Bachmann headcode box 24

[w124bob]

I've now added a second 25/0 based this model, first business was to swap the chassis from boiler water tankless 24035. This also involved swapping over the entire 3 part circuit boards to get the right lighting, it was an easy task but there are lots of small screws to loose! Everything went back and was checked for running. The roof boiler detail was removed blanking plates added and touched up. I added a fuel gauge from a spare boiler water tank and then just a renumber. 25018 was chosen as it had the same flat front sand boxes as 24035 and the added fuel gauge gave me the correct size of fuel tank for the last ten of the 25/0's.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by w124bob

[sulzer71]

On 30/11/2021 at 10:14, w124bob said:

I've now added a second 25/0 based this model, first business was to swap the chassis from boiler water tankless 24035. This also involved swapping over the entire 3 part circuit boards to get the right lighting, it was an easy task but there are lots of small screws to loose! Everything went back and was checked for running. The roof boiler detail was removed blanking plates added and touched up. I added a fuel gauge from a spare boiler water tank and then just a renumber. 25018 was chosen as it had the same flat front sand boxes as 24035 and the added fuel gauge gave me the correct size of fuel tank for the last ten of the 25/0's.

 

 

 

[sulzer71]

@w124bob , Nicely done , just one thing i'd like to make you aware of is that if you do this conversion again the tanks can be removed so there's really no need to do a full chassis/circuit board swap

Edited January 6, 2022 by sulzer71

[w124bob]

3 hours ago, sulzer71 said:

@w124bob , Nicely done , just one thing i'd like to make you aware of is that if you do this conversion again the tanks can be removed so there's really no need to do a full chassis/circuit board swap

Yes My first conversion for 5170(recently renumbered to 5172) did just that. The boiler water tank is glued in the chassis base via to plastic pegs, mine wouldn't give so rather than risk damage a stripped out the motor to gain access from the inside. the top of the pegs are then visible and I simply drilled the tops to weaken them and the water tank then came away easily. The only reason for the full circuit board swap was i was doing 24054 at the same time.

[sulzer71]

1 minute ago, w124bob said:

Yes My first conversion for 5170(recently renumbered to 5172) did just that. The boiler water tank is glued in the chassis base via to plastic pegs, mine wouldn't give so rather than risk damage a stripped out the motor to gain access from the inside. the top of the pegs are then visible and I simply drilled the tops to weaken them and the water tank then came away easily. The only reason for the full circuit board swap was i was doing 24054 at the same time.

Ah right , I managed to carefully lever the tanks off without having to remove the body fortunately , unfortunately I abandoned the projects and sold the loco's on , that said I have now purchased a couple more to modify seen as the Suttons headcode box variant is delayed again

[sulzer71]

On 30/11/2021 at 10:14, w124bob said:

I've now added a second 25/0 based this model, first business was to swap the chassis from boiler water tankless 24035. This also involved swapping over the entire 3 part circuit boards to get the right lighting, it was an easy task but there are lots of small screws to loose! Everything went back and was checked for running. The roof boiler detail was removed blanking plates added and touched up. I added a fuel gauge from a spare boiler water tank and then just a renumber. 25018 was chosen as it had the same flat front sand boxes as 24035 and the added fuel gauge gave me the correct size of fuel tank for the last ten of the 25/0's.

 

 

@w124bob What did you use for the fuel gauge if you don't mind me asking?

Edited January 13, 2022 by sulzer71

[sulzer71]

Has anyone converted one of these loco's to EM gauge by any chance and what's involved? I'm about to start laying track and thinking about going EM so I'm weighing everything up at the moment , tia

[Porcy Mane]

On 13/01/2022 at 13:36, sulzer71 said:

Has anyone converted one of these loco's to EM gauge

 Yep. And P4.

For EM I simply pulled out the Bachmann wheels on their axles and used spacing washers cut from the old plastic centres of Johnson's cotton buds  (NLA). The brake pull rods had to be thinned. I found it easier by scraping rather than filing.

 

Runs fine through EMGS soc. point work and round a rather big EM gauge layout that has predominantly hand built track.

 

Bottom  is bottom chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Porcy Mane
Restore pic.

[sulzer71]

1 minute ago, Porcy Mane said:

 Yep. And P4.

For EM I simply pulled out the Bachmann wheels on their axles and used spacing washers cut from the old plastic centres of Johnson's cotton buds  (NLA). The brake pull rods had to be thinned. I found it easier by scraping rather than filing.

 

Runs fine through EMGS soc. point work and round a rather big EM gauge layout that has predominantly hand built track.

 

Bottom Chassis.

 

@Porcy Mane cheers , just gotta decide if I'm gonna go down this route being quite a newbie to modelling

[Porcy Mane]

1 minute ago, sulzer71 said:

just gotta decide if I'm gonna go down this route being quite a newbie to modelling

 

Go for it. With diesels and the EM ready to plonk track that's slowly becoming available it should be a doddle.

