The Bachmann 4-4-0 conversion I have never did want to back up. Any attempt to reverse this loco would cause the locomotive to roll over and fall off the tracks.
I finally figured out what the problem was. I have a non-Bachmann screw in the loco to tender connection because I lost the original and couldn't find a replacement. The problem was the original screw was shouldered and the replacement was not.
The tender connection is a large open loop that goes around the screw. With the standard shouldered screw the shoulder fills this hole pretty well, with the replacement, not so much. So, when the loco would back into the tender it would get close enough that the driveshaft would bind against the loco body and tip it over.
I filled the tender loop with a piece of scrap styrene, drilled a smaller hole for the screw, and just like magic the problem is solved and the loco will back happily around the layout with it's train preceding it, no problems at all.
I only wish my standard gauged Bachmann 4-4-0's ran this well.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
MP part 2
I just got in the other Pacific I ordered, from another vendor.
I have to take the tender apart tomorrow to repair the drawbar connection. Just as well I suppose since I have to replace the coupler anyway.
I am now 3 for 3 on Model Power Pacifics, I have three and none of them were ready to run when I got them. The first one was from a private owner, so I bought someone elses problem, but the last two were straight from dealers stock.
My statements concerning Model Power still stand.
I have to take the tender apart tomorrow to repair the drawbar connection. Just as well I suppose since I have to replace the coupler anyway.
I am now 3 for 3 on Model Power Pacifics, I have three and none of them were ready to run when I got them. The first one was from a private owner, so I bought someone elses problem, but the last two were straight from dealers stock.
My statements concerning Model Power still stand.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Model Power
The buzz is all about Model Power going out of business. I've seen on the trainboards and such all sorts of excuses and blame passed around; some say the banks, some say the business practices, some say suppliers, a soft market, etc etc etc, but I can say I know exactly what it was...hit or miss product and poor to non-existent quality control.
I have two MP Pacifics (and one on the way) and so far neither one of them have been good performers out of the box. The only reason I even have them is because they are the only manufacturer that currently offers a USRA Pacific, and now that they are gone it leaves a hole in the N scale steam lineup.
The first one, which now serves as spare parts for the other two, had a gear train that never did mesh correctly and no amount of tweaking and tuning would ever make the motor gear stay in contact with the drive gear. I tried several times before giving it up as a bad idea; taking the darn thing apart is an exercise in frustration, every time you move something you pull another wire loose and the running gear has been accurately described as a "Chinese puzzle box" which, if you ever need to take it apart, is almost impossible to put back together.
The second one, which arrived just this afternoon, looked great but as soon as I took it out of the box I found the drawbar was disconnected from the tender. It is usually held on by a plastic stud that is melted down to hold the drawbar, the mushroomed end had broken off of the stud and there wasn't enough left of it to reconnect the drawbar. So, I had to take the tender shell off, dig around in my parts box to find a suitable screw, drill a hole and reattach the drawbar. In the meantime the smokebox front fell off and had to be glued back on, and of course one of the wires broke loose in the tender and had to be reconnected. This was, I reiterate, a brand new right out of the box locomotive; besides the hobby shop I purchased it from I am the first and only owner of said loco.
I also purchased a Model Power Mikado, mostly to compare it to the Kato and Atlas locos, and it was a good trouble-free runner right out of the box. Spookshow says the Mikado suffers from the same QC issues as the Pacific so it looks like I just lucked out and got a good one. The gold standard for Mikados continues to be the now-discontinued Kato of course, hopefully they will resume production for at least another run or two sometime in the future. I have two of the Katos, one with the GHQ Pennsylvania L1 conversion (and the other one will get it as soon as I get around to it), and they are phenomenal runners; all the hype is true.
One last thing...Rapido couplers with no knuckle coupler offered? Seriously? In this day and age?
So to recap - hit or miss products, seemingly non-existent quality control, and little to no apparent effort to improve either one. Bachmann, on the other hand, has steadily improved in both quality of product and consistency. If you would like to see how to do it...or how not to...these two companies are good (and bad) examples to follow. Yeah, good riddance Model Power.
It sure would be nice to have a quality Pacific from Bachmann or Kato, the Bachmann Spectrum line would benefit from another offering and Kato already makes a suitable chassis for it in their JNR models. For that matter, whoever owns the toolings now from the old Ted Brandon designed Rivarrosi Mikado and Pacific steamers that have been distributed by Atlas and ConCor, now would be a good time to bring both of them back with improved materials for the frames and better motors, maybe gearmotors to improve the low speed performance. One can dream at least.
