Metal Gears for Bachman 2-8-0 Consolidation G Gauge

[two tone]

At last Bachmann seem to be getting to grips with the fact that plastic gears are not good enough for the bigger locos.  I spoke to the C.E.O and was told watch the spares site for when they will be available, we in the UK welcome this as its hard to get metal parts shipped over here

[kstrong]

Excellent! Do you know if that's a redesigned gearbox in its entirety, or just metal gears to replace the plastic ones?

Later,

K

[two tone]

Hi Kevin,    From what I can gather from Bachmann it is a drop in unit whitch will be a great advantage to people like yourself that can do that sort of work.  Me I will still have to get them to fit it and pay the price.      One comment that came was that if you are running at top speed with 8-10 J/S coaches going down grade and slap the stop on it could damage the worm.

[dwbeckett]

two tone

 One comment that came was that if you are running at top speed with 8-10 J/S coaches going down grade and slap the stop on it could damage the worm.

I had a vision after i read your post:  the gear box exploded bit's peices flying everywere j&S car's teleschpoeing. dozen's of plastic figures with broken limbs. And the household mutt still napping on the tracks.

dave

 

[two tone]

I had to laugh at that, but yes some one is bound to do it so its upto the person whos driving to use commen sence.     But the plastic gears do fail just when you are having fun and on my side of the pond it takes about 10 day tos get it repaired plus travelling time thats if parts are available.  As we can all see from the mags the 2-8-0 is out of production now. so long live metal gears with care.

[kstrong]

One might infer from the investment in metal gears (a lot of tooling just for a stock of replacement parts) that they may be "gearing up" for another production run. The gears were really the Achilles' Heel of these locos, so if they can fix that issue, they'll have a solid loco. (Though I'd love to see them re-do it in the same way they did the On30 version with a raised headlight and extended smokebox.)

Later,

K

[cacole]

Bachmann's advertising has mentioned that their Big Haulers are using metal gears instead of plastic for some time, now.  This should apply also to their Spectrum engines.

I had to replace the main axle gear on a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 Consolidation so many times that I finally installed a Barry's Big Trains gearbox and motor.  Pricey, but it sure saves a lot of anguish of having to continually disassemble the model to install a new Bachmann replacement part.

You had to purchase the axle with wheels and gear from Bachmann as a unit because the plastic gear was not a separately available part; probably because of the wheel quartering issue.

[kstrong]

The axles are self-quartering, and the gear just slides on, so it's not a quartering issue. Don't know why they would have made you buy the entire axle, but that's largely moot now that they're doing brass gears. We'll have to see if they sell just the gear, or if you have to buy the gear/axle assembly there. I do have to agree, though, that a Barry's motor/gearbox is the 100% bulletproof way to go with this loco if you want the best performance out of it. 

Update: Bachmann just added them to their parts catalog:

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_69_142&products_id=3843

$10 including the axle.

Later,

K

[Greg Elmassian]

On the 4-4-0 and 2-6-0, you can buy the motor with the gearbox, but on the 4-6-0, the picture shown for the gearbox looks like all plastic gears.

[kstrong]

Bachmann just updated the 4-6-0 (their 6th version of the drive) to have brass gears within the past 4 or 5 months. The plastic gear version ("generation 5") seems to have proven itself fairly robust in its own right, but I'd imagine we'll soon see the brass replacement gearboxes on their parts list for that as well--or one can at least hope.

Later,

K

[Grims]

this thread is making me nervous i just purchased a spectrum 2-8-0 from trainz in like new condition the reason i got this one is because it advertised all metal gear box this is my first train on a limited budget i hope i didnt make a mistake

[two tone]

Hi   Treat the loco like your car or the lady in your life and you will get good service from the loco, as to the load it all depends on the wieght and what sort of wheels are on unit. plus the slopes you have on layout.    If it was mine I would run it with 3or 4 trucks or carrages and add more each trip around the layout you will know when loco is at max pulling load wheels may spin or will not run smothly.  It also helps if you show where you are people on the forum are always happy to help and there may be some one close by who can advise you           Hope this helps

[dwbeckett]

If not the meatel gears it's an fairly easy fix If you are machenicaly inclined. I have photo's of my fix from last summer. The main thing you need to do is check and tighten loose side rod bolt's. I check mine after 2-3 runs.

Dave

 

[Grims]

Thanx for your reply's im such a newbie at this and it doesnt come cheap so im nervous with every purchase i make.

@two tone i dont think overloading will be a problem as i only purchased one gondola and one combine. more locos and rolling stock will come as i grow.

as far as where i am i thought it was under my avitar.

@dwbeckett it sounds to me like a little maintenance and common sense go a long way. i am very mechanically inclined so tinkering doesnt bother me(in fact i like it) the initial start up in this hobby is killer on the pocket book but its like that in anything you enjoy my next hurdle is power supply and controller but i dont want to hijack this thread so thats for another thread

thanx again   Ed   

[jhsimpson62]

Installed new metal gear in my 2-8-0 Saturday. Relative painless. Only problem was I reinstalled the drive out of sync, and had a loud clicking noise witha jumping engine. Rotated them and runs smoothly and quite as a mouse. Ordered from Bachmann on-line store and took about two weeks to process and receive with e-mail notices of status changes, i.e. confirmation, picking/packageing, shipping. Over all very satisfying experience. Jack

[Dr. J]

Hi
This is my first post to this forum. The main gear on my Bachmann Connie has just cracked, and I need to replace it. I'm considering ordering the axle/brass gear from Bachmann, but I'm a bit intimidated about the process. Did instrucitons come with the part? If not, can you explain (ideally with pictures) how you did it?
Thanks.
Jim C

PS: On the other side of the coin: If I replace the main gear with brass, but all the other gears inside the gearbox are plastic, wont one of them eventually fail? Would I be better off to bite the bullet and replace the entire gear train with metal gears (from Barry's Big Trains? Or does Bachmann offer a conversion for the entire drive train?)
Thanks

[Stourbridge Lion]

Dr. J - Welcome to trains.com!

[Dr. J]

Thanks, Darren. That's mighty nice of you. Glad to be here.

Jim C (aka Dr. J)

[grandpopswalt]

Here's a story that's hard to top - I have a 2-8-0 that I bought about four years ago. It's been sitting on a shelf the whole time. The only time it was run was the the day I I received it and ran it for a couple minutes on a short test track indoors on the bench (no cars).

I recently needed to move some of the locos on the shelves, including this Connie. Guess what - the gears are stripped.  Must have happened sometime when the engine was moved a couple inches to clean the shelf.  Bachmann definitely wins the  " delicate mechanism " contest hands down with this one.

Walt

[dwbeckett]

The gear is broken most likely cracked, causing it to slip. cheap plastic. After you replace the gear, pick up your loco do not slide it.

Dave

[Dr. J]

Hi Dave

Is there any way you can post pictures on this forum? If not, can you send them to me directly, at [e-mail] ?
Thanks
Jim C (aka Dr.J)

[Dr. J]

Hi Jack
Thanks for your excellent notes on how to do the job. I followed your steps, and took photos, which I've posted on Flikr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcoplan48/sets/72157631149396864/
Jim C

[Dr. J]

For some reason, the link isnt showing when I use the "insert photo" icon.

Go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcoplan48/sets/72157631149396864/  for my photos of the repair.
Jim C

[jhsimpson62]

Dr. J. Excellent discription and photos. Jack

[dwbeckett]

Dr. J, You and my Doctor have the same first and last names..  Your pictures are very good and your's cover more of the repair then mine did. Excellent job.

Dave.