No.48 Bachmann Blue Pullman –did you get a discount and other questions

Apparently I recorded my intention to purchase the Bachmann Blue Pullman in August 2010.  Well it finally arrived in November 2012 and has provided hours and hours of nail biting entertainment.




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My layout is DC and I thought that perhaps I would have to go inside and remove the installed DC Chips.  I did not expect that I would have to do it so soon and to have to dismantle and correct so many other bits before enjoying its running.

I cannot imagine that I am going to be alone with these matters - hence this Blog. 



Initially one of my power cars had an intermittent fault.  It would stop and start.  All the lights worked.  Sometimes if I gave it shake it would go again - then it would stop.  I am indebted to Rob who appears to have had the same problem and who pointed out that as well as the ‘four screws’ there are two hidden tabs under the Guards doors that need to be released to allow the body shell to be removed.

Hidden tab behind guard’s door.  Note blanking plate in place of DC Chip


Stiff paper or very thin card fed in between the body shell and the metal underframe makes removal of the body shell almost easy.  First removing the rear bogie is not absolutely necessary but it does make life easier.  It is then simply a case of lifting the underframe out from the corridor end of the coach.



Notes provided by Bachmann tell you which way up to fit the blanking plate - see the picture above.

How to solve the intermittent running?  To cut a long story short I discovered that squeezing the wires around the connections to the capacitors stopped and started the motor.  Closer inspection suggested a problem with one of the power leads (in this case the black lead) which gave the impression of having been soldered without first stripping the insulation.  It was very untidy – even by my standards - and there was a single loose strand of copper which might have been responsible for the providing the intermittent power.  Re-soldering this connection solved my problems with intermittent running.


Power Car Unit A



As part of the process to solve the problem I had swapped the motors between the power cars.  I was nearly confused by the Bachmann plug and sockets which are reversed on Power Car F to enable it to run backwards.  This appears to mean that one of the plugs is used with black for positive and red for negative?



Power Car Unit F



Back on track now and how does it run?  Well – disappointingly – every now and then one or other of the driving units would de-rail on the latest Peco large radius points.  In common with many other Members the ‘back to back’ distances of the driving wheels on my units were all too wide.  Inspired by RobertCarroll I went back inside the units and removed the drive bogies.



There are four screws on the metal housing above the bogie and there is the single screw to release the ‘tower’ itself.

The plastic moulding for the sides and bottom of the bogie can be removed by gently levering above the tab at the front.


A little knowledge can be dangerous and I had guessed that the wheels would squeeze up using the same approach that as I have used many times before:



Note the cardboard packing



This is where a direct line to Bachmann might have been useful.  As already mentioned by other Members (apologies because I cannot exactly remember who) the wheels are a metal to metal fit on each stub axle and the insulation is provided by the nylon gear in the centre.  In my case squeezing the wheels together only achieved a limited decrease in wheel spacing and I was left wondering whether there was too much nylon moulding (or glue) inside the centre portion of gear preventing the axles being pressed sufficiently closely together.




Close up of the Nylon gear assembly



I guess it will be down to Bachmann to detail how the axles are locked into the nylon and to come up with a more foolproof system.



Out of the box all the drive wheels on my two units measured 15.5mm top of flange to top of flange.  Most other Bachmann wheels measure 14.5mm.  After gently squeezing with my ‘G’ clamp I achieved just under 15.0mm – this seems to be acceptable on my layout with the latest Peco Code 100 points.



Good, now I can get back to playing trains.
Location: Dumfries and Galloway, UK

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