Bachmann 44 tonner question

Guys:
I'm working on a project needing some small diesel mechs.
What I need to know is the center-to-center distance for the trucks on the bachmann 44 tonner.
I have a 70 tonner; that measures about 19', but don't have access to a 44 tonner to measure and haven't found the info on line.

 

Thanks for the reply. Helps much.

 

I measured 18' 6" on my chassis. "Loco 1 - The Diesel" by Carstens has drawings of both the 44 and 70 tonner; they show the 44-tonner as 17' 6" centers and the 70-tonner as 19' 5".

Before Bachmann came out with the 70-tonner, I was selling 70-ton resin kits to fit over the 44-tonner chassis and it worked and looked just fine - they are really close.

The book also shows 6' 8" wheelbase trucks on the 44-tonner and 6' on the 70-tonner, which I never really noticed before. So the 'end to end' wheelbases may still be right; the Bachmann truck measured 6' 6" on the 44 and I'm pretty sure both use the same truck.

I've been doing critters for a long time and I think I've collected at least one mechanism of most stuff available, if it helps your project.

 

When I was doing my Class As as I remember the 70 tonner was just a shade longer in the wheebase but both trucks I believe were the same so I dug out one of each since they were close at hand. I can confirmed 18'6" on the 44 tonner and an even 19' on the 70 tonner. Both trucks have the same dimensions just different side frames comparing the two.

 

OK, ordered that book, too. Are there any more good reference books you could list? The ones with honest dimensioned drawings and such? I followed your suggestion on the PCC Traction book and it was good, so.......

 

Thanks again to everyone for all the info.
Next time I'll just ask here instead of blowing a couple hours on the web.
I'm using a few of the 70's, and ordered a 44tonner today to fiddle with.
I had hoped it was a bit shorter, but still should be of use for my less than exact needs.
From what I gather from the bachmann parts page, the trucks are interchangeable, and I'll be overlaying the sideframes anyway.
Randy: had the pleasure of meeting you at Bedford a couple years ago.
The "old folks" in my family were loggers from down the road in Elk county PA., so we share some interests... and I still intend to build one of your Climaxes one day...

 

The only other book for these kind of units that's really helpful has become "Big Critters" by James S. Eaken, 2003 Railhead Productions. It's a loose-bound collection of photocopied materials rather than a real 'book', but it has some rather unusual units and some manufacturer and misc. drawings that aren't anyplace else.

MR had an excellent set of 44-tonner drawings in the Arcade & Attica article September 1978 (I have MR going back to 1967!). If you have a Kalmbach subscription, you can go on their website and use the online all-time magazine index to find just about anything in just about any magazine written.

If you're playing with smaller drives, the 'go to' mechanisms are the Kato 11-105(6,7 as well) and the various Tomytec TMXX series chassis. They both have plastic frames, end-axle pickups, solid electrical design, are well-made, and are inexpensive in comparison to hacking up an actual locomotive. Any cast split-frame mechanism like the Bachmann's is a bear to modify any key dimensions, the Kato and Tomytec designs are pretty easy to bash up - my original 70-tonner resin kit was on a 'stretched' 11-105 drive. Tomytec now as a whole series of 12mm wheelbase trucks instead of the 14mm, so you've got shorter and smaller options out there as well. Some of the other Japanese chassis are interesting like the Bandai, but their quality is a lot lower. The single-truck drives seem like a disadvantage until you realize you can put a small gearhead motor on them and get absurdly good slow-speed performance.

 

On Mark's (Spookshow) site in his reviews he has the 44 tonner mechanism a little shorted than the 70 tonner by about 1/8th inch. Also with my 44 tonner the side frames are simply attached by two pegs to the trucks and are an easy popoff. They were a press fit with no glue.

 

John:
The info on "spookshow" first led me to check out the 44tonner.
I'm a steam guy, so when I need diesel info I go there, and to the "diesel shop" web site.
Mark mentioned an eighth difference, but d-s gave the 70tonner a truck wheelbase 7' longer than the 44tonner- 26' as opposed to the 19' I measured on my bachmann model. Something had to be off, so I started looking for more info-and found it here as it turned out.
Btw, the sideframes on the 70 just pop off too, so I can just sand them flat and glue on the overlay-an old nwsl piece till I run out...
Randy:
I thought about the Kato chassis, but just don't think it's big enough or powerful enough for my use- a powered tender that has to push a dummy loco and pull a train.
I'm working on 6 of the 70tonners so far, doing well with almost no mods to the frame.
It will take more on the 44, to remove as much of the fuel tank as possible.
I'd hoped the 44's were noticeably shorter for a bit of variety, and to save some cash too- I'm building at least a dozen of these, and it's just the start of a new layout project.

 

Oh, yeah, I'd checked that out when the 44-tonners first came out. The Kato USRA Mikado tender shell fit right on top of the 44-tonner mechanism. Grind off that fuel tank and it should work. It's a pretty robust mechanism and if you pack the sides with lead it would do even better.

Tomytec and Bandai both came up with 8x8 mechanisms that are critter-sized, but longer truck wheelbases than the 44-tonner....
Get the Plaza Japan Ebay store up (google) and search for "Tomytec ED01" "Tomytec ED02" "Bandai B-train"

I've had the Bandai and it was no where near the quality of a Kato 11-105 and I sold it. The wheels, in particular, were surprisingly poor (sharp vertical flanges, no taper, no flange fillet at all and derailed constantly)

Have not tried the Tomytec but as a rule, their quality is right up there.

I've never recommended the 11-105 for a powered tender, there's just not enough guts in there to make it worth it. My 70-tonner conversion put the powered truck under the cab, and the cab was one big lead-filled weight. That actually worked pretty well, but that's the kind of weight imbalance you need to get anything out of it that actually pulls enough to justify itself.

 

I did use the Kato 11-105 for one steam tender as an canteen behind the regular tender which was weighted. I also bashed two of the 105s into a single mechanism with two motors wired together with two powered trucks with a traction tire on each truck. However I think that would end up being too long.