[sulzer71]

Just now, Porcy Mane said:

 

Go for it. With diesels and the EM ready to plonk track that's slowly becoming available it should be a doddle.

I'm just looking into cost/what's involved in the conversion of loco's/stock , my current collection consists of Bachmann 20s/24's , Heljan 26s/27s/Railbuses , Suttons 24s (Easily done by buying the wheelsets from Phil) and mostly Bachmann MK1 coaching stock , most of these locos are awaiting major surgery as it is so really it's just another 'to do' on the list for each one

[w124bob]

5 hours ago, sulzer71 said:

@w124bob What did you use for the fuel gauge if you don't mind me asking?

If you are using 24137 as a starting point then that has the fuel gauge already, a small number of 25/0's did not get a fuel gauge, 004/6 and 10. Also note that 25016 to 025 had a large fuel tank, that can be modelled as shown with my version of 5170. This highlights another area of variation, the cab roof. I got this wrong on 5170, it got a replacement at on end. This had the latter angled sides or wings as seen in all 25's from 026 onwards, my loco has now been renumbered to 5172. Derbysulzers and Flickr are essential for research.

Edited January 13, 2022 by w124bob

[sulzer71]

13 hours ago, w124bob said:

If you are using 24137 as a starting point then that has the fuel gauge already, a small number of 25/0's did not get a fuel gauge, 004/6 and 10. Also note that 25016 to 025 had a large fuel tank, that can be modelled as shown with my version of 5170. This highlights another area of variation, the cab roof. I got this wrong on 5170, it got a replacement at on end. This had the latter angled sides or wings as seen in all 25's from 026 onwards, my loco has now been renumbered to 5172. Derbysulzers and Flickr are essential for research.

I've got 24137 which I'll be turning into  a 25/0 in the batch 016-025 using the chassis off a 24035 which will be here today although I haven't decided on which one , finding one that doesn't have the fuel gauge in that batch would be the easiest option but so far every pic I've seen they seem to have a gauge (BTW it needs to be one that spent time in Scotland during the late 70s/early 80's) , time for a little more research! 

[Enterprisingwestern]

22 hours ago, sulzer71 said:

I'm just looking into cost/what's involved in the conversion of loco's/stock , my current collection consists of Bachmann 20s/24's , Heljan 26s/27s/Railbuses , Suttons 24s (Easily done by buying the wheelsets from Phil) and mostly Bachmann MK1 coaching stock , most of these locos are awaiting major surgery as it is so really it's just another 'to do' on the list for each one

 

Bachmann, and indeed most other RTR models, benefit from, but don't always need the outside faces of the wheels thinning down a tad, it helps with fidelity of the wheel, but also can come in handy if the inside of the bogie frames/solebars are a bit narrow to give you a bit more elbow room.

Turn away now Porcy!

I thin the outside faces down on the wheels by rubbing them on emrey cloth type stuff as I don't possess a lathe, Spain hasn't discovered spirit levels yet, so lathes are a few years away!

By re-using existing wheels wherever possible, it helps keep the costs down.

 

Mike.

[sulzer71]

7 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Bachmann, and indeed most other RTR models, benefit from, but don't always need the outside faces of the wheels thinning down a tad, it helps with fidelity of the wheel, but also can come in handy if the inside of the bogie frames/solebars are a bit narrow to give you a bit more elbow room.

Turn away now Porcy!

I thin the outside faces down on the wheels by rubbing them on emrey cloth type stuff as I don't possess a lathe, Spain hasn't discovered spirit levels yet, so lathes are a few years away!

By re-using existing wheels wherever possible, it helps keep the costs down.

 

Mike.

Thanks Mike , I'll keep this in mind

[Phil Bullock]

14 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Bachmann, and indeed most other RTR models, benefit from, but don't always need the outside faces of the wheels thinning down a tad, it helps with fidelity of the wheel, but also can come in handy if the inside of the bogie frames/solebars are a bit narrow to give you a bit more elbow room.

Turn away now Porcy!

I thin the outside faces down on the wheels by rubbing them on emrey cloth type stuff as I don't possess a lathe, Spain hasn't discovered spirit levels yet, so lathes are a few years away!

By re-using existing wheels wherever possible, it helps keep the costs down.

 

Mike.

There speaks a true Yorkshireman! 

[Porcy Mane]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Turn away now Porcy!

 

Arghhhhhhhh. I cannot turn the other cheek.  (I've just had, "I love SLW" tattooed on it!)

 

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

I thin the outside faces down on the wheels by rubbing them on emrey cloth type stuff as I don't possess a lathe, Spain hasn't discovered spirit levels yet, so lathes are a few years away!

 

Taking anything of the front of the Bachmann wheels will noticeably alter their look. Whether you could see it behind the side-frames is another matter. The apex of the semi circular "hump" around the stress holes is level with the outside of the tyre on the B'mann wheel. Far less effort and time consuming to thin the pull rods.

 

 

On thing to note is the later Bachmann 24 has a smaller diameter final drive pinion with a different number of teeth.  Standard Bachmann wheel-sets and Ultrascale P4's shown in the pic.

