After taking apart to fit a decoder, I noticed that there is an issue with where the pick up wires pass through the chassis block.
These rise through two small holes and then across below the cast metal footplate/backhead to pass up behind the motor mount and over to the pcb.
The bottom of the footplate casting has a (very) shallow recess to allow clearance for the cables, however this does not extend back far enough to reach the two holes in the block.
To this end, when the chassis and body are reassembled, the wires do not allow the body to seat properly and leave the running plate off level (by around 1.5mm). Not much I know, but still not quite 'right'. Furthermore, tightening of the rear chassis screw crushes the wires, creating a potential short via the metal footplate casting. For some reason, this also appears to make the rear axle bind a little.
I scratched my head for a while about this one, and considered grinding a slot in the chassis block to accommodate the wires. However, not keen to take the dremmel to a new model, I re-routed the pick-up wires through the redundant square hole set forward of the two small holes. This rises beneath the recess in the footplate bottom, and replacing the wires with slightly finer ones allows the footplate to seat properly, and the body shell to sit level.
Soldering new wires to the chassis underplate/pick-ups takes a lot of care as there is a risk of melting plastic, however the pick-up connections on the pcb are simple to re-do.
It now runs very well, however with the newer GC tender in tow, the locomotive moulding is showing it's age. Still, at £55 it is still good value (unless compared to the 3F!)
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Has anyone got any feedback on its adhesion, my line is steeply graded and I am wondering how well it would cope. Thanks in advance
Bachmann 2251 with ROD tender
in Bachmann
Posted
Has anyone got any feedback on its adhesion, my line is steeply graded and I am wondering how well it would cope. Thanks in advance