James Brake

I like the idea of eliminating the circuit board altogether. I’m not sure I’d be able to here as the circuit board appears to be directly linked to the pickups. Furthermore, would bypassing the circuit board not de-activate the directional lighting. You refer to red wires & black wires, but (if you can see from the photo) there are a variety of different colours…. I’m sure the answer is obvious to someone with experience in this kind of thing (ie. not me). Thanks for the suggestions.

I’ve been having issues lately with a Bachmann Class 40. I’m unsure of the catalogue number but the TOPS number on the model is 40141. This loco was supplied with a factory-fitted DCC chip. My layout is DC, so the chip was removed on purchase and a blanking plate fitted. The loco ran fine. A couple of years ago I had the model professionally weathered. After that it ran even better until recently. For no apparent reason, the running has become very sporadic. The loco slows down erratically or stalls. It sometimes refuses to restart. My track is clean, there’s good electrical continuity and my other locos all run fine. I’ve cleaned the wheels & pickups. I’ve sparingly lubricated. I’ve replaced the DCC blanking plate. All to no avail. A search on RMWeb found a fellow modeller with similar issues on (I believe) a Class 47. One of the recommendations he received was to solder the six wires that are loosely fitting & secured by plastic tabs to the circuit board. This was done this afternoon and still no improvement. Does anyone have any other ideas as to what might be causing this intermittent running? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks folks.... I’ll have a look at the motorized bogie tomorrow and see if I can fettle it. If not, then I’ll connect the two cars electrically. Cheers.

Thanks very much.... I’ll give it a go. Out of interest, what were you using to make your own pick ups? How did You go about doing it?

I’m having some running issues with a DC powered Bachmann Class 105. I’ve taken it to a local model shop for repair, the repair was (apparently) completed, but the running issue still remains. The unit is very jerky when running at anything less than full power. It fails to restart from station stops without prodding. This is not a problem that I have experienced with any of my other locomotives (including other Class 105s, Class 03s & even a tiny permanent way trolly). I think the problem may be the lack of pick-ups on the power bogie. If I place the DMBS on the track, lift up the non-powered bogie so that only the motorized bogie is in contact with the rails and apply current, nothing happens. The pick ups on the non-powered bogie seem to work fine, as do the ones on the DTC. I’ve tried this with my other Class 105s and the motor runs fine. How would I go about installing pickups on the power bogie? Failing that, is it possible to electrically connect the motor with the pick-ups on the dummy power car (this was something I’ve seen done with the old Hornby Pacer to alleviate running problems)? Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot, Gents. I just changed them now. I hadn’t realized they were that easy to remove. I’ve installed Kaydees on most of my stock now, but the NEM pockets have always been fully accessible. For info, I use a mixture of 17s & 18s. I find Bachmann Mk1 coaches are too close together for the 17s given the curvature in my hidden sidings (24” minimum), though the 17s work fine on all of my freight stock and on DMUs. Again, much obliged.

Hi again. Thanks for the replies. I hope I’ve been able to upload some photos of the problem. As can be seen, there is no NEM pocket accessible without dismantling the bogie. I don’t see any screws placed that would enable that to be easily done. I was hoping someone would have a tip as to how to get at the coupling mount so I can fit the Kaydees. Kind regards.

I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that. The small tension locks supplied with the model seem to be in NEM-style pockets but they’re buried inside the bogie. I need to remove the bogie baseplate to access it & I can’t see how it’s done.

Hi everyone. I’m trying to fit Kaydee couplings to a recently purchased Bachmann Class 37/0. Does anyone have any hints for removing the bogie underside in order to access the coupling attachment point? Best regards.

Hi all. I was born in '74 and grew up in the North East near Tynemouth. I emigrated to Canada with my parents in '82 and they did a good job of insulating me from the hardship all around. As a result I have unrealistically rose-tinted memories of the time and place. I've been interested in trains, and transportation generally, for as long as I can consciously remember. That's reflected both in my chosen profession and my hobby. I have blissful memories of Saturday visits to my grandparents in Morpeth and a walk down to the station for a hour or two of train watching. Whenever we visited from Canada I would spend hours on the platform, not really number hunting, but soaking up the atmosphere. Even now, if I'm in the North East for an all too rare visit with cousins, aunts, etc. I still try to get out for an hour at Morpeth, now usually with two kids in tow! The BR blue era is a natural for me: a variety of rolling stock plus the last vestiges of traditional operation. A cool, cloudy day, a misty rain falling, the smell of diesel fuel and the sound of doors slamming shut on a class 101. I close my eyes, and I'm there!