MrWolf Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Hopefully someone else out there has removed the body shell from a Bachmann 45XX prairie tank? I have one, cat. No. 32-129 and there doesn't appear to be any advice in the paperwork that accompanies the model on how to do this. Could anyone out there advise please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) If I remember correctly there is a screw at each end under the pony wheels. Been a while since I had mine apart though. Found this which may be of use. http://www.lendonsmodelshop.co.uk/pdf/Bachmann OO Service Sheets/Class 45xx.pdf Jason Edited January 27, 2020 by Steamport Southport Added link 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 7 hours ago, Steamport Southport said: If I remember correctly there is a screw at each end under the pony wheels... The screws labelled 125-013 on the diagram. It took Bachmann quite a while to realise that a little more guidance on body removal than 'work it out for yourself from the enclosed assembly diagram' might be a good plan! Latterly the documentation is much improved, with clear identification of such things. There was a summary list of guidance to body securing screw positions on the earlier model introductions, compiled by Bachmann and available on their site, but I cannot now locate it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 27, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 27, 2020 Turn the loco upside down. Remove the pony and radial truck screws (125-013) and put them in a lump of Blutac or similar for safe keeping, and put the pony and radial truck (the front and back wheel assemblies) aside. The chassis should now be removable with a little careful jiggling. If it is not coming as easily as you are comfortable with, a small flat bladed screwdriver can be used to get under the chassis block as a lever. Handle the chassis carefully and avoid holding it by the connecting or coupling rods, or the slide bars. It’ll come out in one piece. 4575 is exactly the same in this respect. May we ask what you want to take the top off for? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 Thanks all for your help on this. I didn't want to be dislodging anything that doesn't need to be by going for the obvious looking screws. Why am I doing this? I was lucky enough to get a 45XX in very good condition very cheaply. The only thing stopping me from buying it was the BR black livery. I then found a brand new body in prewar Great Western livery for half the price of the BR liveried bodies. Even with the postage it cost less than an example in the early livery that had stripped threads in the mountings (so that the body fell off!) and a damn sight cheaper than those offered at exhibitions and swapmeets. So I ordered a new body and bought the 45XX. Forgetting of course, that removal is no longer a matter of a 2BA screw down the chimney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 28, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 28, 2020 Ah, so at least your chassis runs properly and there aren’t any other issues to worry about. It is a straightforward body swap. You can obtain the service sheet for the model vas a free pdf download from Bachmann should you need to; Hornby do this as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 It runs very smoothly, none of the usual glitches, doesn't sound like a worn out full size WD and no signs so far that the chassis is turning to Weetabix. I'll get the body off it and have a better look. I will have a look at the service sheets, thanks. Are there any particular faults with this model? It would be useful to find such information on all of my locomotives to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 28, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 28, 2020 I have one of these and a 4575, same thing as far as chassis/mech is concerned. Both run beautifully, smooth and quiet and up to hauling anything on my BLT, and very good slow running as well. I’ve had no trouble with them and am not aware of any issues others may have had. My biggest moan is the difficulty of removing the plastic coal; I like to use real coal and sometimes want to model the bunkers half or quarter full. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 13 hours ago, The Johnster said: I have one of these and a 4575, same thing as far as chassis/mech is concerned. Both run beautifully, smooth and quiet and up to hauling anything on my BLT, and very good slow running as well. I’ve had no trouble with them and am not aware of any issues others may have had. My biggest moan is the difficulty of removing the plastic coal; I like to use real coal and sometimes want to model the bunkers half or quarter full. That seems to be a problem with the majority of rtr steam locomotives. It could be worse, you could be trying to coal up something tender drive. I feel the same way about tender drive as I do about front wheel drive cars, it's against nature, against god and just plain wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 29, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2020 Agreed on all points except fwd for cars, my lycanthropically named buddy. But the coal can be more easily removed on, say, a Baccy pannier (though you have to replace the bunker front detail in the cab) as it is not integrally moulded with the bunker rear, which has a lamp iron shield you have to cut around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 Moulded coal is a relic of the days of one piece bodyshells with moulded on handrails. Whilst I appreciate the extra expense involved in the more complex tooling to create the bunker interior, when you consider the price of rtr locos now and the improvements in manufacturing techniques, I don't think it too big an ask. As for front wheel drive, I could go on for hours about the disadvantages, complications and general porkies we've been sold, but consider this: A quadruped is pushed along by more muscular rear legs, steered and supported by lighter, more agile forelegs. Back to bodyshells and coal, I have a couple of old tender drive Dean goods, possibly the worst offenders for having an entire South Wales slagheap in the tender. Other than that, they're pretty good detail wise. At some point I will have to figure out a way of converting them to loco drive, thereby losing the moulded mountain and the mechanism that sounds like it started life in a clockwork Snoopy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I don't think there has been a new British RTR model with tender drive released for well over twenty years. Probably a lot longer. The only ones left are the ex Airfix models in the Hornby range. Dean/2P/4F. Same goes for solid moulded coal. Only very old tooling has it, on newer models it is easily removable. Often by just turning the model upside down. On many of the more recent models it's where the speaker is meant to go for DCC sound. Someone even complained in the Duchess thread about the coal and didn't realise that the tender even has the coal pusher modelled under the removable coal.... Try popping a blade between the coal and the bunker/tender sides. Some of them need a bit of persuasion to come out. It's alright I won't comment further on the Dean Goods prototypical coal load. But Airfix got it correct.... http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html Me? I'm off to find some coal as my Grange needs a huge pile of it. Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 Thanks Jason, that article is really useful. It also reminds me of a project I had in mind 20 odd years ago. (I have only recently got back into railway modelling, so I hope you will forgive the outdated knowledge!) I thought it would be interesting to build a Great Bear tender behind a Hornby County 4-4-0 and create a County of Leicester. But doing away with the tender drive put me off! Did consider a powered bogie for a while. The moulded mountain on the Dean goods gets a reprieve and no doubt I will run it until it blows up. Gives me time to focus on other projects rather than worrying about what might happen. Looks like I need to scrounge a lump of coal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 Thank you everyone for your help and advice. The body is off, no damage, no dramas AND I didn't have to resort to Miss R. Riding Hoods' suggestion of how to get the body off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 Back together, nothing broken. I will have to do away with the orange lining on the cylinder lagging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd616 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Does anyone know where replacement body screws for the Bachmann 45xx Prarie can be obtained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now