I've said it before, and I'll say it again - you, sir, are a genius, No broken loco is safe when in your hands - they ALL seem to be fixed perfectly. My hat's off to you, sir!!!

@Police_Supporter

Жыл бұрын

I agree

@tonny4175

11 ай бұрын

Unbelievable

"All you need to get a Bachmann going again is Life-Like parts." I burst out laughing when you said that.

I'm nearly 50 y/o but as a young'n...8-10 y/o I was big into model railroading. I had 2 4X8 plywood layouts in what my family named the train room. The layouts are long gone but I still have all the trains, track, buildings, etc. Your channel, which I found a few weeks ago, is inspiring me to drag out the 5 or 6 train sets I have, plus the tons of extras I spent my childhood allowance on, and build a new layout. I've really enjoyed your channel and it has taken me back to a simpler time that would now be a nice relaxing hobby that is much needed right now. Keep it up with that awesome content! Howdy from Kentucky, USA!

@christopherdelgaudio9484

Жыл бұрын

Great comment Howie have fun!

I love watching you work on these trains and I am amazed at your knowledge of how these things work! I enjoyed seeing the spare parts drawers!

I have to thank you for fixing it, that was my second ever HO scale locomotive and I ran it to hell and back when I was a kid. Brings back good memories, thanks Harrison.

I remember way back in the 80's, those were sold en-mass at the Pocono summit, Pa. train station ,when Steamtown was running steam to that location from Scranton. They always sold out,lol.

I'm 58 years old. I started with a Bachmann kit back in 1974. I'm still in the hobby but in a more serious way I should say. I only run DCC and sound engines. But the simple rule will always remain the same : Clean wheels and tracks is ALWAYS the first step to do things when it comes to electrical pick up. It's most of the time the problem. Keep on your good work.

I fought your channel almost 1 year ago, but I saw a train video today in my feed and remember your channel. so glad to see you again.

The prototype Erie Lackawanna never had the EMD GP-50 or even a GP40 or a dash two GP40. They did have the EMD SD45-2 with the extra large extended fuel tank for the New Jersey - Chicago runs. They looked great in maroon, gray and yellow and in the bicentennial red white and blue paint scheme. They even posed them atop Starucca viaduct in Lanesboro Pennsylvania so rail photographers could document them.

@rdrogel1116

Жыл бұрын

only Southern/NS had Hi-Hood GP50s - Almost were either rebuilt to GP38-3s, GP33ECOs or road slugs

@ericzerkle5214

Жыл бұрын

EL was a kick ass railroad in the day!

@amyreynolds3619

Жыл бұрын

I too do Southern railway. They ran high hood and all ran long nose was the front.

@C14H8O2

Жыл бұрын

The first GP50s were built in 1980 - four years after the EL ceased to be.

Yes! I did enjoy watching you bring the Erie Lackawanna back to life!!

You done it again. You brought another one back to life. Congrats!!!

Always nice to have "help" (fur balls included). Nice work Harrison

Renumber/Repaint to Southern/NS number 7058 - the actual loco is now GP33ECO 4720(to be renumbered 6720 to make room for Dash-9 to C44C6AC rebuilds)

I have avoided Bachman locomotives in my buying of used locos, though I do have two GP30 Spectrum locos and one runs slow to start but will warm up and run well, the other is on its way via USPS so unclear how it will work. Thanks for the video!!

I have only one of these bachmann type motors which runs in a f unit. One thing I did as I noticed it had split axles in the front I used model cement and let it try outside the loco in 2 coats and make a good fix. However I know if it ever dies I'll change out the chassis is a modern type probably from something that can fit it. Looks to me the date code on the board says 6-03-02 like it would be from 2002 I'm thinking because lifelike did same thing with date codes. Also when you mentioned current draw dropped the light bulb wasn't lit anymore so I'm thinking it blew out when it dropped current draw but I see at end it is working again

Just a line to say Thank you ,by watching your videos i have felt confident enough to have a crack at loco servicing. Your presentation is great ,even an old timer like me understands what is required

So glad your Bachmann loco turned out for you…clean tracks ahead!

I love watching you fix things.

