I have one of the old (and I mean OLD) bachmann 0-6-0 steam locomotives, decorated in Pennsylvania livery. The question is not whether or not I should keep it, but how to get the dumb thing to be quiet. Sounds like a huge racket in that diecast chassis whenever I run it. The locomotive is in excellent almost new condition, and I only need it to prototypically pull around a couple miscellaneous cars. Any thoughts on how to make this a quiet runner? (without spending oodles of money, that is)
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
If it's the one of the inexpensive Bachmann 0-6-0s: Apart from a good cleaning and lubing then there really isn't anything you can do other than purchase one of the Proto 2000 USRA 0-6-0s; a much better loccomotive cosmetically, mechanically, and prototypically.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Well if it has a pancake motor, probably not. Last I knew they have all metal gears and noisy. I use to have two of those and gave them away.
I have a Bachmann 0-6-0 Plymouth with pancake motor that runs sort of ok with a decoder but noisy. Pickups are lousy.
Every so often some at the Bachmann forums mention these motors.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Look at the catalog, Parts and diagrams at the Bachmann site. They now sell the 0-6-0 with a can motor and I believe DCC.
Well, I think it has a pancake motor... its taller than it is wide...
I checked the Bachmann website, but the nicer motors they are selling don't look that much quieter, and I already have some. They are charging $13 for theirs.
Is there any way to make a can motor quieter?
Depends on the can motor. Beuhler and Canon motors (found in Stewart locomotives) are the quietest and smoothest motors around and you won't get better. Not sure if they could be substituted in your 0-6-0 though...
I do not know how you define look quieter versus sound quieter. How fast to you run them? It could be how you laid down the track.
Pancake had to run fast because of poor pickups. No idea about the can motor types.
I have some Bachmann can motor steamers and they are not noisy. They are DCC sound powered and I did run them as DC first and very little noise. 4-4-0 and two 4-6-0.
Bachmann 44 ton sound and 70 ton sound are awesome.
I have some Athearn Roundhouse 4-4-0, 2-6-0 and 2-8-0 which are excellent.
Well, I have some, and they sound quiet by themselves, but when your start having them turn gears... then they make a big noise. So I don't know whether to target the motor or the gears
richg1998I do not know how you define look quieter versus sound quieter. How fast to you run them?
Good question "Those just look noisy"
I would think any can motor would be better than a pancake motor. The problem with swapping usually is the pancake motor is part of the truck it's mounted on, and the axles are a "direct drive" from the motor. I would think you'd have to change out the truck, and reinvent the drive train.
Mike.
My You Tube
BNSF UP and others modeler Well, I have some, and they sound quiet by themselves, but when your start having them turn gears... then they make a big noise.
Well, I have some, and they sound quiet by themselves, but when your start having them turn gears... then they make a big noise.
Well then, the issue is with the gears; not the motor. That's something you can address with replacement gears but...it's probably going to cost you more than the locomotive is worth.
Sounds to me like you’ve got a problem with the gears. Maybe they are cracked, I’ve heard that Bachmanns sometimes do that. I have a 70-ton GE from Bachmann and it also makes a grinding noise and runs poorly, as well as smells like an old slot car track.
I’ve been told it’s likely the gears that are the problem, because they are plastic and brittle, and that I should replace them with NWSL parts. I’ve also heard of people putting NWSL can motors in Bachmann engines. So NWSL would be a good place to look (if you can find any of their stuff ).
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
If you really want to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, I suggest replacing the entire drive system. I have several Bull Ant drive systems by Hollywood Foundry in Australia and they work great! I haven't a clue as to whether or not one would fit into the 0-6-0 shell but they are worth a look:
http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/BullAnt%20Intro.htm
Edit: Geoff Baxter, the power behind Hollywood Foundry, has had a bit of a go over the past year or so. He has recently undergone some serious back surgery (successful) and he is in the process of moving as we speak. It will be a little while before Hollywood Foundry is up and running again, but he assures us that it will be back!
By the way, I have an old Tyco two axle switcher with a pancake motor. I love it! Whenever I need to see real smoke and smell ozone I just crank it up! A few quick runs back and forth on the test track and the air starts to stink and things get hazy! And, who needs a sound decoder?!?
I keep it as a reminder of how naive I was when I first started into the hobby. I thought at the time that it was a great bargain. My sense of ethics won't allow me to sell it to some other unsuspecting newbie.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hello All,
If it is the gears that are the cause of the racket the diecast chassis is most likely amplifying the unwanted sound(s).
A couple of suggestions:
Try cleaning and re-lubricating the gears with a light lithium grease. It is available in white or black color.
It's light enough that it won't bind the gears yet viscous enough to stick to the metal and the density of the grease might help dampen the noise.
If the chassis is amplifying the noise have you tried isolating the chassis from the frame using thin shims of either paper, plastic or rubber (small O-rings on the mounting screws comes to mind).
Many...
BNSF UP and others modeler...of the old (and I mean OLD)...
...locomotives used the frame to conduct power from the rails to the motor.
If you do decide to isolate the chassis from the frame remember, rubber will act as a complete insulator but plastics and paper could create resistance, heat and possibly fire.
Using a multi meter to trace the electrical path could avoid that possibility.
Good luck, and as always...
