Traction tires How did you put traction tires on it? I put traction tires on 2 of the 3 that I have in order to get them to pull better and am very happy with there performance.[/quote]
Like so: Remove center axle from each engine. Remove driver from gear. Insert in your tool of choice (lathe, drill press, etc.) Cut shallow grove in rim to accept traction tire. Create traction tire out of heat shrink tubing. Install tire, reassemble axle, and locomotive. For traction tires, use heat shrink tubing. Get the good rubbery stuff. The cheap plastic like tubing from radio shack and others won't work as well. The heat shrink is thin enough that you don't need to make a very deep groove in the rim. There isn't really very much thickness in the rim to accomodate a standard type of traction tire. Use heatshrink that is slightly undersize, then stretch it carefully. After it is installed, a light brush with a hairdryer will help draw it up tighter. Be carefull applying heat because the plastic in the wheel will melt fairly easy. For the groove on mine, I used a drill press and jewlers files. Boilerman did his with a Lathe and they turned out much cleaner than mine shown here.
Tony, Does yours run well? Just curious mine is a total waste of money. It has so many problems. As far as I know the only "fix" Bachmann did was just try to make sure the wheels were in gauge. However fixing the wheel gauge introduces other problems with the rods hitting valve gear. Add this to the electrical pick-up prob lens noted here and the fact that my pilot jumps up and down as it runs.
Skipgear--now that's cool!!! Perhaps you'd like to be a consultant to Bachmann? It would be great if they could do this mod on future runs (and sell axles/traction tires like Kato does for their Mikados!).
Here's what I did last night: I very gently pried the driver wheels to the correct gauge (using a MicroTrains metal gauge). I lightly oiled up everything. I used an ink eraser to polish the post and gently bent the contact wires in fron the tender. I put it up on the layout and it ran perfectly through all the turnouts UNTIL I cranked the throttle up about half way. Then the famous side rod bind up I have read so much about occurred on the second set of drivers from the front. I was able to snap the "bracket" back in to position, and it freed the side rods up. So now I guess I should run this at prototypical speeds - which I normally would with this - or I could try to move the wheels of the second set of drivers in slightly... And while I was messing with this, the rear Rapido coupler popped off and the spring went off into space. This must be my sign to convert to MT couplers. Anyone know off hand which MT (or other) coupler to use? Thanks.
You can use a MT #2004 coupler or a MT Z scale # 905 coupler on the tender. All Spectrum tenders use a MT # 2004 coupler. Stay cool and run steam.....
heat shrink tubing Where did you get the good heat shrink tubing? For traction tires, use heat shrink tubing. Get the good rubbery stuff. The cheap plastic like tubing from radio shack and others won't work as well.
OK, I used Heat Shrink Tubing that is sold at Harbor Freight, it shrinks at 125 degrees. Do not use an open flame to shrink it use a bowl of hot water that is about 135 degrees and submerge the wheel in it with the flat side down so the you get a uniform shrink on to the wheel. You want the wheel to hit the water all the way around. If you need to stretch the tubing stretch it evenly all the way around and not from only one area or that will cause it to thin in a couple of spots and cause hopping. Keep in mind that the grove must be concentric to the tread so that the tire does not hop. Also you have to get the quartering correct. If when you set the wheel gage correct, the con rods collide tells me that your loco could of the first batch made. You can take some of the Micro trains bolster washers (the larger ones), cut a notch out of them, making them look like a"C" but just enough to get them to slide/pop over the driver axel with a push of a small screwdriver and still stay on. You install these washers one on each driver on each side of the frame between the driver and the loco frame, this should center the drivers and keep things from crashing. This is what I did to the first 2-6-6-2 that I purchased that had the same problem, it solved it and the unit has many hours on it. I still need to install traction tires on it when I have time. I hope that this helps if not let me know and perhaps I can come up with some thing else to try. Good luck,
Chris I thought my 2-6-6-2 was a total waste too. The front set of drivers on mine locked up after about 20 minutes of running. I sent it back to Bachmann and they sent me a replacement loco and it too locked up after about 20 minutes of running. Disgusted, I put the thing away for several months. One night I took it out of the box and started to work with it, figuring at that point that I had absolutely nothing to lose. After removing the front set of drivers and trying to free it up, I realized that the problem was with part of the valve gear - not the main rods and pistons but what appears to be the lubricator actuator gear as pictured on page 60 of the March 2007 Model Railroader (sorry, but I'm pretty ignorant concerning the terminology of steam loco running gear). At any rate, I carefully removed the lubricator gear with a fine set of needle nose pliers, being careful to leave the main side gear/pistons intact. The results were astounding and the loco ran very smoothly at very low speeds - both forward and reverse. It now has about 10 hours of operating time on it since I made the modifications and it still runs extremely well (its smoother than my Kato Mike!). Considering the option of having a shelf queen, I'm happy to have sacrificed the lubricator gear. I had some problems with frequent stalling due to problems with electrical pickup. This problem was in the drwbar connection. I hardwired the tender to the engine and all problems with stalling went away. The result is that I now have a very smooth running 2-6-6-2. It will pull about 16 Atlas ore cars and a caboose on my layour - not stellar but acceptable. True, I'm disappointed that a loco that cost that much required me to perform some surgery to get it running, but at least I now have a viable small articulated.
