# Newbie - Please Help, Bachmann HO Trucks



## Just-a-Guy (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi Folks,

By way of introduction, Baby Boomer NY area professional here, with 8 year old son who loves trains of all sorts. Got permission to allocate a section of the basement playroom to a setup, and inching up from 4*8 to a possible "L". Just learning how the electrics work (turnouts etc). 

Got a basic Bachmann set a while back. A couple of the cars have been dropped or something, and trucks bent and/or wheel assemblies lost. Hopefully will avoid that going forward (the boy is more serious now and is forbidding friends from messing with the trains). I thought I would replace the truck/wheel assemblies with some better aftermarket items. Looked online... and holy cow, there's way too many options. 

More interested in smooth functionality than historical accuracy, for now. Track will have some 22 inch and some 18 inch turns, three or four turnouts. Can anyone give me a little guidance on what trucks to get for basic Bachmann cars? 

Thanks,

Just-a-Guy


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Welcome to the forum.:thumbsup:

The only real fix for the basic Bachmann cars is donor parts from other Bachmanns, most brand parts are incompatible. 

However, if your handy, modifications can be made similar to what I do...by filling the hole with bits of plastic sprue, then centering a hole and mounting the truck with a small screw. Hope that helps...


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## Just-a-Guy (Feb 11, 2013)

Thank you for replying, shaygetz. 

That's disappointing to hear. So, if I understand correctly, for the Bachmann HO cars,_ none_ of the aftermarket trucks are a direct replacement? That just seems bizarre. Especially because Bachmann itself apparently doesn't sell replacements. I'm beginning to think I should not have started with Bachmann at all, and should can all of it now and move to something else before I waste more money. 

Thanks for the help!

Just-a-Guy


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## timlange3 (Jan 16, 2013)

With a bit a work like Shaygetz said you can put nicer trucks on Bachmann. Take a sample car in hand down to the local hobby shop and look for plastic tubing that will fit the current truck mount. Then glue it in, cut it flush and drill it out for a screw to mount a better truck. Your son would enjoy doing some of this. As you move on and buy more cars look at Athearn, Roundhouse as a good step up, but not a lot of parts to assemble.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

They'll always make great practice fodder for weathering...:thumbsup:

Here's how I fix them up... http://www.freewebs.com/shaygetz/mod.htm


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