To be perfectly honest, I don't recall how the side cover is removed. Mine was sent to NWSL in May. I'm sure that when it comes back, I'll be able to figure it out, but it's difficult to know when that will occur.
I'm almost positive that the cause of my gear problems was improper lubrication - it ran well before I purchased it and ran well when tested on the layout. Unfortunately, it sat for some time, unused, while I worked on other projects. When I finally got around to begin modifications to it, a test run revealed the trouble.
It sounds to me as if your only problem was with that screw being loose, as the engines both roll freely. My guess is that the spring may be there to help that engine's tracking ability, but it may also serve (not very well, apparently) to keep the screw from backing itself out. If you decide to replace the spring, be careful to use one that's not too much stronger, as it may inhibit the wheels from following irregularities in the track. If you stay with the current spring, you can keep the screw from backing itself out, yet still leave it easily removeable when necessary - simply de-grease the screw and apply a little contact cement to the end threads. Allow the cement to dry (10 or 15 minutes) then install it as usual. The cement will provide enough "interference" to keep the screw in place, yet still leave it removeable.
Wayne
Thanks to your information Wayne, I popped off the top of the gear tower on both front and rear engines and dropped both engines from the boiler castings - having had to cut the wires from the front and rear driver wipers since they were soldered at both ends -wiper ends and printed circuit board at cab end, and not trusting my solder iron skills.
While removing the rear engine I found that the brass screw (and spring underneath) securing the engine to the bottom boiler casting was firmly seated, unlike the screw and spring for the front engine which had been floating and appeared to be contacting the drive shaft.
I don't understand the function of the spring under the brass screw head, since the spring is very weak and easily compressed - is it intended to be like a compressible washer? Should the brass screw be firmly seated, or some float allowed -but how to control? Firmly seating the screw and spring does not appear to effect freedom of the engines to rotate horizontaly or verticaly.
I couldn't determine how to remove the side plates on the towers to check the gears, without breaking something, but found that both engines ran freely on the track with little effort and no sounds from the gears, suggesting that nothing was broken and that I should leave well enough alone.
Assuming that the noise and rough running problem with the front engine was due to the head of the loose brass screw interfering with the driveshaft, I'm about to reassemble the engines to the boiler castings.
Any comments would be appreciated!
Isambard
Grizzly Northern history, Tales from the Grizzly and news on line at isambard5935.blogspot.com
Thanks, Sheldon. I think the problem with mine is improper lubrication by the previous owner, not a fault with the original loco (despite the Rube Goldberg gear set-up). Since I've already resigned myself to paying for NWSL replacement gears, I may just leave it with them until new ones are available. Since I'm neither the original owner of the loco nor willing to return it to Bachmann, I'd be paying for replacement gear sets anyway.
Bachmann has recently expanded their prts offerings and may have the parts some of you need for your problematic 2-6-6-2's.
I did have one that I sent back, but its replacement and the three others I have all run great.
Sheldon
In my search for a mallet I chose the Bachmann 2-6-6-2. I have two of the first run and one from the latest run. I am very happy with the three engines. I added a digitrax decoder to the first two and the last one came with factory sound.
Take note that the Bachmann 2-6-6-2's are only slightly larger that the Proto or Bachmann 2-10-2's. I wanted to keep the engine as small as I could and yet still have a mallet or two on the roster. The engines have no problems with 18 inch radius track should that be a concern.
I had no problems with the 2-6-6-2's running DCC with the EMF or engine torgue as another poster had. I suspect that that engine was a one of and certainly did not represent these engines which I would recommend to anyone.
I'm not sure how far you've got it dis-assembled, but there's a snap-on cover atop the gear tower - pop it off and the worm and driveshaft lift right out.
I've disassembled my troubled 2-6-6-2 to the point where I'm ready to drop the noisy front engine, but find that the spring loaded slot headed brass screw that secures the engine to the frame is directly under the gear tower drive shaft ball.
If I manage to back the screw out a bit by poking it along from the side, it intereferes with the ball before releasing the engine. I'm missing something. Does the top of the gear tower come off such that the worm gear assembly including the drive shaft ball can be removed and the brass srew removed completely?
There's been no apparent progress on the gear problem, although I spoke with NWSL not too long ago and was assured that the situation had not been forgotten.
I currently have a couple of loco projects in-progress for others, and at least six re-builds for myself to keep me occupied, so there's no real rush on the 2-6-6-2. By the time the gear issue is resolved, I'll probably have forgotten how to put it back together, though.
Wayne, what was the outcome of your discussions with NWSL, did they come up with a replacement gear set?
Tom, you are definitely THE articulated guy here. Better watch out, though....someone going by the name of Ken is huffing by your shoulder.
Actually, what ever happened to our good friend Lillen with his sagging glass shelf of PCM Big Boys?
-Crandell
twhite Mark: You mean like this, LOL? ...
Mark:
You mean like this, LOL? ...
Yeah!
markpierce twhite One strong selling point about the Missabe 2-8-8-4's ... A Denver & Salt Lake 2-6-6-0 would look much bettah running over such "tight" curves. Mark
twhite One strong selling point about the Missabe 2-8-8-4's ...
