Peter J

Hello, not updated for a while but I thought it was worth a mention as I recently purchased 2 new Graham Farish Class 56 locos GWR green and the West Coast (not sure of the colour?) both very nice runners. I followed the running in process as always and removed the bogies to give a light oil. To my surprise I found not the usual black gears but nice new white ones. Please forgive me if this news was already common knowledge, if it was sorry I missed it. I'm hoping it's as a result of Graham Farish listing to our concerns and fixing the problem. are G/F now manufacturing their gears using a better plastic? I do hope so and I hope the new gears are compatible with existing gears/loco's so we can retro fit and fix the gear splitting problem for ever. Hopefully Andy could find out and let us know, again apologies if I'm the only one who didn't know about this change, look forward to replies, regards Pete

I have been looking forward to getting these wagons since announced by Dapol a long time ago? (I couldn't remember, or find the date) I received 22 a few days ago, 16 green and 6 white, along with some other n gauge stock. I set up my Kato oval of track. Whilst I was running in two new G/F 56's locos I unboxed my 22 HIA's First impressions, the wagons have some weight to them and the livery is nicely applied one was missing a coupler at one end, it happens occasionally! Several of the wagons I noticed, the panels have not been glued into place as well as others, which is a shame and more noticeable on the white liveried ones. My main concern is that when I tried to run them in a train, I cannot get them to stay coupled together, Its escalated from being very frustrating to darn annoying. On closer inspection some of the couplers look to be angled up and some to be angled down. I have tried manually levelling them but they continue to uncouple at random points along the track, on curves and on the straight? The G/F 56 pulls them with some effort, I checked all the wheel sets ran free and got out the big guns, my CJM Class 60, this would have pulled 100+ without breaking a sweat but I still could not keep them coupled. It looks like the problem maybe to do with the two small springs at each end of the wagon, I believe they are supposed to centre the coupler. Quite a few of the springs on my wagons are not attached or have poor tension, hardly working to centre the coupler? I will look at each wagon in detail to establish exactly how may are affected and see if the ones with good springs stay coupled when run. I can then decide if I return the defective wagons for exchange, or send the whole lot back and not have HIA's, which would be a real shame. It is very frustrating and time consuming, I don't have a layout currently but do check and test out the things I buy just for this reason. I would like to know if anyone else is experiencing this problem and what they have done to resolve, please keep it constructive, I would welcome any suggestions for an easy fix. I look forward to reply’s Pete

Hi Andy, I apologise I did not intend to offend. I will not let my frustration get the better of me in future, I value and appreciate this forum and in no way want to insight any conflicts. Andy has kindly reactivated this topic so those of us who do have this problem can discuss and hopefully find a solution. Is it wrong lubricant, storage temperature, faulty part etc lets use this opportunity to discuss and see if we can find a common denominator. Pete I had another look on BR Lines this time at their spare parts for sale. Interesting part No. GF2503 Pack of 4x 12 tooth gears £3.60 (Latest thicker gear) and Part No. GF2504 Pack of 6x 16 tooth gears £5.90 (Latest thicker gear) Does anyone know what the "(Latest thicker gear)" means? I hope I don't regret asking that question! Does it mean that Bachmann have already solved their split gear problem and produced a new tooling for a thicker gear that does not split? if this is the case then when were these gears produced and when did Graham Farish start using them in their locos? or are they a third party part? Obviously I cannot contact BR Lines today but would be very interested if anyone on this forum has the answer. Thanks in advance Pete

It's interesting that in the few days this topic has been active over 500+ people have viewed it. I would say a topic about split gears in Graham Farish locos is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Especially when it's a subject which has been talked about on this forum alone 80, no sorry now 81 times previously, it's a fact! This got me thinking does this mean that the majority of these views are from people who have had or are currently having problems with split gears in their Graham Farish locos? I know one person is currently unsure there is a problem, would be interesting to find out why they bothered to read the topic in the first place? If it didn't affect me I wouldn't have, life's to sort! I guess what I'm trying to say is if we are to stand any chance of Bachmann taking ownership and deal with their problem once and for all, we ALL need to take a bit of time to post our examples of split gears in our Graham Farish locos past and present how it affected us and costs to repair etc. Could someone post a message to fellow hobbyists on other forums about this topic giving as many people as possible the opportunity to have their say. If we fail to do this then I fear, this topic will just slip into the archives as it has the previous 80 times and it will be business as usual for Bachmann! Over to you Pete

