Bachmann "Junior" locomotives

[GWR_fan]

I have "Stuart" (based on Thomas) and "Greg" (based on Percy) and while basic toys I do like them and they are DCC fitted. A well known eBay store related to a Sheffield dealer had two Junior locomotives on offer in a single listing, described as poor runners. Both are DCC fitted. Once they arrive I will rebuild them and test on analogue with a blanking plate fitted. This will then determine if the decoders are the reason for the poor performance.

The two locomotives are the black early crest saddle tank and the BR green diesel. I may modify them or leave as is once I get to view them. I thought for the princely sum of GBP29.50 for both it was worth a gamble to see if I can resurrect them. I figured that if the decoders were OK then they alone are worth almost the money paid. I will report further.

[Bigmet]

As you already know, they are basic, but they surely work. What really tickled me was finding five pole skew wound motors inside.

I have done a couple of Thomases to entertain kids using the Bachmann Thomas sold as 'anonymous', before the rights holder stopped Bachmann doing it. Part of the entertainment is that the kids can make the face for themselves in a modelling clay. (Or one of the mother's who is an art teacher can do something better than any commercial effort I have seen, directly from her inspection of the early artwork. Then again she makes her real money by sculpting on the side.)

[GWR_fan]

Bigmet,
I have seen a few conversions where the modeller does invest a lot of time and energy but inevitably the heritage shape is still evident so other than perhaps opening up the blanked off windows I may leave as is.

[Bigmet]

That aspect of the blanked off cab doors and windows is worth a further mention though. On 'Thomas' the cab roof is retained by clips that are part of the blanking off. So opening up the 'blanking off' frees the cab roof and clears space in the cab which is a handy location for a decoder. (Cannot remember the precise details of the construction as this was all a while ago, and both of the 'Thomas' I worked on are 'playing away' at the moment.)

[Bufferstop]

The two Gregg(Percy) that I cannibalised had a huge decoder hardwired and mounted in the cab roof. The chassis and body are idiosyncratic, the tank hides an inner cylindrical body, which is part chassis holding the motor in place, the lower part sitting on a diecast frame which provides the U shaped bearing surfaces for the axles. The smokebox and chimney are a separate moulding which has a rear flange by which it is clamped in place by the tank. It's possible to cut away most of the internal plastic if you need clearance for a smaller body, or daylight under the boiler. Both ran jerkily at low speed on DC until I wired out the decoder. I don't know if Percy comes these days with a decoder in. I doubt any Greggs were produced late enough to gain a newer smaller decoder.

[GWR_fan]

Many thanks.

[Emettman]

I've generally considered them good quiet runners, and if in need of any more compact chassis (I'm not) I'd pounce on a *cheap* "poor runner" anticipating an easy fix.

Greg tends to have a lot of side play on the axles making it very tolerant of tight curves. That can be shimmed down to reduce waggle if that particular trick is not required.

Chris.

[GWR_fan]

Many thanks

[GWR_fan]

My two Junior locomotives arrived this morning (Saturday). I disassembled the body from the chassis on each and fitted a blanking plate. The diesel ran perfectly, while the saddle tank seemed to have an occasional power pickup issue though still ran quite well. I refitted the decoders (-553? or -554? type) and readdressed them to default code '3'. The diesel ran perfectly and is one of the smoothest running drives that I have seen.

I did not expect a great deal of the saddle tank as the drive was not perfect on analogue but on digital it was more than acceptable with just the very occasional stutter. It was definitely better with a few pieces of rolling stock in tow. I did check the power pickup fingers and they were fine.

A bonus was that the seemingly missing radiator grill on the diesel was loose inside the body and this was refitted. I feel that for the princely sum of GBP29.50 total, I received two decoder fitted locomotives that apart from a very occasional hiccup with the saddle tank, perform brilliantly.