One strong selling point about the Missabe 2-8-8-4's ...
A Denver & Salt Lake 2-6-6-0 would look much bettah running over such "tight" curves.
Mark
You mean like this, LOL?
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I would have bought a rider, but it would not fit through the gate to the back yard.
I hate Rust
cudaken CB&Q ModelerWould be really great if BLI planned on producing one of the DM&IR M4s in their Paragon2 series I bet it would be the only time no one would complain "not another big steam engine"! Reason I have not bought another articulated is because I bought a new engine. It is made by TORO with a 6.5 HP Brig and Stratton engine and is self-propelled with a 22 inch deck. Yep, the 17 year old lawn mower ate it's decoder! Ken
CB&Q ModelerWould be really great if BLI planned on producing one of the DM&IR M4s in their Paragon2 series
I bet it would be the only time no one would complain "not another big steam engine"!
Reason I have not bought another articulated is because I bought a new engine. It is made by TORO with a 6.5 HP Brig and Stratton engine and is self-propelled with a 22 inch deck. Yep, the 17 year old lawn mower ate it's decoder!
Ken
you didn't go for the John Deere GP with the 60" deck? Now that would have killed any budget for the next 2 years here
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
I have 24- 55 toners and 18 -40 ft box/gondolas all in my own lettering so when I run it it will be a loaner
51% share holder in the ME&O ( Wife owns the other 49% )
ME&O
markpierce I'm still drumming my thumbs waiting for a Denver & Salt Lake 2-6-6-0 (or two) in HO scale. The prototype is an ideal-sized articulated for most layouts. I tell you, the manufacturers are clueless and are missing the big bucks. DO YOU HEAR ME?! I suppose not. Nobody listens to me. Mark
I'm still drumming my thumbs waiting for a Denver & Salt Lake 2-6-6-0 (or two) in HO scale. The prototype is an ideal-sized articulated for most layouts. I tell you, the manufacturers are clueless and are missing the big bucks. DO YOU HEAR ME?! I suppose not. Nobody listens to me.
I hear ya. I HEAR YA!
Unfortunately, I'm not a manufacturer, but as the proud owner of a D&SL 2-6-6-0 (one of those cute little 'Rara Avis' PFM'ers from several generations back), I can only echo what you're saying. They're cute as Heck, sure-footed as a Rocky Mountain goat, surprisingly powerful for their size, and can take a 22" radius (even with prototypical Mallet articulation) without looking as if they're going to tear all of the adjacent scenery off of the layout.
They'd be a perfect addition for the modeler who wants a nifty-looking Mallet that would fit on a small layout. Spectrum seems to have found a pretty good winner with their little USRA 2-6-6-2, so it would seem that SOMEONE would discover one of those 16 Moffat Road 2-6-6-0's and let loose with them.
God knows I'D grab up a couple more.
selector danmerkel selectorKen, I have a feeling one of the main HO suppliers of steam is thinking hard about a Yellowstone. So... who do you think might be looking at a Yellowstone and which one? I have an EM-1 and an AC-9 in brass by Akane but would really rather have a newer "modern" model. dlm Dan, I honestly haven't a bit of INT on the model. I have asked BLI to give it some serious thought because the time is ripe...oooohhh....soooo ripe. But I don't know if anyone is actually going to take a stab at it. I would be very happy if BLI did a brass Hybrid. I'd bet they'd sell nearly twice the number that the Q2 or other recent Hybrids sold. This is the one engine that I am sure hasn't been done in plastic or diecast metal. If MTH does it in diecast and DC, I'd have to get out the wallet anyway. I just want someone to do it, and have started the rumour. -Crandell
danmerkel selectorKen, I have a feeling one of the main HO suppliers of steam is thinking hard about a Yellowstone. So... who do you think might be looking at a Yellowstone and which one? I have an EM-1 and an AC-9 in brass by Akane but would really rather have a newer "modern" model. dlm
selectorKen, I have a feeling one of the main HO suppliers of steam is thinking hard about a Yellowstone.
So... who do you think might be looking at a Yellowstone and which one? I have an EM-1 and an AC-9 in brass by Akane but would really rather have a newer "modern" model.
dlm
Dan, I honestly haven't a bit of INT on the model. I have asked BLI to give it some serious thought because the time is ripe...oooohhh....soooo ripe. But I don't know if anyone is actually going to take a stab at it. I would be very happy if BLI did a brass Hybrid. I'd bet they'd sell nearly twice the number that the Q2 or other recent Hybrids sold. This is the one engine that I am sure hasn't been done in plastic or diecast metal. If MTH does it in diecast and DC, I'd have to get out the wallet anyway. I just want someone to do it, and have started the rumour.
Crandell:
One strong selling point about the Missabe 2-8-8-4's that should be mentioned to manufacturers is that in real life, those big, handsome babies spent as much time OFF the Missabe as they did on. They were a favorite WWII 'loaner' to roads like Rio Grande, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and (rumored) Western Pacific.
