bachmann-flywheel

[Anonymous]

does bachmann diesal locomotives come with flywheels? if not should they have flywheels? can I add a flywheel, what company makes one that can fit a bachmann?and where in the bachmann motor should I add it? thankyou for any help I have a few bachmann diesels and anything to make them pull better/go faster I m totally for.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the loco - in general, if they don't mention a flywheel in the descriptions they probably don't have one - I have three of their cheap Geeps which have a fine drive system apart from the lack of flywheels - they would be superb if they had them. The motor is a decent quality can type and all wheels are driven through sweet-running gearing. I've popped the shell off one of these to investigate adding flywheels but come to the conclusion that it's pretty much impossible - there is little or no space between the upper and lower frame castings, and there's a hefty chunk of casting either end of the motor to hold it in place. Pity really, as these are decent models (for the money) otherwise and run well, you just have to be careful to keep track very clean to avoid stalling. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

hmmmm

[Anonymous]

maybe the diecast frame can be cut?

[Anonymous]

You could take a hacksaw to it, certainly. I'd recommend removing the motor and trucks first to protect them from metal shavings if you decide to do this. I think I'll just drop a BEMF DCC decoder into mine, which should cover for the lack of flywheels - much easier than hacking the frame about!

[adrianspeeder]

What do you have exactly?

Adrianspeeder

[Anonymous]

Why not just spend a couple extra $ and get an athearn. They have flywheels and run pretty well even with the low cost. Once you break them in they will crawl like nothing you can get under $100.

[Anonymous]

Hardly worth the while to even consider adding flywheels to these which are really toy engines. You need a long enough motor shaft to add a flywheel to. Then try and find the proper size of the driveshaft, then having the skill to add the flywheel without damaging anything.

As suggested, look for a used Athearn engine already equipped.

Bob Boudreau

[cacole]

Bachmann locomotive mechanisms are not worth the cost of trying to add flywheels -- just purchase a different brand that already has flywheels, such as an Athearn, P2K, Atlas, Kato, et.al.