 

Be warned, or I'll send you a drawing!

 

Hoping your reservoir is filled to over flowing.  (I saw it on a 1960's spy flick the other week)

Edited January 14, 2022 by Porcy Mane

[sulzer71]

39 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

Arghhhhhhhh. I cannot turn the other cheek.  (I've just had, "I love SLW" tattooed on it!)

 

 

Taking anything of the front of the Bachmann wheels will noticeably alter their look. Whether you could see it behind the side-frames is another matter. The apex of the semi circular "hump" around the stress holes is level with the outside of the tyre on the B'mann wheel. Far less effort and time consuming to thin the pull rods.

 

 

On thing to note is the later Bachmann 24 has a smaller diameter final drive pinion with a different number of teeth.  Standard Bachmann wheel-sets and Ultrascale P4's shown in the pic.

 

Be warned, or I'll send you a drawing!

 

Hoping your reservoir is filled to over flowing.  (I saw it on a 1960's spy flick the other week)

Have you by any chance compared the newer Baccy 24 wheels to EM gauged SLW wheels?

[Porcy Mane]

6 minutes ago, sulzer71 said:

Have you by any chance compared the newer Baccy 24 wheels to EM gauged SLW wheels?

 Yep! For P4.

 

SLW wheels and axles use an offset final drive pinion.

 

They would now be my preferred wheel-sets for P4 conversions but I have a shed load of Ultrascales. The Ultrascales for early Bachmann 24/25's need altering slightly to fit the newer Bachmann 24's & 24/1's.

 

I haven't done an EM conversion using my SLW EM wheelsets but it should be possible by substituting the SLW pinion with the Bachmann final drive pinion. You would also need to swap bearings.

I don't think it would be worth the extra effort and expense to use SLW wheel-sets for an EM conversion as both manufactures wheels are of identical width, so the pull rods still need thinning.

Due to narrower wheels/tyres being used with P4 the pull rods don't require as much material being removed to obtain clearance.

 

Hth,

P

[sulzer71]

5 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 Yep! For P4.

 

SLW wheels and axles use an offset final drive pinion.

 

They would now be my preferred wheel-sets for P4 conversions but I have a shed load of Ultrascales. The Ultrascales for early Bachmann 24/25's need altering slightly to fit the newer Bachmann 24's & 24/1's.

 

I haven't done an EM conversion using my SLW EM wheelsets but it should be possible by substituting the SLW pinion with the Bachmann final drive pinion. You would also need to swap bearings.

I don't think it would be worth the extra effort and expense to use SLW wheel-sets for an EM conversion as both manufactures wheels are of identical width, so the pull rods still need thinning.

Due to narrower wheels/tyres being used with P4 the pull rods don't require as much material being removed to obtain clearance.

 

Hth,

P

Thanks @Porcy Mane , I'm just looking at all avenues and if I go down the EM route I would be ordering wheelsets for all the SLW 24s I have so I thought it could be an option

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Just for completeness, the Ultrascale conversion set for the previous incarnation of the 24/25 doesn't fit the new version.

 

Mike.

[Porcy Mane]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Just for completeness, the Ultrascale conversion set for the previous incarnation of the 24/25 doesn't fit the new version.

 

But as I said above, it does if you are prepared to swap pinions & bearings. You also need to remove approx. 0.5 to 0.7 mm from the inside of the Ultrascale wheel boss. No lathe required for this.

I used the Ultrascale economy conversion set and just plinked the ultrascale wheels onto the Bachmann axles.

[sulzer71]

On 14/01/2022 at 21:15, Porcy Mane said:

 

But as I said above, it does if you are prepared to swap pinions & bearings. You also need to remove approx. 0.5 to 0.7 mm from the inside of the Ultrascale wheel boss. No lathe required for this.

I used the Ultrascale economy conversion set and just plinked the ultrascale wheels onto the Bachmann axles.

It's starting to sound like to much hassle to go EM 

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 minutes ago, sulzer71 said:

It's starting to sound like to much hassle to go EM 

 

I'm afraid it goes with the territory. ready to plonk EM items are very thin on the ground.

It's no great hassle at all really, just basic modelling, hell, if I can do it anyone can!

 

Mike.

[sulzer71]

This may be of interest to some of you , whilst I had a couple of these locos in many pieces I discovered that if you are willing to sacrifice the switches in the tanks and 'lop off' the support that holds them a Rail Exclusive Baby Boomer speaker (other speakers are available) removed from an SLW 24  fits very snugly in the tank facing down through the hole left by the switches , this was achieved by popping the end of the tank off using my finger nail , on further inspection of some of the other fuel/water tanks removed from other New Tooling Bachmann 24/0s + 24/1s the speaker should fit into most of them if not all but be advised some of the tank ends were stuck on quite firmly , also worthy of note is that the tanks aren't the easiest to remove and usually results in damage to the fitting pegs due to them being firmly glued in so tanks my require a spot of glue to refit 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by sulzer71