I LOVE BACHMANN!

[Don Gibson]

Bachmann has found a Niche.

[Anonymous]

BACHMANN ROCKS , DUDE !!!!!

[Anonymous]

They may be responsive, but the best warranty is the one that is not needed in the 1st place.

[darth9x9]

That is good news Scott. You will have to let us know how long the new set lasts......

BC

[Anonymous]

I spent the last 3 nights reviving my old layout, engines and rolling stock after a 5 yr. hiatus. Originally inspired by the magnificent "Calico & Western", my 2'X4' bent dogbone layout includes reasonable likenesses of Mt. Whitney, the Alabama Hills and Red Rock State park, as well as a logging camp and a mining town. It has lots of running features, too, like staging under the mountain, a turntable, two sidings (one doubles as a run around), and the ability to have long runs in either direction as well as three trains running at once (it gets a little busy!). My Bachman N-Scale 4-4-0 Americans were running very poorly at first, but after taking them apart and cleaning off years of grunge, my Ol' 119 ran great! The Jupiter had a fried truck spring under the tender and it fell to pieces. Just try to find a replacement! Bachmann won't even talk about parts, and my local hobby shop sold me some Kadee coupling springs that were far too small. Time to get creative! I took some standard Radio Shack speaker wire, split it, stripped off the insulation of one wire bundle (the brass-colored one), cut off about 1 1/2 inches of a single tiny strand and then wrapped it tightly around the same screwdriver I used to remove the truck. I then compressed my new spring between my thumb and forefinger......instant conducting truck spring, just the right amount of tension, too! I made two so the truck would balance from side to side, then put it all back together. I finished cleaning and lubing the loco and tender. It now runs great, better than new. It's out-running Ol' 119, and I'm thinking about replacing all the springs that way. It sounds complicated, but it only took seconds, once I got the idea. I've got plenty left to do though. I've got a steam loco sound module to wire, a table to build, couplers to install, and I don't even know what DCC is! The hobby's changed a lot in 5 years.

[randybc2003]

Re the K4 - I don't own one but I would recomend, in addition to the options above:
1.) Clean (maintain) the wheels. - Drivers, tender pick-ups, etc.
2.) Lube the gears, rods, bearings, etc. But DON'T OVER LUBRICATE!
3.) Clean electrical contact points using recomended procedures.
4.) Replace the car wheelsets w/ metal one, and make sure the Journal pits are open and cleaned out. They should move as near as possible to "an eel in oil".
(Sorry - I couldn't resist that. I remember the CV trucks and still have some)
randy

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SILVERCHAMPION

I have a Bachmann K4 that can pull only a few passenger cars. I am not happy. what can I do

The Bachmann K4 CAN only pull a few cars. You've got six basic options:

1) live with it.
2) Add weight wherever you can on the engine to increase it's pulling performance.
3) Buy brass.
4) Buy BLI.
5) Buy MTH.
6) Buy Bowser.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railman

Good for you.

I am very happy for you Scott. [:D]

I have a 4 8 2 never ran yet, but it is missing a few minor pieces. I purchased it at GATS.

[cacole]

It's good that Bachmann has an excellent service department, because quite a few of their products have major defects. I own approximately 20 Spectrum steam engines of all types that Bachmann has made in HO, and a Spectrum G-scale narrow-gauge Consolidation, and have, fortunately, had no problems with any of them except the G-gauge model, which was dead on arrival because of the poor soldering job by someone in China. That locomotive weighed so much that it was cheaper to just throw away the Bachmann circuit boards and re-wire the model for battery power and DCC operation instead of shipping it back for repair. Other members of the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club, unfortunately, have had just the opposite experience with Bachmann products. One member has had to send three HO scale models back for repair/replacement, and currently has a brand new N-scale Mountain with stripped gears. None of these were Spectrum models, however, so that may have something to do with it -- you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

I have a Bachmann K4 that can pull only a few passenger cars. I am not happy. what can I do

[Jacktal]

I too have only good things to say about Bachmann's service.I've had a problem with parts for a loco last year,as no LHS could get them for me.I turned to Bachmann's service people and got a royal treatment.Needless to say,some manufacturers don't seem to care much about after sales service but Bachmann does.Worthed mentioning.

[Roadtrp]

Great!!

[tup][tup]

[railman]

Good for you.

[TrainFreak409]

Okay, I know I was complaining earlier, but, I just got an email from the service department. [:D]They are sending me a new set![:D] I am so happy. They replied, saying that the problems were within the factory, and it would be brough to the attention of the Quality Control Dept. BACHMANN ROCKS!

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~