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Standard 4MT 2-6-0


Crepello

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
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I bought one of these last week, and after having a look at it, it does appear that romiley midland's idea seems to be the best solution, although I think I'll make a couple of slight alterations. First, get rid of the tender buffers completely to close the gap up even more. The other intention is to use the springs between loco and tender to transfer the power, rather than epoxying two wires to the new plasticard coupler. I'm currently trying to think of ways to do this. It'll probably end up with the loco and tender being permanently connected, but that doesn't really matter.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Got the 4mt with BR2 tender this morning also got the 3mt (No 28) :D both seem to run o.k next job is to run them in then purchase a couple of chips, the 4mt still has that huge gap to the loco/tender .

 

mr B

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I got my BR2 tendered loco a couple of days back and have to say it's an excellent model.

 

Runs very smoothly straight from the box and after a couple of hours running in was much better again. The tender has a good level of weighting all around the motor, with the worm shortened from that used in the Jubilee/Scot/5 and space devoted to weight. Front two wheels on tender have pickups and these work very well so much so that the tender will run happily on its own.

 

Haulage capacity for the size of tender seems very impressive to me - I've had it towing 58 wagons, with capacity to spare (no slippage at that level).

 

One of the best yet from Bachmann IMHO. I'll just need to shorten that loco-tender gap a bit with a custom drawbar.

 

Cheers,

Alan

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I got my BR2 tendered loco a couple of days back and have to say it's an excellent model.

 

Runs very smoothly straight from the box and after a couple of hours running in was much better again. The tender has a good level of weighting all around the motor, with the worm shortened from that used in the Jubilee/Scot/5 and space devoted to weight. Front two wheels on tender have pickups and these work very well so much so that the tender will run happily on its own.

 

Haulage capacity for the size of tender seems very impressive to me - I've had it towing 58 wagons, with capacity to spare (no slippage at that level).

 

One of the best yet from Bachmann IMHO. I'll just need to shorten that loco-tender gap a bit with a custom drawbar.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Hi Alan

Will be interesting to see how you tackle the tender gap issue, I know a solution has already been proposed so I'll look out for what you come up with.

 

I've got one on order (must be imminent) you see!!

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I have got a BR1B tendered variant when fist released and got my BR2 one last Friday.

 

The BR2 one in particular is a superb little loco, the smaller tender being much more in proportion to the loco just as on the real thing to my mind. Heaulage for such a small loco is excellent and it is a beautifully smooth runner. My second one has maybe four hours of running under it's wheels now, the first a fair bit more.

 

I fitted the shorter Drawbar to both, and while the loco-tender gap is still maybe a little wide it is acceptable to me.

 

Looking at the design of the Drawbar with the sprung wire power transfer integral to it, I am struggling to see how it could actually be made much shorter while still rtetaining the necessary "spring" in the said wires and having some means to effectively retain them in the centre. I will be interested to see people's solutions, but mine are fine just as they are!

 

Roy

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know how I intend to do it, just have not had time to actually get to it yet and post!

 

Regards,

Alan

 

Anyone else had any thoughts about closing up the cab-tender gap?

 

My 76020 just arrived and its a great model in every way other than this huuuuugeeeee gap!! Wouldn't want to be an N gauge footplate crew on that particular loco :)

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Anyone else had any thoughts about closing up the cab-tender gap?

 

My 76020 just arrived and its a great model in every way other than this huuuuugeeeee gap!! Wouldn't want to be an N gauge footplate crew on that particular loco :)

 

Have you swapped the drawbar for the shorter one included? While not perfect it is a big improvement and worth the few minutes it takes to do it.

 

Cheers

 

Roy

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*wonders if there'll be a 2mm FS rewheel kit*

 

There has been talk about similar items but trials seem to suggest that this reduces the haulage capacity. Talk is more around replacement chassis to resolve this.

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Have you swapped the drawbar for the shorter one included? While not perfect it is a big improvement and worth the few minutes it takes to do it.

 

Cheers

 

Roy

 

I agree. It has vastly improved my own, and it still goes round the 10.5 inch radius curves on the inside line of the club layout. My own is end to end with large radius points so no problem on that score.

 

Colin

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Have you swapped the drawbar for the shorter one included? While not perfect it is a big improvement and worth the few minutes it takes to do it.

 

Cheers

 

Roy

Thanks Roy

 

To be honest I haven't even opened the bag yet. I still haven't had a chance to run it in even as the layout is down for wiring work at the mo.

 

I'll be sure to try that anyway.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi guys

 

I am having a problem with me locomotive. Got it out of the box and for about 3 second it ran perfectly, then slows to a constant crawl, I've tried to shorter coupling bar and same problem.

 

I tried my other Graham Farish controller... same problem. My other engines are fine and can run perfectly, but this seems to run for about 3 seconds then just crawls along, with sudden jolts.

 

Other than that it's a fine model, beautifully rendered even with the dredded void between the tender & loco.

 

But can anyone indentify the problem?

 

cheers

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Some need the loco pickups adjusting to make sure they are making good contact.

