1/2-inch inner main, goes through the reversing loop which has some 18-inch curves in it and the snap-switches.
With the light trucks on the front of many Bachmann 4-8-2 locos, I have three, I have found that setting the gage on the wheels a little narrower than recommended gage allows them to ‘settle’ better and negotiate curves and turnouts.