The new V2 ep

[No Decorum]

6 hours ago, rogerzilla said:

It's the loco I'd most like to see running again.  They could just keep the cracked monobloc in the museum and make a new one.  Or did they look better with outside steam pipes?  Tricky choice.

Just my own opinion but I think they look sleeker with no outside steam pipes. I have to accept, though, that the individual castings associated with the outside pipes are more practical.

[rembrow]

Rails have discounted the retail price of their dedicated V2s from Bachmann by 22% for dc and dcc versions. eg. Durham Light Infantry in BR late crest now £179.95.

Edited March 4, 2023 by rembrow

[rembrow]

Must have been a flash sale, now gone back to original price. I managed to get BR green Durham Light Infantry, which is the type I wanted without the long steam pipes to the cylinders.

[davidw]

56 minutes ago, rembrow said:

Must have been a flash sale, now gone back to original price. I managed to get BR green Durham Light Infantry, which is the type I wanted without the long steam pipes to the cylinders.

It was a weekend only - I couldn't raise the cash ie the wife would have chased me with gun!

[rembrow]

45 minutes ago, davidw said:

It was a weekend only - I couldn't raise the cash ie the wife would have chased me with gun!

I was lucky then. Have been waiting to see if the Rails versions came down in price, but hadn't checked in weeks until last weekend.

[rogerzilla]

The older 31-550B is still good for about half the price, but you must get that particular model and no other 31- prefix V2.  It's the only one without a split chassis.  Main disadvantage is that it's Green Arrow "as preserved" so has OLE flashes.  You would want to erase these for a period layout, if it bothered you.

[Hilux5972]

What’s everyone’s thoughts on the new V2? Locomotion has some Green Arrows back in stock and I’m thinking of getting one. I remember there was some quandary when they were released about not being 100% new tooling or am I misremembering that? 

[31A]

12 minutes ago, Hilux5972 said:

What’s everyone’s thoughts on the new V2? Locomotion has some Green Arrows back in stock and I’m thinking of getting one. I remember there was some quandary when they were released about not being 100% new tooling or am I misremembering that? 

 

Very pleased with my two!  They look much more like V2s than the old model.  Possibly some bits of the motion look as though they might have been carried over from the original model.

 

Beware if they're the Locomotion model of Green Arrow in BR livery, as I think the tender is only suitable for the loco in that livery as it ran in preservation.  It has the standard 4200 gallon tender which Green Arrow had when new and regained when it was restored (to LNER condition) after withdrawal; it was later repainted by the NRM into BR livery before it was 'retired' but retained the original type of tender.  Pictures I've seen of it when running in BR days show it with a 'high fronted' 4200 gall. tender (which Bachmann have also made, for their BR liveried models).

 

[Hilux5972]

Thanks Steve. Glad to hear it’s just about all new. Might have to take the plunge I think. 

[45568]

20 minutes ago, Hilux5972 said:

Thanks Steve. Glad to hear it’s just about all new. Might have to take the plunge I think. 

Rails of Sheffield have occasional good discounts on the V2, worth keeping an eye out. This has resulted in me ending up with four, all variants of the RoS BR Green model with no steampipes, (which represents the majority of the class in BR days).

 

Nameplates/numbers by Fox.

Splendid performers, which will handle a heavy train with ease. Recommended!

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

 

[Chas Levin]

Has anyone experimented with increasing the sideplay on the drivers to allow these excellent looking locos to go round slightly tighter curves?

Edited June 13, 2023 by Chas Levin

[Guardian]

As any older images seem to have disappeared, some images of the very nice V 2 no. 4791 in LNER livery

 

LNER V2 no. 4791. Bachmann 35-200/SF.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Guardian

[Chas Levin]

22 hours ago, Guardian said:

As any older images seem to have disappeared, some images of the very nice V 2 no. 4791 in LNER livery

 

LNER V2 no. 4791. Bachmann 35-200/SF.

 

 

Lovely photos Guardian and I'd agree it's a superb looking loco! This is the livry version I have too, and the one I was asking in the post previosu to yours about modifying so it can go round tighter curves.

