Pete S Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I have recently obtained an austerity, upon inspection although preowned appears not to have had much if any use. It runs smoothly, quietly and stays cool when hauling 40 assorted wagons but at no time will it exceed an approx. 40mph [scale speed] is this normal? There is no difference when running light. Just curious Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Hi Peter Had exactly the same experience and I have been told that this is nothing to worry about, they really do go that slow. Enjoy your new model Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted October 22, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 22, 2016 Dub Dees rarely, if ever, exceeded or were allowed to exceed 40/50mph as they would have more than likely come to grief. So, your model sounds prototypical to me. Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Market65 Posted October 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2016 Hi, Peter. I have two of them, and they are just the same. Mine are from the first batch of c1999. Yours should be quite OK. As stated, the prototype would not go much faster than about 40 mph anyway. Best regards, Rob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Thank you both. I wasn't sure if the model was that low geared. Although I have seen photos showing the prototype on both local passenger and Blackpool excursions, I also recall a report of one purloined to cover a failure and doing better than a mile a minute between Tring and Watford. Many thanks Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Although I have seen photos showing the prototype on both local passenger and Blackpool excursions, I also recall a report of one purloined to cover a failure and doing better than a mile a minute between Tring and Watford. Many thanks Peter. I'm surprised by that as apart from those fresh from works, they could be notoriously rough riders over 30mph. edit,- According to Tourret's 'Allied Military Locomotives' ( page 95), BR restricted the maximum speed to 40mph for the above reason ( I thought I'd seen it somewhere ). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted October 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2016 According to drivers' folklore, if they took a DubDee much over 25 it would try to throw them out of the cab............. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 All except 90527 that is, because that loco was given the 8F 'star' treatment, but BR in their infinite wisdom didn't proceed with the idea any further. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theakerr Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 If you take one apart and look at the gear train you will see why they don't run much faster than a scale speed of 40. Said gear train is what gives them their excellent hauling power. Whilst I only pull about 35 loaded wagons with mine I did see a video of one pulling about 80 wagons. One of Bachmann's best models although the 04 comes close. Of my 4 WD's two have been running pretty well continuously since they first came out (1999 I think). They "rattle" as they go along but then so did the real thing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Sidelines Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Hello Theaker Not sure that everyone agrees about their excellent haulage power. .. Said gear train is what gives them their excellent hauling power. .......They "rattle" as they go along but then so did the real thing To get my WDs to pull a reasonable load (up and down dale) I had to gently tweak the springing and add a little bit of lead shot. As to the rattle - some of the early Bachmann WD models are down right noisy. The problem lies in that the two soldered contacts on the motor can have so much solder on them that they contact the plastic body causing the whole body shell to resonate with the motor. Too much solder can also prevent removal of the chassis from the body shell. You just have to be patient and ease the chassis out a little at a time. Having said all that - I agree a splendid model - you can glimpse my +ten year old in action keeping up with the latest Hornby Q6 - and fast forward to around 2 minutes Regards Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tomlinson Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 A good excuse to watch Ray's excellent video again! Although quite old now the WD still ranks as one of Bachmann's best models in my humble opinion, and a class that was sorely missing from RTR before its introduction. Mine had a bit of tweaking as well, and I seem to remember that one of the driving axles is actually sprung, although its questionable if this has any real benefit. The gearing is just right I'd suggest for a long unfitted freight, and like Ray's mine still runs fine after many years - around 15 I think. I've noticed on Ebay that the original issues do seem to go for around the £70 mark, or thereabouts, which makes them good value in today's pricing conditions. A long time now since Bachmann did a production run. John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Or even two sprung driving axles, and well positioned either side of the gear driven axle. Weirdly - and in common with almost all the other Bachmann locos that have a sprung driven axle - the travel is overly constrained, varying from neglible to 'slight'. A little fiddling to allow the sprung axles to move up and down relative to the plane of the fixed axles, and the full benefit is obtained, in rock solid pick up and traction. (A much superior approach to adding brakes in the form of wiper pick ups on tenders or carrying wheels, and a feature that I much regret Bachmann dropping. I think the last new introduction to their range with this feature was the Pepp A2.) A good model, which along with Bach's 16T mineral convinced me of 'times they are a-changing' in OO, all those years ago. Don't recall much grumbling about the circa £80 asking price either. It was that much better than anything else then on offer in OO, and Hornby were asking £70ish for similar sized tender drive models. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 As others have said, still one of Bachmann's best models. I timed mine over a scale 1/10 mile at 45mph, with DCC mine now has a top speed of 25mph. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete S Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 Hi JZ I timed mine using the conversion table I an old R M and the max speed both light engine or hauling 50 plus wagons came out at a scale 45 mph like yours. More load only caused wheelspin. Thanks for all the comments, I was surprised a rtr loco was so low geared. Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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