Silver Sidelines

I like my rakes of Bachmann coaches especially when the coaches are brought closer together. Close coupled Bachmann Mk1s hauled by Heljan Western King For track layouts with Peco Medium radius points and above with 36 inch radius or greater curves, there are a number of options available for bringing the coaches closer together. Some appear more readily available than others. My coaches have been bought over a number of years. As supplied by Bachmann they came fitted with what I believe are now referred to as 36-064 Long Cranked NEM couplings. Bachmann Cranked NEM couplings 36-064(long) left 36-027(short) right And from the side: Bachmann Cranked NEM couplings 36-027(short) top 36-064(long) bottom I standardised on Hornby R8220 (Roco) type couplings to go between coaches and Bachmann 36-027 Short Cranked NEM couplings for the ends of rakes to couple to the tension locks fitted to the locomotives. Roco 40270 left, Hornby R822...

The sun has come out and the garden beckons.   With the sunshine we can also see which of our double glazed units have failed.   Upstairs the sudden warmth is likely to be responsible for the spontaneous failure of the glazing in one of my Bachmann Mark One coaches: This need not be a major problem.   Many of us will be familiar with the ‘stress test‘ applied to items sent by post and will have received coaches with displaced glazing.   I must have been inside over half a dozen Bachmann coaches, the first being a Restaurant Car Unclassified where some of the tables had been glued at a jaunty angle and were shouting out to be repositioned. First you need a soft cloth to protect the roof of the coach. With the coach on its roof the two screws holding the bogies are removed. After lifting off the two bogies the Bachmann coupling compensation units can be lifted out, coupling end first.   This way the retaining spring at the oppo...

There has been discussion on the 'net' relating to the ex Dapol / Hornby twelve wheel restaurant cars.   I have lowered the ride height of mine to run with Bachmann stock: In order to get the buffers of the Hornby Restaurant Car to match the height of my adjacent Bachmann Mk1s it was necessary to lower the underframe on the bogies. First it is best to take the whole coach apart.   This can be done by sliding ones finger nail between the coach side and the underframe and leavering the underframe down and out.   There are six plastic lugs to free, two at either end and two in the middle.   It is best to ‘free’ one side at a time. With the coach completely disassembled the bogies can be removed by squeezing the top of the plastic holding pegs and pushing down and out.   With the bogies out of the way a metal file can be used to remove 1mm or more of plastic from the bogie support pillars on the underframe.   In this c...