# Bachmann Prairie - worth fixing or not?



## Ko Improbable (Mar 15, 2017)

Recently, I purchased a Bachmann 2-6-2 Prairie. It runs well, when there are no turnouts to cross. It could be that it has too large of flanges for my Atlas Code 55 turnouts. Either way, if it doesn't cross the turnout at fairly high speed, it won't make it across it. Its electrical pickups are the rear drive wheels and the front tender truck. All of my diesels have little or no trouble with these turnouts, even at low speed, and that includes two Bachmann diesels.
There are traction tires on the center drive wheels that I have partially wondered if they're not part of the problem; thinking that they're just thick enough that when the locomotive is crossing the turnout, the rear drive wheels get lifted off of the track. I'm also wondering if the "wipers" on the tender truck aren't messed up, since I'm not too certain they're getting good conductivity based on how the locomotive acted when i was cleaning the wheels with power running to spin them against my cleaning cloth.

Do you all think it's worth fixing, or should I accept that I made a mistake in buying it in the first place and move on?


----------



## bpiperjr (Dec 12, 2011)

You might take a file and carefully cut the the groves deeper on the turn out. I've found success in doing this with my Bachmann engines. It hasn't caused any problems with my other engines either.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Gage can check many things*



Ko Improbable said:


> Recently, I purchased a Bachmann 2-6-2 Prairie. It runs well, when there are no turnouts to cross. It could be that it has too large of flanges for my Atlas Code 55 turnouts. Either way, if it doesn't cross the turnout at fairly high speed, it won't make it across it. Its electrical pickups are the rear drive wheels and the front tender truck. All of my diesels have little or no trouble with these turnouts, even at low speed, and that includes two Bachmann diesels.
> There are traction tires on the center drive wheels that I have partially wondered if they're not part of the problem; thinking that they're just thick enough that when the locomotive is crossing the turnout, the rear drive wheels get lifted off of the track. I'm also wondering if the "wipers" on the tender truck aren't messed up, since I'm not too certain they're getting good conductivity based on how the locomotive acted when i was cleaning the wheels with power running to spin them against my cleaning cloth.
> 
> Do you all think it's worth fixing, or should I accept that I made a mistake in buying it in the first place and move on?


Ko Improbable;

Ultimately the decision about this loco will be yours. I would suggest checking the loco's flanges with an NMRA gage first. One of the many things this tool can check is flange depth. The same notches used to check the wheel's gage (distance between the wheels) also check the flange depth. With the wheel's tread/tire (The surface that normally rides the top of the rail) sitting on the gage; the flanges should be no deeper than the bottom of the notch. If the flanges hit the bottom of the notches and wont let the tire touch the gage, then the flanges are too deep. 
Oversize flanges are going to be a continuing problem on Atlas code 55 turnouts and track. The spikes on Atlas's code 55 are oversize enough for deep wheel flanges to hit them. 
The right way to solve this problem would be to turn down the wheel flanges. Drive wheels can be run against a mini-file with the loco powered by jumper wires, and off the track. Non-drive wheels can get the same treatment by pulling one wheel off the axle and chucking the axle in an electric drill to rub against the file. Use slow speed on the drill, and switch the other wheel to the axle for its turn.
Whether you want to go through all this procedure for that loco depends on how badly you want to keep it. 
The traction tires might be doing what you suspect, lifting the rear wheels slightly. To check, run the loco into the turnout at slow speed. get your eyeballs down to track level, and see if you can detect what's happening, and exactly where it happens. You are right. Part of the problem likely is the poor electrical pickup built into this loco's design. Certainly clean wheels, wipers, and track to see if it helps. It is possible to add more pickup to the other wheels, but it's not easy, and you may not want to bother. Those diesels that run through easily probably have all wheel pickup. This is a good feature to look for in any loco you purchase.

I strongly disagree with the suggestion to file deeper slots in the turnout's frog and guard rail flangeways. This idea is fairly common and gets around on the forum now and then. In my opinion, it's a bad way to try and work around the real problem, which is in the wheels, not the turnout. It's awfully easy to ruin a turnout by doing this, especially a code 55 turnout, where you have even less depth to play with than a code 80 one. Cutting deeper into the frog can damage the jumper wires buried inside  it. These jumpers feed power from one part of the turnout to another. If they're cut, you have just created a dead rail.
Things really do run better, and derailments become rare, when the track, turnouts, and wheels, are all adjusted to NMRA standards. Cutting deeper groves in a turnout may appear to "fix" the 'flange hits the frog' problem, but they may create, or worsen another.
In making my own code 55 turnouts, I have found that having an NMRA standard flange go through a turnout frog made to those same NMRA standards give a super smooth ride through the turnout. Virtually all commercial turnouts have their frogs too deep, and consequently, the wheels fall into this deep flangeway and then have to climb back up to rail height. This drop and bump system can sometimes cause derailments.

regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## Ko Improbable (Mar 15, 2017)

traction fan said:


> Ko Improbable;
> 
> Ultimately the decision about this loco will be yours. I would suggest checking the loco's flanges with an NMRA gage first. One of the many things this tool can check is flange depth. The same notches used to check the wheel's gage (distance between the wheels) also check the flange depth. With the wheel's tread/tire (The surface that normally rides the top of the rail) sitting on the gage; the flanges should be no deeper than the bottom of the notch. If the flanges hit the bottom of the notches and wont let the tire touch the gage, then the flanges are too deep.
> Oversize flanges are going to be a continuing problem on Atlas code 55 turnouts and track. The spikes on Atlas's code 55 are oversize enough for deep wheel flanges to hit them.
> ...


Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't really thought about the flanges being the issue as, like I said, my other Bachmann locomotives run through these turnouts with some bumping around, but I can even run them through at a crawl. However, every Bachmann-made axle I have will bump around crossing through the frogs.


----------



## Ko Improbable (Mar 15, 2017)

I was tinkering with the locomotive, doing the test that traction fan suggested, and determined that, if the tender truck is supplying power, it's practically nothing. This is probably the problem with this locomotive.

Took the truck apart and immediately lost one of the electrical connections. It's apparently an air-soluble part, too.

I'm going to put the restoration of this locomotive on the "to do later" list.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Sounds like a plan.*



Ko Improbable said:


> I was tinkering with the locomotive, doing the test that traction fan suggested, and determined that, if the tender truck is supplying power, it's practically nothing. This is probably the problem with this locomotive.
> 
> Took the truck apart and immediately lost one of the electrical connections. It's apparently an air-soluble part, too.
> 
> I'm going to put the restoration of this locomotive on the "to do later" list.


 Been there, done that!:laugh: I like the "air soluble." very clever, and all too true. On the front edge of my workbench I have installed a "parts catcher." It's a loop of cloth that hangs between the workbench edge, and a pull-out frame. It has saved me many many trips to the floor to hunt for dropped parts.

regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


----------