And finally, for those of us who have been in N scale for a while, how odd is it to say "Gosh, I wish Bachmann would make a 4-6-2 steam locomotive!"
I have two MP Pacifics (and one on the way) and so far neither one of them have been good performers out of the box. The only reason I even have them is because they are the only manufacturer that currently offers a USRA Pacific, and now that they are gone it leaves a hole in the N scale steam lineup.
The first one, which now serves as spare parts for the other two, had a gear train that never did mesh correctly and no amount of tweaking and tuning would ever make the motor gear stay in contact with the drive gear. I tried several times before giving it up as a bad idea; taking the darn thing apart is an exercise in frustration, every time you move something you pull another wire loose and the running gear has been accurately described as a "Chinese puzzle box" which, if you ever need to take it apart, is almost impossible to put back together.
The second one, which arrived just this afternoon, looked great but as soon as I took it out of the box I found the drawbar was disconnected from the tender. It is usually held on by a plastic stud that is melted down to hold the drawbar, the mushroomed end had broken off of the stud and there wasn't enough left of it to reconnect the drawbar. So, I had to take the tender shell off, dig around in my parts box to find a suitable screw, drill a hole and reattach the drawbar. In the meantime the smokebox front fell off and had to be glued back on, and of course one of the wires broke loose in the tender and had to be reconnected. This was, I reiterate, a brand new right out of the box locomotive; besides the hobby shop I purchased it from I am the first and only owner of said loco.
I also purchased a Model Power Mikado, mostly to compare it to the Kato and Atlas locos, and it was a good trouble-free runner right out of the box. Spookshow says the Mikado suffers from the same QC issues as the Pacific so it looks like I just lucked out and got a good one. The gold standard for Mikados continues to be the now-discontinued Kato of course, hopefully they will resume production for at least another run or two sometime in the future. I have two of the Katos, one with the GHQ Pennsylvania L1 conversion (and the other one will get it as soon as I get around to it), and they are phenomenal runners; all the hype is true.
One last thing...Rapido couplers with no knuckle coupler offered? Seriously? In this day and age?
So to recap - hit or miss products, seemingly non-existent quality control, and little to no apparent effort to improve either one. Bachmann, on the other hand, has steadily improved in both quality of product and consistency. If you would like to see how to do it...or how not to...these two companies are good (and bad) examples to follow. Yeah, good riddance Model Power.
It sure would be nice to have a quality Pacific from Bachmann or Kato, the Bachmann Spectrum line would benefit from another offering and Kato already makes a suitable chassis for it in their JNR models. For that matter, whoever owns the toolings now from the old Ted Brandon designed Rivarrosi Mikado and Pacific steamers that have been distributed by Atlas and ConCor, now would be a good time to bring both of them back with improved materials for the frames and better motors, maybe gearmotors to improve the low speed performance. One can dream at least.
And finally, for those of us who have been in N scale for a while, how odd is it to say "Gosh, I wish Bachmann would make a 4-6-2 steam locomotive!"
Thursday, November 7, 2013
EBT M-1?
Roy Stevens on the Nn3 list has been busy creating Nn3 items in his Shapeways shop. Unfortunately many of his creations are un-printable due to resolution issues for these small items, but I have gotten copies of the things I have been able to.
One of those things that I have often wished for was the East Broad Top's M-1 gas electric motor car.
Looks like I'm getting my wish!
It is printing now, when it gets here I'll do a build post.
Pinky swear!
One of those things that I have often wished for was the East Broad Top's M-1 gas electric motor car.
Looks like I'm getting my wish!
It is printing now, when it gets here I'll do a build post.
Pinky swear!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Dreams Coming True?
I am of the firm opinion that one of the best things to happen to model railroading is 3D printing. Using 3D printing we have access to make a lot of things at a reasonable cost, and one of the things I have always wanted was a model of the East Broad Top's gas-electric railcar M-1 in Nn3. So far as I know there is only one hand-built example in existence, and I don't have the confidence in my abilities to make another one.