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I actually have a 2-6-0 version of that loco. It runs pretty quiet, which makes me believe that they CAN run fairly well. I can't get mine to start at a low speed, so it is sitting in my "donor engine" box for now. Who knows, maybe it will get a third life some day. It landed there when I found an IHC model, and replaced that one with the more recent Spectrum 2-6-0. If you really want to keep yours, why don't you just open up the thing and see what could be the source of the noise? In the worst case scenario, you wreck the thing and get another one at a trade show... But you might just find the problem (probably a broken gear) and maybe find a donor engine to change the part. That's the nice thing about old engines like that, opening it is a low-risk operation. I've learned a ton of things working on clunkers...
Simon
This page might have some info you can use:
http://www.spookshow.net/loco/bach262.html
Tells all about your old loco, and revisions made.
Mine does not have that kind of motor...
well than maybe it's not as old as you think it is. Could you show a picture? With the shell off?
It's hard to envision what you mean by "old, and I mean OLD".
We're all quessing as to what you have, and what can be done.
mbinsewiThis page might have some info you can use:http://www.spookshow.net/loco/bach262.htmlTells all about your old loco, and revisions made.
That page describes N scale locos. I believe that the OP is in HO.
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
cuyamaThat page describes N scale locos. I believe that the OP is in HO.
I didn't see that on the page, about N scale, except when you get to the bottom, it shows an N scale pc board diagram.
I thought all the rest was about HO.
I guess it's not what he has anyway.
EDIT: After going back and looking at his home page, your right, all of this seems to be about N scale. My bad.
I've been a bit busy this week. I will try to get pictures of the model soon. It is HO scale...
I found this diagram on HO seeker:
https://hoseeker.net/assemblyexplosionbachmann/bachmanns060usraregulartenderpg2.jpg
It matches the model I have at home. Unless you have a saddletank or side-tank model (without a tender), I am pretty sure it would be similar to that one.
For whatever reason Simon, HOSeeker doesn't let you link to diagrams, you just get a "welcome" page, telling all about HOSeeker.
BN will have to go there, look up Bachmann, and find the diagram.
That started about three or four years ago.
I just went to the Bachmann site and all I could find were the 0-6-0 with the can motor.
If anyone wants to post a photo from HO Seeker, do a Screen shot. I just looked at Ho Seeker.
Convert it to a photo and upload it to say Photo Bucket. I use to do that before photo Bucket tried to charge me for up loading photos. Easy enough to do. I guess the OP has not even tried. Better to get a new loco.
I took all my photos back. and left them. Once bit, twice shy.
I have the exact opposite problem with a Bachmann 0-6-0 locomotive.
.
I bought it for $5.00 out of the bargain bin at a train show. No tender, but I have a good junk tender to use with it. I bought it to paint and use a prop in photography and not run it.
Well, imagine my surprise when I set it on the track, and it ran, and it ran really well. Without a tender! I looked at it, it has the pankcake motor, and it only picks up power on the rear driver on each rail. It will not cross a turnout without jerking or stalling because it only picks up on one wheel.
I am trying to decide whether I should keep it as a runner. It looks bad, it needs help, but since it runs good, I don't feel right about killing it and reducing it to prop-only status.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The older pancake motors run like coffee grinders.
The newer kind(I had 2..sold them) has a FK130 Mabuchi can motor. The motor with light use runs very quiet, however, if you run it at high voltages for a while, they start to develop noise(I ran my first train set till the engine died on me). The gears inside the engines are very nice, and are as quiet as an Athearn genesis diesel iirc.
Just be careful, a lot of these have cracked plastic axles!(They eventually changed to metal axles)
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
Ah, the flapjack era. Once Tyco was bought by a food conglomerate, I guess it was inevitable.
The Bachmann pancakers were actually geared down quite a bit to achieve more torque from such a small armature. They were always among my slowest runners back in the 70's.
I've restored a few of the Reading I-10 Consolidations, and it's cheap to do because junkers are easy to come by at train shows. Inevitably the drivers have to be re-qartered and secured with CA. Properly lubricated, the cricket noise is tolerable, and at some point Bachmann even made an attempt at noise reduction with this version by giving the reduction gear a spiral center to reduce the resonance of it meshing with the pinion.
This definitely quiets it down a bit. But the earliest pancake motors were housed in a recess in one side of the Zamac frame, and these seem to be quieter than the plastic bodied motors. The Lionel branded Freedom Train GS4's have that early motor, for e.g.
As others have mentioned, the 0-6-0's were always at a disadvantage due to the traction tires on the main drivers. Electrical pickup was left to just the front and center drivers and the rear flanges. Hopefully they've gotten away from tires on their current versions. (And as Charles mentioned, the FK-130's are nice motors, but bearing noise can become an issue with use. I've noticed that over time when using them for repowers.)
Still, those tires enabled my two pancake 0-6-0's (I'd gotten them for a song when Two Guys went out of business) to pull over 30 not-so-free-rolling cars at low speed for hours at a time without even breaking breaking a sweat. I was impressed.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
SeeYou190I am trying to decide whether I should keep it as a runner. It looks bad, it needs help, but since it runs good, I don't feel right about killing it and reducing it to prop-only status.
Well, the decision was made. I killed the old Bachmann 0-6-0, I painted it up, and now I am using it as a prop for posed photographs.
Please meet STRATTON AND GILLETTE #638.
It still needs detail painting.
One fellow in the Bachmann forums has done maybe six of those and has them running. I believe the ones with can motors and dresses them up some.
My Bachmann PLymouth 0-6-0 has the pancake motor and runs with a Digitrax DZ125 decoder, just not very well. The pickups are lousy. I improved them but it was a lot of fiddeling. Still noisy even with good Labelle gear grease.