I had initially thought it was the front pony truck fouling the cylinders but I'm moving towards suspecting it's just the long wheelbase, in particular the gap between the middle and rear driver pairs...🤔

[MikeParkin65]

2 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

 

Lovely photos Guardian and I'd agree it's a superb looking loco! This is the livry version I have too, and the one I was asking in the post previosu to yours about modifying so it can go round tighter curves.

I had initially thought it was the front pony truck fouling the cylinders but I'm moving towards suspecting it's just the long wheelbase, in particular the gap between the middle and rear driver pairs...🤔

How tight a curve are you trying to get to go round - believe they are designed for radius 2 which is pretty tight in itself!

[Chas Levin]

6 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

How tight a curve are you trying to get to go round - believe they are designed for radius 2 which is pretty tight in itself!

Hello Mike, thanks for your reply - I should have been clearer: it is indeed R2 and the loco will do it, but not as freely and smoothly as going straight and you can see there's a small amount of binding occurring. I'd like to give it a smidge more wiggle room.

 

I realise it probably just requires dismantling the wheels, motion etc and losing a spacing washer or two, or introducing some extra clearance on one or two driving axles, perhaps by taking a little material off bearing or frame surfaces; I just wondered if anyone else had done it on this particular chassis and could advise that a particular place was a good one to start, or that there is a spacing washer that'll do it. 

 

I guess I'm a little nervous of plunging into a fairly pricey loco! I haven't done a grat deal of valve motion RTR dismantling and the only loco kits I've so far built have been inside cylinder, with simple conn rods, so the sight of all that moving metal work is a little daunting!

 

I do know it's the driving axles though, having established that by running it with the front pony truck removed.

[MikeParkin65]

1 minute ago, Chas Levin said:

Hello Mike, thanks for your reply - I should have been clearer: it is indeed R2 and the loco will do it, but not as freely and smoothly as going straight and you can see there's a small amount of binding occurring. I'd like to give it a smidge more wiggle room.

 

I realise it probably just requires dismantling the wheels, motion etc and losing a spacing washer or two, or introducing some extra clearance on one or two driving axles, perhaps by taking a little material off bearing or frame surfaces; I just wondered if anyone else had done it on this particular chassis and could advise that a particular place was a good one to start, or that there is a spacing washer that'll do it. 

 

I guess I'm a little nervous of plunging into a fairly pricey loco! I haven't done a grat deal of valve motion RTR dismantling and the only loco kits I've so far built have been inside cylinder, with simple conn rods, so the sight of all that moving metal work is a little daunting!

 

I do know it's the driving axles though, having established that by running it with the front pony truck removed.

Definitely no washers on any of the axles, they are fixed in the chassis and run in bearings. Changing the wheel spacing on an axle will put the wheel out of gauge (assuming the back to back is correctly set now - you should perhaps measure that first). Probably check the front pony first as that's the easiest.  Does the model have the factory fitted flangeless rear pony wheel fitted? The model is supplied with an alternative flanged wheel but that will restrict its ability to run around curves (I've a minimum 30 'inch curve and it will traverse that with the flanged wheel). Up thread people have reported problems with the tender which is on a cam coupling to the loco (on my list of things to remove on my V2) - certainly it 'crabs' when running forwards with a train in tow. 

 

The other thing to check of course is your permanent way - have you got a track issue? I know my layout has had to have several areas improved as a result of new models with less toy like clearances highlighting issues. As you say its an expensive model  - I'd be reluctant to start dismantling the mechanism and modifying without a definite fault identified. Good luck :)

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

On 05/07/2023 at 13:47, MikeParkin65 said:

Does the model have the factory fitted flangeless rear pony wheel fitted? The model is supplied with an alternative flanged wheel but that will restrict its ability to run around curves (I've a minimum 30 'inch curve and it will traverse that with the flanged wheel). Up thread people have reported problems with the tender which is on a cam coupling to the loco (on my list of things to remove on my V2) - certainly it 'crabs' when running forwards with a train in tow. 

I haven't tested exhaustively, but if the flanged Cartazzi truck wheelset is fitted it won't go round set track curves reliably.

 

The camming loco to tender foul-up is a 'bad actor', and would be my top suspect. Since the loco conveniently runs without the tender attached, that's a  quick and easy thing to test.

