Bachmann Blue Grey Mk1 Pullmans

[Theakerr]

The following is posted as information NOT a rant about Quality and should be treated as such. A friend of mine who has very well laid track recently took delivery of 4 Mk1 Pullmans. From day 1 they separated and came off the track. I agreed to try to fix them. The following is what I found (and corrected)

 

 

1. I incorrect coupling. It had a square end section. All the others had a rounded end so they would slide if they came into contact with the buffer beam

2. On several, the imitation coupling spigot protruded past the buffer beam such that it could have contacted the coupling.

3. All except 2 axles had narrow back to backs, a couple by more than 0.5mm

4. Several had out of square wheel sets. On one I had to replace the plastic joining spigot with one from a good wagon wheel.

Fortunately they are the same size

5. On almost all the bogies there was a greater or lesser amount of flashing on the bogie spindle spigot, so the bogie was not as free as it should be to move about its axis

6. On several the lighting wire had a small kink in it, so it was acting as a damper on the bogie, again restricting movement of the

bogie about its axis. I solved this by pulling the wire out into the bogie.

7. On one, the insulation tape on the wire inside the coach was misplaced such that it was pressing down on the bogie pivot top

inside the coach itself and resulting in a damping effect on the bogie. Again restricting movement about the bogie axis. The good

news is that the Pullmans interiors are very easy to get at.

8. The springs on two bogies were not connected to the coupling drawbar. The good news was that they were there.

 

I cannot say there was a single definitive solution to the running problems, although #s 8, 4 and 3 would have played a significant role.

 

We have yet to run these "reworked" coaches on my Friend's layout but they have successfully completed about 10 high speed circuits on a track where my own Mk1's gave me a bit of grief.

 

I also noticed that the lighting on one coach is much weaker than on the rest. I have not tried to figure this out yet and would appreciate feedback.

[Pennine MC]

4. Several had out of square wheel sets. On one I had to replace the plastic joining spigot with one from a good wagon wheel.

Fortunately they are the same size

 

That rings alarm bells with me, because they shouldnt be, and Bachmann havent used the wheelsets with plastic axles for a long time. Are these coaches new or secondhand?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Cancel warning bell. Bachmann collect current on these by the highly desireable split axle technique, on the pin points for low friction. Thus the return of the plastic m uff assembly. Also found in all their pilot plan MU's that I have seen.

 

Lower lighting level: check position of light pipes relative to source, this is assembly operative dependent.

 

Overall findings on these vehicles: again, looks to me like inexperienced assembly operatives. This is a perennial problem with low cost assembly in China (and elsewhere to be fair) in that the young ladies doing the work typically only stay 2 - 3 years, so the factory floor experiences 30%+ work force turnover per annum. And under the Chinese system the recruitment is an annual event, so there's no continuous feed of new recruits to bring up to speed who can be helped by the large majority around them being experienced. No, parts of your assembly operation may well be over 50% inexperienced after new year, because the experienced people have to be concentrated in the most demanding areas, and it takes a while for all the necessary capability in assembly to recover. The build volume still has to be knocked out...

 

Been there, got that sweat soaked T-shirt...

[Pennine MC]

Cancel warning bell. Bachmann collect current on these by the highly desireable split axle technique, on the pin points for low friction. Thus the return of the plastic m uff assembly. Also found in all their pilot plan MU's that I have seen.

 

Cheers Paul, my solo example is in a glass cabinet and I'd not thought of that.