When Lee send me that Bachmann E60 truck for repair, he "volunteered" me to take a look at his vintage Bachmann 2-8-2. The main problem was that one of the front driver wheels kept falling out of the axle tube, but some other things also needed attention, and since I was going to take it apart, I figured that I would take care of them all. Lee already wired the tender for electric pickup - that goes a long way for improving running characteristics of this model.
I examined the model apart before disassembly. I found unusual that the gears visible on the bottom of the model looked like they were made from transparent material. That was odd, as most Bachmann gears are made from milky-color Nylon. I gently pulled on the front wheel Lee described as problematic, and sure enough, it came right off. The axle had a some sort of glue buildup, so the previous owner tried to glue that axle into the axle tube, but since the axle tube was covered in grease, the glue didn't hold.
Lees2-8-2Disassembled01.jpgI fully disassembled the loco. When I take models apart I like to keep all the parts in the original locations, especially steam loco models, and even more importantly for well-worn crappy steam locos.
I arrange parts on a Styrofoam tray, pushing some parts into the tray so they remain in place.
Lees2-8-2FUD_Gears01.jpgI also washed all the parts in Naphtha in an ultrasonic cleaner. That's when I was in for a surprise! When the driver axle/gears dried they were no longer clear. When the grease was removed they suddenly showed a very familiar surface finish. These were not original Bachmann Nylon gears. They were 3D printed in FUD! They had the telltale whitish areas where the wax supports were present during printing. So the previous owner of this model replaced all the original gears! Probably because they were all cracked.
Lees2-8-2FUD_Gears02.jpgBut even 3D printed replacement gears did not stand up to the sloppy Bachmann tolerances of the metal axles, because this one cracked too.
Bachm2-8-2GearRepair03.jpgI repaired that cracked gear by installing a brass collar on it. I also put collars on the other three, so they will not crack on Lee later. For more details on making those collars see
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=49440
Lees2-8-2Frame01.jpgAs the collar increased diameter of the axle tube, I had to drill out the locos frame to gain clearance.
Lees2-8-2MotorMount.jpgThe motor installed in this loco was not the original motor. It was a also a Bachmann motor, but it was smaller and shorter than the original one, so it wasn't being properly retained between the frame and the weight. I noticed that one side of the motor had a threaded hole. Sometimes it pays to be a bit of a hoarder: I save all sorts of small fasteners from items I throw out (like old laptops or old electronics). Sifting through my semi-organized collection of screws, I just happened to find a short screw with the right thread. I added styrene shim to the motor cradle to properly line up the worm, and drilled a mounting hole for the motor.
Lees2-8-2Motor.jpgNext, I test-fit the motor for proper mesh with the worm gear (worm gear was removed before taking the picture). I also installed a 00-90 screw with a larger washer soldered to it into the tender drawbar post. Lee originally melted the end of the post to permanently couple the tender, but that just wouldn't do it for me.
Lees2-8-2Frame02.jpgMotor and gears installed in the frame. The gears will mesh properly once the bearing plate and wheels are installed.
Lees2-8-2Mechanism.jpgMechanism is back together with the tender attached. I soldered short pieces of copper wire to the metal frames to act as solder terminals for the tender wires. When the time comes to disconnect the tender, it will be easier to unsolder/solder the wires to those, instead of trying to solder to the larger metal frames which act as big heat-sinks.
Lees2-8-2Headlight01.jpgThe loco was missing its headlight bulb. I know it is a retro model, but I couldn't resist adding an LED headlight. So I installed a SMD white LED. In the back of the LED is a regular SMD diode wired in reverse-parallel (to protect the LED from reverse voltage damage). Below the LED is a 1k SMD resistor. I forgot to add a small capacitor in parallel with the LED to prevent it from flickering in reverse due to BEMF from the motor. But the flicker is barely noticeable. The orange film attached to the LED with epoxy is something I got from Chris333 which changes the color temperature of white LEDs to warm white, so it glows like an incandescent bulb.
Lees2-8-2Headlight02.jpgThe LED headlight took place of the incandescent bulb. The original bulb's leads were routed through a plastic insulator in the boiler-weight, and for electrical connection were tucked under screws which hold the front of the driver bearing plates/electrical pickups. I also routed the LED headlight wires through the plastic insulator, and to facilitate easy disassembly I fabricated phosphor-bronze clips which nicely snap onto those screws that hold the bearing plates.
There were also few more items I addressed:
The crankpin screw hole in one front driver had stripped thread. It would probably come out eventually. Since it is screwed into the plastic wheel center, I places a sliver of the same plastic (taken from a scrap Bachmann truck) in the screw hole and screwed the screw in. Then I heated the screw with a soldering iron until the plastic around it softened and formed a new thread.
The screw inside the smoke stack holding the shell down was missing, and the thread in was also stripped. Nothing was holding the shell to the chassis. I found a replacement screw, and went through the same procedure as I did with the crankpin screw to re-form the thread.
Lees2-8-2Shell.jpgThe previous owner glued lots of pieces of lead all over the loco. The pieces they added in the ashpan/cab area were too thick, interfering with the fit of the cab. I ended up shaving them down until the shell could be easily installed.
The model has a bit of a shimmy, which I think is caused by the front (traction tire equipped) driver. The problem is that the driver's axle bearing openings are so oversize that the axles have too much play. Between them being driven by the gears (with too much lash) and siderods pushing on them, they will wobble.
Lees2-8-2Complete.jpgThe loco was then lubricated, front and rear truck wheels cleaned, and driver treads polished. I have to say that this was a fun and interesting restoration.
E60 truck repair will be covered in my next post.