Okay, there were only 18 of those gorgeous ladies ever built, but they saw one HECK of a lot more country in their lifetime than the more touted 25 Big Boys ever did. Hopefully, BLI or Genesis will take that into consideration in their next 'big steam' planning.
Wouldn't it be nice within the next five years or so to hear us all grousing about "Oh my God, not ANOTHER Yellowstone!"
Uncabob' you ordered a BLI Y6B? You better have lottas and lottas freightcars perferably 55ton N&W hoppers or your gonna go broke buying enough to satisfy the drawbar pull on those two brutes heh'heh'heh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d43t-ms3yJI
UncBob THEN THEN I got so enthused I went and ordered a BLI Norfolk Western 2-8-8-2 to go with the 2-6-6-4 I swore I was done buying trains
THEN THEN I got so enthused I went and ordered a BLI Norfolk Western 2-8-8-2 to go with the 2-6-6-4
I swore I was done buying trains
Look deeply into the monitor... deeper... deeper... you will buy more trains... you WILL buy more trains...
"*Snap!*"
Heading to your local hobby shop, huh? Have a good time!
Don't feel too bad... after I thought about my bigger steam engines that really don't fit my NKP themed layout, I went out and bought cabooses to run behind them. What's worse is that I couldn't decide which kind I liked so I got a couple different ones for each road! I better quit staring into my own monitor...
A POX on this thread
I got so psyched up I got my Type A out of the display cabinet and had to run it
Since it isn't lettered for the ME&O I ran it as a Fanfare on my 24 radius with the Bachmann 4-4-0 on the 22 radius both pulling old time passenger cars
Perhaps Athearn would consider the AC-9 since they seem to be leaning towards bigger West Coast steam. Spectrum did do the USRA 2-6-6-2 which was at home on a couple of Eastern roads... BLI is all over the place with their offerings. I don't know about MTH as I've never owned one but I understand that they can be pricey and a little quirky... don't they have a 24-volt system?
I'd come up with some excuse to run an EM-1 on my "Eastern Division" of the NKP if an affordable one ever came along... : )
danmerkelselectorKen, I have a feeling one of the main HO suppliers of steam is thinking hard about a Yellowstone. So... who do you think might be looking at a Yellowstone and which one? I have an EM-1 and an AC-9 in brass by Akane but would really rather have a newer "modern" model. dlm
cudakenCB&Q ModelerWould be really great if BLI planned on producing one of the DM&IR M4s in their Paragon2 series I bet it would be the only time no one would complain "not another big steam engine"! Reason I have not bought another articulated is because I bought a new engine. It is made by TORO with a 6.5 HP Brig and Stratton engine and is self-propelled with a 22 inch deck. Yep, the 17 year old lawn mower ate it's decoder! Ken
I am debating after today weather to also buy another locomotive or look around the hole in my windshield caused by a flying rock from the dump truck in front of me today. It's not that big of a hole or maybe I can just kick the windshield out and wear goggles. I have to ask why is it always my train budget that takes a hit every time something goes wrong?
Modern did you say!
Would be really great if BLI planned on producing one of the DM&IR M4s in their Paragon2 series using the diecast boiler for heavy weight and great tractive effort.course they seem to lean more toward the Eastern roads but hey' it could happen right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8UJZ1SzX2Q
ATLANTIC CENTRAL CB&Q Modeler Doctorwayne Thanks for the interior picture of the gearbox, and as stated I'm sure its best to remove the boiler/cab for oiling/greasing the gear towers and worms rather than the bottom cover plates. And I'm sure this has been covered before but being a new owner of a H4 whats the best way of removing said boiler to gain access to the towers and are the tower side covers held on with screws or clips. Thanks Larry The steam dome is a press fit, it pops off and there is a screw under it that hold the boiler on. The cab sides spread at the bottom and it pots off. After that, you will see the wires that must be unhooked and the screws that hold the top half of the boiler weight on. Remove the wires and the top weight, than the runniing gear will all be exposed. Sheldon
CB&Q Modeler Doctorwayne Thanks for the interior picture of the gearbox, and as stated I'm sure its best to remove the boiler/cab for oiling/greasing the gear towers and worms rather than the bottom cover plates. And I'm sure this has been covered before but being a new owner of a H4 whats the best way of removing said boiler to gain access to the towers and are the tower side covers held on with screws or clips. Thanks Larry
Doctorwayne
Thanks for the interior picture of the gearbox, and as stated I'm sure its best to remove the boiler/cab for oiling/greasing the gear towers and worms rather than the bottom cover plates. And I'm sure this has been covered before but being a new owner of a H4 whats the best way of removing said boiler to gain access to the towers and are the tower side covers held on with screws or clips.
Thanks Larry
The steam dome is a press fit, it pops off and there is a screw under it that hold the boiler on. The cab sides spread at the bottom and it pots off. After that, you will see the wires that must be unhooked and the screws that hold the top half of the boiler weight on. Remove the wires and the top weight, than the runniing gear will all be exposed.