 

I wrote to Bachmann about the poor performance of the camming link which fails in every way possible, recommending they ditch it as soon as possible; and received a polite reply. Easy to rip out and replace with a DIY version of Bach's simple drawbar through the drag box apertures. How they thought the camming device was in any way an improvement over their simple drawbar in the right place, with a user adjustable screw locked slide to optimise spacing for an owner's layout I cannot imagine: that was the class act in RTR OO loco to tender linkage!

[trevor7598]

I was put off purchasing Bachmann's V2 after reading ( and hearing ) of the troublesome

loco to tender coupling. Owning two Bachmann N moguls with their derailing tenders,

I don't want to go there again. Also my eye is always drawn to the plug in smokebox

door and the subsequent join around the smoke box.

[micklner]

Not helped by Bachmann's LNER LIvery version using overwide lining  on the Cab/Firebox join trying to hide the poor moulding and other body faults e.g Cab Windows. Valve Gear etc.

Edited July 6, 2023 by micklner

[Chas Levin]

Thanks @MikeParkin65 for the further reply; I can confirm that I fitted the flangeless Cartazzi truck wheels from the start so it's not them, and I can also eliminate the front pony truck as I've run the loco with it removed and still had the problem.

 

However, I hadn't thought of it possibly being to do with the tender crabbing and I didn;t realise it'll run without the tender in place - thanks @34theletterbetweenB&D for the suggestion I'll try that out...

[zr2498]

I did not know anything about the 'crabbing' until just reading through this thread. I have only recently commissioned a pair of V2s, and had not noticed the crabbing. But on one V2 I had to strip down and correct the quartering on two pairs of wheels as binding (one per rev'), was the issue.

As supplied, there is a pair of washers only on the front drivers. I have added another pair of washers onto the centre drivers, as too much side-play. I noticed the gearing almost out of mesh with the excessive side-play of the driven wheels.

 

I have added sound - described on separate thread:

 

 

[Mad McCann]

Apologies if this has been mentioned alread in a long thread, but I do think Bachmann are missing out by seemingly sticking to livery runs in specific configurations.

Apart from the Rails Special Edition, they don't appear to be covering late crest green with the monobloc version and there do seem to be a few years between runs these days.

I suspect I'm going to have to wait for further flash sales before I can add my versions of 813 and 919 to the St Clements roster.

 

Davy.

[Mad McCann]

The reason I asked is down to the layout being what it is.

Dundee and Ferryhill V2s would have been regular visitors back in the day, to say nothing of their St Margaret's sisters.

I have two already but like A2s, I can see more will be of use. 

 

Davy.

[Mad McCann]

I did some fine adjustment to the finish on '970 and I'm much happier with it. Having just laid the track on the new layout, I decided to have a play with potential vantage points the other night.

She's certainly looking the part in a (semi-scenic) setting.

[Chas Levin]

On 06/07/2023 at 17:18, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

The camming loco to tender foul-up is a 'bad actor', and would be my top suspect. Since the loco conveniently runs without the tender attached, that's a  quick and easy thing to test.

 

I wrote to Bachmann about the poor performance of the camming link which fails in every way possible, recommending they ditch it as soon as possible; and received a polite reply. Easy to rip out and replace with a DIY version of Bach's simple drawbar through the drag box apertures. How they thought the camming device was in any way an improvement over their simple drawbar in the right place, with a user adjustable screw locked slide to optimise spacing for an owner's layout I cannot imagine: that was the class act in RTR OO loco to tender linkage!

 

Hello, finally replying properly to your suggestion of the loco-to-tender link causing the difficulty on R2 curves, because my V2 had been put to one side for various other projects and unrelated events and I've only just tested the idea by running the loco without the tender attached... and guess what? It is that blinking fancy drawbar gadget that's causing the binding/crabbing!! With the loco running on its own it's absolutely fine round curves, points etc, no trace of the problem: re-attach the tender and the problem returns. I can't quite tell exactly what's happening, but one possible theory I have so far is that somehow, the sprung drawbar assembly is pulling the tender up so close to the loco that it's fouling the cab fallplate, and/or pushing the rear of the loco outwards at the curve in the rails.

 

Anyway, thank you for suggesting this: I'd read about the connector causing issues in straight running but it hadn;t occurred to me thsat it might also be doing this.

 

Next job is to remove and replace it...