With the advent of 3D printing the only thing that needs to be done is create a CAD model to fit over a prime mover. Searails has recently introduced a power truck that would be perfect for the project that is now sold through RLW, and I have been working at getting the information to the 3D modeler that created the EBT 2 and 3 bay hoppers that I built earlier. Now that he has it, he is hard at work in the creative process.
Maybe soon I'll have my very own M-1 roaming my narrow gauge rails. I suppose I'd better get started on getting them done. Towards that end my Clover House wide tie strips have arrived, so when I get the chance (between Mustang activities and finally completing my associates degree) I'll get the turnouts fixed and maybe try to mount one. I have an idea that I can mount the turnout on a piece of basswood for stability and then use a Caboose ground throw to actuate it, but I'll have to make a spring arrangement to keep from over-extending the throwbar and breaking the points loose from it. The trick will be getting a thin enough basswood piece to blend in with the cork roadbed and yet have it strong enough to hold everything in place. I might end up using birch instead, I'll have to see what is available. The second challenge will be getting everything fastened down securely and permanently enough to work full time, I have a feeling I would be better served to fasten the PC ties down rather than rely solely on the Pliobonded wood ties.
After the trackwork has been completed I'll get some foam and finally get serious about learning how to do scenery. It should be fun!
With the advent of 3D printing the only thing that needs to be done is create a CAD model to fit over a prime mover. Searails has recently introduced a power truck that would be perfect for the project that is now sold through RLW, and I have been working at getting the information to the 3D modeler that created the EBT 2 and 3 bay hoppers that I built earlier. Now that he has it, he is hard at work in the creative process.
Maybe soon I'll have my very own M-1 roaming my narrow gauge rails. I suppose I'd better get started on getting them done. Towards that end my Clover House wide tie strips have arrived, so when I get the chance (between Mustang activities and finally completing my associates degree) I'll get the turnouts fixed and maybe try to mount one. I have an idea that I can mount the turnout on a piece of basswood for stability and then use a Caboose ground throw to actuate it, but I'll have to make a spring arrangement to keep from over-extending the throwbar and breaking the points loose from it. The trick will be getting a thin enough basswood piece to blend in with the cork roadbed and yet have it strong enough to hold everything in place. I might end up using birch instead, I'll have to see what is available. The second challenge will be getting everything fastened down securely and permanently enough to work full time, I have a feeling I would be better served to fasten the PC ties down rather than rely solely on the Pliobonded wood ties.
After the trackwork has been completed I'll get some foam and finally get serious about learning how to do scenery. It should be fun!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
PC Board Ties
Since I am in the long process of disassembling the N scale layout to make room for the new (it's going rather slowly) I've decided to work a bit on my 3x7 Nn3 layout a bit. It consists of a double loop with crossovers, one siding to the bottom of a coal chute for locomotive refueling and a siding on the opposite side of the inner loop to bring coal into the top of the refueling station.
To complete the layout I need three each left and right Nn3 turnouts, and as you may recall I opted to get the FastTracks fixture and jigs to build them. The turnout building went well, all of them have been tested to make sure the electrical isolation is good and the wheels actually roll through them. When it came time to try to mount them to the layout is when things got slightly sideways.
I attempted to drill through the throwbars only to find the 1/32" PC board ties don't drill well. I ended up drilling one in half and then I called it quits. I have ordered PC board tie materials for throwbars that is 1/32" thick but 1/10" wide that should be a lot easier to drill holes in for the throwbar actuators. I am going to attempt to use Caboose Hobbies power routing ground throws since the frogs have to be powered.
When the PC board ties arrive I will be changing the throwbars on all of the turnouts. Maybe then I'll get something going on the little layout.
To complete the layout I need three each left and right Nn3 turnouts, and as you may recall I opted to get the FastTracks fixture and jigs to build them. The turnout building went well, all of them have been tested to make sure the electrical isolation is good and the wheels actually roll through them. When it came time to try to mount them to the layout is when things got slightly sideways.
I attempted to drill through the throwbars only to find the 1/32" PC board ties don't drill well. I ended up drilling one in half and then I called it quits. I have ordered PC board tie materials for throwbars that is 1/32" thick but 1/10" wide that should be a lot easier to drill holes in for the throwbar actuators. I am going to attempt to use Caboose Hobbies power routing ground throws since the frogs have to be powered.
When the PC board ties arrive I will be changing the throwbars on all of the turnouts. Maybe then I'll get something going on the little layout.
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