 

However it may just be needing a run in - sometimes they can be sticky out of the box. If not then it sounds like something is tight and needing lubrication - maybe worth also oiling the gears.

 

Check if it happens at one specific point on a wheel rotation (either loco or tender) - if it does it may be something in the drive at that point, or valve gear catching (less likely as if this happened the loco would lock up but the tender would continue to push it along at a similar speed).

 

Check also that when you look underneath the tender all the little stub axles are in place and none are sticking out (I think someone found this on this list).

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Hi guys

 

I am having a problem with me locomotive. Got it out of the box and for about 3 second it ran perfectly, then slows to a constant crawl, I've tried to shorter coupling bar and same problem.

 

I tried my other Graham Farish controller... same problem. My other engines are fine and can run perfectly, but this seems to run for about 3 seconds then just crawls along, with sudden jolts.

 

Other than that it's a fine model, beautifully rendered even with the dredded void between the tender & loco.

 

But can anyone indentify the problem?

 

cheers

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Mine started well, except for the huge gap. It ran in with no problems so I put the short drawbar on. Having then run another couple of hours all appeared fine so I renumbered it to 76049, a West Auckland/Kirby Stephen one. At some time in the future I'll shorten the drawbar further and rehang the cab doors on the tender- correct for 76049.

 

HOWEVER it then went for exhibition duty at Braustone working on Graham Dean's Haltwhistle layout, and together with his 4MT didn't last the day, both taking exception to dead frogs and reverse curves in the fiddle yard and repeatedly stalling at the least accessible spot. Wheel cleaning had little effect.

 

Having got it home and thoroughly cleaned the wheels again it runs smoothly again- or at least the tender does! The loco has taken to locking up randomly. Unlike my infamous Jubilee which needed the genius of Dr Al to fix this locks up with the wheels at random positions and never the same one twice.

 

Adding a large dollop of Blu-tack to the top (about 10 grammes of it) seems to solve the problem. It has now run for an hour without locking. Could the problem of Bachmann's locos tending to lock up be in part because they just aren't heavy enough? And where do I add weight to replace the blu-tack?

 

Les

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Having got it home and thoroughly cleaned the wheels again it runs smoothly again- or at least the tender does! The loco has taken to locking up randomly. Unlike my infamous Jubilee which needed the genius of Dr Al to fix this locks up with the wheels at random positions and never the same one twice.

 

I've sent you a couple of messages on the N gauge list about this as some pointers!

 

Cheers,

Alan

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Cheers Alan

 

Yeah the loco wheels lock up too but that's okay, they do it on my OO gauge stuff.

 

One further point to add, I forgot to mention that it also completely stalls up too, on top of the running slowly and jolting.

 

I'll have a look at the contacts and the lubrication though.

 

Check also nebnoswal's picture on p2 of this thread - it shows the problem of a stub axle sliding out in transit. This is dead easy to fix by simply sliding it back in. If the gear has moved then you may need to rotate the nearby wheelset back and forth to get it back into place.

 

If this situation has happened and the gear has fallen out and is missing then send the loco back!

 

I think it's probably the least likely scenario that a stub has slid out though!

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

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Following advice from Dr Al and others I checked for squashed-together motion- not the cause. Then I applied a drop of oil to each of the motion rivets and looked for a difference, running it for a couple of laps each time (towed by another loco). I don't want to wear wheel flats in so two laps totalling 25 feet I felt should be enough.

 

By the FOURTH drop of oil, an excessive amount under most circumstances, it stayed free except for an occasional lock up at a corner. However it still hestitated at every turn. So following other advice I've had I put the loco into an old Atlas box upside down as a cradle and took the baseplate off.

 

I always understood the point of pickups is that they touch the surface they are supposed to pick up from. TWO did, both on the same side of the loco, which might explain its preference for left corners over right ones. Adjusting so all were touching brought the locking up back big time. I've settled for the front pair touching the wheels and the others waving in the general direction and just touching on bends. The loco now runs reasonably smoothly though not slowly and the locking up has gone (at least for now). It strill isn't that good on pointwork, being more hesitant than a 4P chassis I have with traction tyres on the rear drivers.

 

However another daft idea occured to me to experiment with- was anyone aware that apart from derailing the centre driving wheels the 4MT will go round Tomix tramway curves, even with the short drawbar fitted? The tender stays on the track. Perhaps the distance to the tender is substantially more than needed for tight curves.

 

Les

 

 

 

 

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[However another daft idea occured to me to experiment with- was anyone aware that apart from derailing the centre driving wheels the 4MT will go round Tomix tramway curves, even with the short drawbar fitted? The tender stays on the track. Perhaps the distance to the tender is substantially more than needed for tight curves.

 

Les

 

Hi Les

 

It is definitely the case, with the shorter drawbar 9 inch radius curves are no problem at all. I think from a converstation I had at the N Gauge Show with Colin Allbright there was some frustration on the part of Bachmann that the Chinese engineer then involved in the design was so insistent on such long drawbars.

 

Regards

 

Roy

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