Sorry for the delay in getting back, had a busy weekend hosting an offroad RC car race at our local track. Chris - Yes, I have two that both run great, very smooth, slow and NO electrical issues as of yet. Unfortunately, the one shown in the picture was not mine. I did the traction tire conversion on a friends loco that I was also installing a decoder in. The first one I bought was from the first run and it was a DOA as others experienced. I contacted Bachmann, they said they would take care of me when the new run was shipped. They did, and sent me a new unit a couple of months later and did not request a return of the first one so I dug into it to see what the problem was. The first unit would periodiclly lock up the front engine as others have mentioned. However, the valve gear was not causing the problem. The gear mesh between the gear tower and the worm was barely engaging. The problem was any load or bind in the front and it would skip the worm. I took the loco apart, ground some clearance to shim the front worm bushing lower to tighten the gear mesh up and it has worked perfectly ever since. I work at a shop and we have sold half a dozzen of the second run versions with no problems. Mine was one we had on the shelf from the first run. Subsequent reorders came from the second runs and had no problems.
My replacement 2-6-6-2 arrived today. It's quiet, doesn't stall on turnouts, and after a 30 min. breakin period, had no difficulty pulling 15 cars up my 2% grade. I ran it for about 20 mins. and then the valve gear locked....grrr. I put it in reverse, which freed the drive, and carefully examined it. The valve gear on the second set of drivers (from the front) on the right hand side is the culprit. There's a rectangular metal piece that isn't properly aligned to the plastic rods (that look like their purpose is to center it). I'm going to see if I can gently pop it back into place. I'm hoping that works because it is a lovely engine indeed. If not I guess it's back to Bachmann again! Maybe they'll swap me for a couple of 2-8-0's :-(
Same problem I have been having since I re-gauged the wheels. I really don't want to move the drivers in again - maybe it's possible to file the interfering parts down. I have been gently prying the valve gear out with a jewelers screw driver when it locks up - hoping maybe it will polish itself out...
It sounds like these locos can have several different problems that can cause the drivers to lock up and keep them from running. Perhaps the problems vary with the production run or perhaps there is a single cause that manifests itself in different ways. This reminds me of earlier days in N scale when we expected to have to do some work on locos to make them run acceptably. I wouldn'tmind it for a $50 steam loco, but when you pay close to 200 smackers for one of these things, most of them should probably work well and run for quite a while before breaking down. I guess we'll have to see what happens with the upcoming 2-8-8-2's and 0-8-0's which should hopefully run like champs right out of the box. Its good to know that LL has fixed the most common complaint by adding traction tires - a very good sign.
I was able to fix the valve gear misalignment by carefully prying the plastic guide rod up and slipping the metal sider unit in place. Runs like a champ! It's quiet and smooth with no stalling through my code 55 Atlas turnouts. Not a great puller perhaps, but I don't run real long trains on my layout. With 15 coal hoppers in tow it handles my grades and will really creep along. If this is typical of the second run, I'd say Bachmann has fixed the problems.
Bob, I have been having issues with my 2-6-6-2 also, it wound up smoking the motor after about an hour's run time. Bachmann wants $20 to repair or replace it, hopefully it will come back running as well as yours. Did they do something about the wires to the frame and headlight on the new run, or is it still hard-wired?
Headlight is still hardwired. I'm thinking down the road I'll replace it with something brighter as it's pretty dim at the coal drag speeds I run.
Whether it’s Bachman, Model Power, Life-Like or whomever, I’ve completely given up on N-Scale steam. Over the past fifteen years I have purchased several different models from various manufactures and the ONLY ones that I still own, and are still running, are my fifteen year old Kato Mikes. I wish I could support the companies producing N-Steam but I have grown tired of the waste of time effort and money. Perhaps one day Kato will produce another steamer and then and only then will I feel I’m not shooting craps with loaded dice.
Well other than the little problem with lock-up, I really do like the way I have this running now - and I run this one slowly, just like the prototype. Actually, my HO version of this just arrived today from Micro-Mark!
Me too Tim--slow and steady. Looks great pulling my coal hoppers with that valve gear all working! I ran it for about 2 hrs. today with no further issues.
