Bachmann 66 Ride Height

[Mattmaz]

Hi all,

 

I remember reading somewhere about someone who had increased the ride height of his Bachmann Class 66 using washers by approximately 1mm. He also stated categorically that the ride height was wrong "out of the box".

 

I have just carried out this mod to one of mine which was always derailing (top of bogie was catching the chassis base)... and it now runs like a dream (I had previously slackened the bogie tower fixing screw to no avail).

 

Is this the correct thing to do though, in terms of as per prototype - did Bachmann get the ride height wrong?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Matt

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

First off bear in mind that all manufactured products are subject to random variation. So as received your or any other purchaser's example may have sat that little bit higher or lower than the designer intended; or indeed any or all of the bogie frames and proximate chassis parts may not be perfectly moulded or positioned relative to the running gear which could also cause or contribute to fouling. If you are now happy with the way it looks in addition to correcting the performance then you can be quite satisfied. Measurement is the necessary next step if you are not completely satisfied. Don't take anyone else' word for it, not even mine: research where all the parts should be relative to the rail as datum, then measure the key dimensions for yourself.

 

I have just one 66, and the buffer centre line is at 14mm above rail top, where you would expect; and the overall height looks right, not that I have measured it. The bogie frames on mine have never caught on the bodywork on my own layout or either of the two other layouts it has performed on.

[YesTor]

I have a few Bachmann 66s and yes many do appear to sit very low on the bogies, actually touching the bogies in fact in some cases.  I also tried the above modification of a 1mm washer, which I found to provide too large a gap.  Instead I found a much thinner washer, around 0.3mm, to be much more acceptable.  All that said, and as stated above, there is often a variation between each individual model, and some of my 66s ride higher at one end than the other straight 'out of the box', so ideally some trial and error is required to achieve what you feel to be an acceptable result.

 

The best solution is study the prototype, or suitable photographs, and reproduce what you see.