Bachman motors

[boppa]

I've been running several (4) Bachman 060 locos in a small quad loop in a store front
these beasts

Now I know they aren't at the top end of the price range but

We have now bought several of these beasts for the display- from the factory they last 2 to 4 weeks of running basically non stop for 8 hrs a day, 6 days a week

total is 96 to 190 hrs running before breakdown (usually smoke escaping)- that is factory stock untouched
Brand new with me doing a `clean and lube' with full disassembly and cleanup (including commutator clean and brush reface) they stretch out to 2 or 3 months
(thats about 600hrs of running)

is it usual for locos to be so `shortlived' or is it just these locos?

unfortunately we are wanting these as they are similar to local cane haulers and so wanted for a small window display but at the rate they are failing, it's probably not going to last much longer

Any ideas?

[shortliner]

Don't forget that these are toys, and relatively cheap at that - 96-190 hrs of continuous running without maintainance from a cheapo motor is very good - 600 hours of running would be a lifetime in normal toy usage

[boppa]

:-(

that wasn't really what I wanted to hear- It's a public display and I'd rather not have them smoking every few weeks
:-(

A bit of history from the canefields
They used to use 2 or 3 of very similar locos to pull literally hundreds of 8 ton cane bins- no brakes at all except the loco!!!
I means some interesting `tricks' were used
eg once the bins were parked up in a siding- they have no brakes- how do you stop them rolling??- Answer- you literally chain them to the tracks!!
when a cane train wa backed into a siding either for overnight or until next season- to stop them rolling away when the loco was disconnected- it was required that once stopped a chain was passed around a chassis and then down under the track between sleepers to act as a brake...

Another bit of trivia from a retired cane driver I know- the newbies got the lead loco!!!
Apparently as they had no radios or other comms in his day, it was easier to have the newbies in the lead loco
the old hand then had charge of the 2nd loco
if it was `bumping the one in fronts bum' the revs were too high
if it was `moaning' then it was too slow
the older hands could tell exactly how their trailing loco was running against the lead loco by the sounds it made (moaning, chattering, grunting) were all terms I heard from the oldtimer about how they knew how to match power

Apparently its much easier to match up the lead from behind than to run from the front when both locos are manually driven

A bit of 1:1 history from the old timers who are rapidly passing on


So any ideas on what could be used in such a situation (willing to kitbash to make it look like a canefields loco- no rivet counters involved- so `near enough is good enough' on the looks

just has to be able to run for hours on end (i'd be happy with a 1 overhaul every 6 months as a good guideline...)

[TTRAK_andrew]

G'day Boppa,
I have no idea about the endurance of the following two chassis but they may be worth experimenting with as replacements to go under the Bachmann bodies, if they do fit.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Powered-Motorized-Chassis-Kato-11-103-/120821126604?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c218015cc">http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Powered-Moto ... 1c218015cc</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Powered-Motorized-Chassis-Kato-11-104-/360390552073?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item53e8f36a09">http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Powered-Moto ... 53e8f36a09</a><!-- m -->

Also, you could approach Hollywood Foundry at:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/default.htm">http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/default.htm</a><!-- m -->

to discuss your needs.
Regards,
Andrew G.
Always learning, from both wins and losses.
My Model Railway blog: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ttrakandrew.wordpress.com/">http://ttrakandrew.wordpress.com/</a><!-- m -->

[boppa]

Kato's??

I was under the impression that Bachmans were the `expensive' brand..

OK at that price I can order a few (lop the front coupler and 5mm off and the many bachman housings I have here should fit)

See how I go with them.

[BR60103]

Boppa:
Bachman has had various (probably deserved) reputations over the years from being on the bottom end to producing well-detailed and well-running models.

I think the six-wheeler you have may be one of the lower-end.
How often do you take it apart and lube it? My guess would be that it needs it after a half-day to a day of running. Do you or can you check the brushes?
When the loco fails, is there wear in the motor bearings or the axle bearings? Is anything left of the gears?

When we did exhibitions, locos were checked every half-hour to hour to see if the motor was getting hot -- usually just feeling the body.

[TTRAK_andrew]

G'day again Boppa,
Just out of sheer curiosity could you post some photo's of the display layout that these loco's are running on? I assume form browsing your other posts that you are based in Queensland, Australia.
Regards,
Andrew G.

[TTRAK_andrew]

G'day again Boppa,
How is the situation now with your running display loco's,
Regards,
Andrew G.

[Tyson Rayles]

While Bachmann makes some very good products, that isn't one of them. That said for the price you are getting outstanding results from them. NO ONE makes a model train loco that is designed to run 8 hours a day, day after day. For that kind of extreme abuse you will need to really stay on top of the maintinence and use much higher quality locos. For the record I work for a toy train museum and we have 3 layouts in operation. Most are Lionel but we also have HO, G and standard gauge. This time of the year we are open 5 days a week, 9 hours a day and on the last week of May we go to 7 days. In July, and Oct. thru Dec. we are open 12 hours a day. I would NEVER use Bachmann on any of the layouts.