Like others have stated, my locomotives are stored in an invironment without any significant change in temperature! No special treatment or hot water bottles for my Kato, Tomix, Dapol or CJM locos! Oh and no split gears and that my friend is The Guardian, The Independent, The Financial Times of facts :-) Pete

You have been very lucky, may be worth giving your large collection another spin time permitting and see if you are still very lucky! If you don't mind me asking what lubricating oil do you use? Interesting point to note, my Kato, Tomix and Dapol loco's are all run approximately the same amount, oiled the same way and stored together in my excellent Parkwood Arts Park 'N' Stack boxes. Only my Graham Farish Loco's suffer with split gears?? Pete

As a matter of interest, I had a look on BR Lines web site to establish the price fellow hobbyist are charged for a repair to their Graham Farish Loco's with one split gear! To post a small parcel 2nd class proof of postage only is currently £2.85 (no insurance) BR Lines charges £14.50 plus cost of parts say £1.00 for a gear and VAT £3.10 plus return postage £3.20 total £24.65 plus the risk the loco being lost in the post! Wow! This is in no way a criticism of what BR Lines are charging and £14.50 + VAT includes a full service (plugs oil and filters! sorry couldn't resist!) But seriously nearly £25.00 every time someone not capable of repairing a split gear in their Graham Farish Loco! come on! I would be interested to find out what Bachmann charge to repair a split gear? Pete

We just need Bachmann to come clean about it!

Looking at some of my G/F loco information sheets, they state "Lubrication, when required, sparingly lubricate the motor bearings using plastic comparable light oil and the gear train with model grease. Suitable lubricants are Bachmann E-Z Lube item 99984 or Woodland Scenics "Hobbylube" Lite Oil item HL654." I have been using MaGeR which states its "Plastics Compatible" Pete

I fear this may have to be the way forward unless Bachmann announce to resolve the problem on the strength of these posts! Thats if they actually read the posts?

Interesting that Stephen's first post was removed by administration, I'm not sure why? Unfortunately I don't think Bachmann listen to individuals, from the telephone call i had with them 27.10.2016 in which I believe I stated a reasonable case. I was basically fobbed off and frankly felt offended hence my first post! I feel given the overwhelming evidence written here and other forums of Bachmann customers continuing to suffer problems with gears splitting in Graham Farish Loco's, to be told by Bachmann Customer Service "the reason the gears were splitting in my locos, is because I am not running them at least once a fortnight"! Some might say that I could simply stop buying Graham Farish products but that means I suffer. I really enjoy my hobby and Graham Farish products play a huge part in that, like I said previously when a business has a captive audience etc! I think a better way is to try and appeal to Bachmann's integrity and sense of responsibility, they certainly know about this problem! All they have to do is publicly admit it and set out their plans to resolve it! I for one would respect them and quickly move on. Currently we are paying £100+ for loco's that may or may not work the next time we put them on our track? Where else would this be acceptable? I believe this action would go along way to restoring customer confidence and improve sales! It worked for VW Audi they finally came clean about a whopper recently, people are still buying VW Audi cars! The only other way I can see is that the model rail press & the N-Gauge society etc publicly lobby Bachmann over this matter but is the will to do this there? Like I said before .60p to £1.00 per gear is very frustrating to me but not the end of the world. I feel very sorry for our fellow hobbyists who can't make the repairs themselves for whatever reason and get charged considerable sums including P&P which is very expensive to get their precious loco's fixed! Or am I just being a softy? Pete

That's interesting, i don't know anything about On30 does this scale use the same axles and gears as n gauge? Pete

Thanks, I will contact them and see if they still have any for sale. Pete

I use MaGer Lubricating Oil States its "Especially for Model Railways & Sot Cars etc." "Plastics Compatible"