Bachmann B1 LNER 1059 Loco Traction Tyres

[TyBryn]

I bought a Bachman B1in LNER black with ringfield motor driving the rearmost driving wheels which should have traction tyres  but mine are missing.  This makes the loco give a whiring sound when in motion and the driven wheels are a little wobbly.  I would like to fit new tyres but I can't find any.  Can anyone help please?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

That's the original Replica Railways design mechanism. Worth a look at their site for spares.

http://www.replicarailways.co.uk/

[The Johnster]

If you can't find any, there's an American product called Frog Snot or something like that. which comes in a tube and you fill the groove in the wheel with it.  You can then trim it down with an Exacto so that it doesn't stand proud of the groove and all the wheels sit properly on the railheads.  I don't like traction tyres, because they often interfere with the running and deny the possibility of pickup on that wheelset, and I usually suggest replacing the wheel with an ungrooved one despite the loss of haulage, but there is little alternative on this model, on which the tyre wheelset is also the main drive geared set. 

[TyBryn]

Many thanks to both of you for your prompt replies.  Although it says Bachmann on the baseplate I am now pretty sure the loco is from Replica.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The Replica product was produced by Kader for Replica using their Bachmann brand, before they had entered the UK market under that name.

[Butler Henderson]

1990 produced model - Replica ref 11013

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

21 hours ago, TyBryn said:

I am now pretty sure the loco is from Replica.

And it may interest you to know, that in the late Iain Rice's opinion, as matters then stood in RTR OO in the early 1990s, the Replica B1 was as good a model as could be had in terms of exterior appearance. The mechanism, not so good, dated back to Mainline's practise of the 1970s, all of which product was in the 'looks well, mechanism the weak spot' category.

 

Thirty years on, and after two successive Bachmann mechanism upgrades, this B1remains in their catalogue, despite the introduction of a very much more recent high grade Hornby tooling which is able to represent siginificant variatitions within this class.

[DCB]

I don't think running these Mainline type chassis without traction tyres is a good idea.   The Mainline / early Bachmann  mechanism is truly awful but compared to contemporary Hornby mechs it made a lot of sense, like being a fraction of the cost.
The concept seems to be the drive and traction were all on the rear axle which allowed the axles and rods to wobble around and still get round 1st radius curves.  They will happily haul 4 Mk1s with no coupling rods fitted, which is one more than most ever hauled.   Without the tyres it drives on the other axles and that causes the flop in the axles and valve gear and the nickname of "Limping Lulu"  Likewise when loads exceed 4 Mk1s and my standard rakes are 7 Mk1s even with tyres there is drive through the coupling rods making the wheels rock in the axle slots and wear the baseplates, and work themselves loose on the axles. Running without the tyres speeds up this wear which ends with tangled valve gear and wheels falling off.

I am going to fit a 1960s Triang Chassis to mine, re drilled to take 1990s B17 rods.  It won't look as good in the display cabinet but will hopefully pull trains

[The Johnster]

Running the chassis without the tyres and not replacing the wheel with a plain one also risks derailment on facing points as the groove ‘picks up’ on the blade. This will be particularly evident where the track is not absolutely level and joined absolutely perfectly to the adjoining piece.