Bachmann 37 wheel fouling help

[gordon1970]

Hi

Recently acquired Bachmann 32-788 (37284). Having an issue with the leading wheels on the no2 end bogie fouling and causing derailment on second radius. Looking 'side on' the no2 bogie appears to have a 'slant' in that sitting level there's an obvious angle - low to the front higher to the rear wheelset i.e. the front wheels are noticeably more hidden by the body side than the rear). Characteristic 'scraping' and derailment when no 2 end leading coming off curve. Evidence of rubbing on outer edge of leading wheel(s) - grateful for any advice, a little miffed as even a Bachmann Deltic has no problems on the 'test track'!

cheers

[pheaton]

Are you sure the frames are securly cliped in place? Does the bogie rotate freely by hand? 

[Winter123]

I've had similar problems to what I think you are describing. What I did was to remove the body (there are four screws on the underside of the chassis and it comes off fairly easy). The bogies are held in place by a single screw and if you loosen that screw slightly, the bogies become looser and will hopefully move with the shape of the 2nd radius curves. You may have a more complex issue but worth trying this first as it worked for me. Hope this helps

[gordon1970]

HI Pheaton

I've not tinkered with the frames but they seem perfectly secure. Bogies do rotate freely (up to when the wheel gets in the way) - looking at eye level, the front wheel appears about 1-1.5mm "up" e.g. the bodyside obscures about that amount compared to all other wheels. On the offending bogie the discrepancy is gradual: rear wheel seems "normal" while the middle is say 0.5-1mm obscured, front more as mentioned.

Placed nose to nose with another 37 the alignment defnitely looks out noticeably so

[gordon1970]

HI Winter

Thanks for the tip. I will keep that in mind, here's a shot of 284 (on the right) next to a sister loco (which is fine) and sits noticeably higher. It is not too clear due to shadows in terms of how the wheels are obscured. Out of interest I compared the No1 end also, and it seems (at the nose) to have the same height difference. 

*Have edited the image to bring out (some) detail - it shows the difference (and source of problem) a bit better - the wheels are "up" into the body so I suppose the question is is it the bogie or the body LOL!

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by gordon1970
image edited

[gordon1970]

Hi Mersey

Brand new. Looking at the photo and having looked online, the bodyside just behind the front wheelset on the left loco (and all similar shots I can see online) is flush with the bottom of the chassis eg as seen on the left whereas on the offending loco, a distinct gap can be seen and it appears the chassis/underframe is level and it's the body which is too far down?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

New enough to still be within warranty? You might want to exercise your consumer rights here and exchange with retailer or get it sorted by Bachmann. It is specified to work on R2.

[The Johnster]

I am impressed with Mersey's comment that 'often times realism messes up reality'; this is one of those Great Truths that should be framed on the walls above all our layouts.  Modelling, particularly RTR 00 with setrack geometry, is a compromise and scale appearance is impossible, so the best anyone can do is the best they can.  In the photograph, the two 37s appear to be from different production batches and are certainly different toolings; one has the original skirts with round buffers, and the other has the cutaway and oval buffers, but you can see from the height of the buffer shanks that they are sitting at different heights as well.  

 

To quote Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), 'two men say they're Jesus, one of 'em must be wrong', and one of these locos is sitting at the wrong height (it is possible that both of them are, of course, but let's not tax our brains too heavily at this stage).  It should be easy enough to establish which one isn't Jesus by aligning it against other stock; if one matches you can happily assume it's Jesus and the other isn't.

 

Now, the non Jesus loco is either sitting too high or too low.  If it's sitting too low, it is fairly easy to make it sit correctly by inserting spacer washers on the retaining screw between the bogies and the chassis, until it sits at the correct height.  If the problem loco is non Jesus, you may well have solved your wheel fouling issue and the loco will now run happily over 2nd rad curves.  

 

But if non Jesus is sitting too high, you've got a bit more work to do.  Assuming the body is assembled to the underframe and the underframe to the bogies correctly, it must now be made to sit lower without fouling on recommended curves, and some surgery may be needed.  If it is the problem loco, this will be complicated by the fact that it's already fouling.

 

The good news is that the photo shows 37 284 to be sitting low, and as this is the problem loco spacer washers may well be the answer with not too much trouble.  

 

Let us know how matters progress, gordon.

[gordon1970]

Hey Guys.

Spacers it will be. After taking the body off, the culprit(s) are two of the body screw retaining posts at the nose ends, both drivers side ones are shorter than their secondmans counterpart

so effectively the body is being pulled down, compounding is that the discrepancy is not the same at either end. I don't have anything immediately to hand but a test with the centre screws out and the end screws not tightened too much cures the fouling, cheers for the input all!

[The Johnster]

Happy days!