New subscriber 52 years old with all my childhood HO and N trains getting unboxed and used for the first time in 25 years or so. My stuff is all Atlas, AHM, Athearn, Bachmann and IHC with a couple Katos, Riverossis and Tycos. Most of my old track is garbage so I’m going to give EZ track a shot with extra feeds and solder.

Hi mate. I'm a big fan of your channel. I've opened and repaired, greased and maintained a few bachmann gp35 and gp40 pancake motors in my time. Also bachmann 060 steam train cracked gear replacements. Fun stuff.

I love how this guy fixes, and runs trains on his layout and has a huge variety of trains. I really with for a city/suburban Australian rail network, I wish I was him.

Engine looks really happy to be alive again!

Well folks today we're working on a 1990s bachmann locomotive. I just love your intros

Since the wheel sets on the rear truck have gears (and clearly don’t need them), swap one with the wheel set on the front (powered) truck that had the bad gear. Instant fix! BTW: this unit may be more “Hackawanna” than you originally thought; looks like the fuel tank + weight was from Bachmann, while the frame and motor was probably from Tyco/Mantua, and the body shell looks newer than either one, maybe an Athearn “blue box” kit?

@HO_Scale_Modeler

Жыл бұрын

No, she's all Bachmann made I should know it used to be mine.

Hi Harrison 🙂 You definitely saved that Geep 👍🏻 Looks good and runs well regarded to the hulk you started on. Best wishes ☺️

Great video...very clear and precise... thanks for sharing

Good deal. Doesn't Bachmann have a lifetime warranty on their locomotives. Very good job.

Great Video! As soon as I seen this I clicked on it I have a grandfather that worked on the Erie Lackawanna from its beginning until it's end in the Buffalo New York area. Fun Fact the North Shore RR in Pennsylvania still has locomotives with this exact color scheme, not sure if they are old units that were purchased from EL, but cool to see rolling around. Best Wishes!

@SMTMainline

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Many thanks for your extremely interesting videos. There are some extremely innovative and useful ideas in improving locos working. You do mention quite often your use of Fibre Glass pencils. Can I suggest that these can pose a health hazard - fibre glass is not nice stuff - Another channel I watch - 00 Bill - used to use Fibre Glass pencils but now uses a metal cleaner - he uses TCut (Autosol is also good) - which he then cleans off with an electrical contact spray. One does not need much - just put a little onto a cotton bud. I use this technique on my railway especially for wheels and track. I also use a really excellent tool - a Dremel - its wire brush is excellent for wheels....the cutting disks I use all the time for cutting track and its little drills are excellent for accurate drilling of small holes .

Just when I think no way this loco will run. Good job. You've got the Midas touch. From Texas

Just saw this video awesome my Grandfather used to work for the Erie & Lackawanna back in the 40’s through the early 70’s

@huckstaunfiltered8200

3 ай бұрын

@williamduncan1435 where about..? My grandfather was a conductor for Erie Lackawanna railroad at the same time period 1940's-1970

@3rdTrickGang

3 ай бұрын

The Erie and Deleware,Lackawanna &Hudson didn't merge until 1960 to create Erie Lackawanna. But most guys that worked for the EL Previously worked for the Erie or DL&H. My grandfather started out at Buffalo Creek, then went to the Erie railroad and was with them until it turned into Erie Lackawanna and he retired right before Conrail took over in early 71. Erie Lackawanna was really only in business for about 10 years before they failed and the great consolidation happened.

Great as always! Love the Nerf cat cameo too :)

BTW, I think your videography has improved - more engaging. Well done. Love the parts stash.

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, i've been trying new things out with it so I appreciate that.

This is one of the reasons I'd rather get an old Mehano, Lima, frateschi, Piko or roco loco over a bachmann, never had a fleischmann before but I might get one.

@DarthSantaFe

Жыл бұрын

The cheaper Bachmanns maybe, but the original 8-wheel drive chassis for the GP40, U36B and F9A was pretty exceptional in its day (even comparing to Athearn!) with a 5-pole can motor, all metal frame and some really durable gearing (axle gears were metal). Fleischmann's models are built like tanks!

@Amtrak_P32_712

Жыл бұрын

Just a tip with fleischmann trains, depending on your tracks maker sometimes the flanges are too big and will hit the ties in the middle.

Well done restoring the Erie Hackawana! Since watching your videos, I've been performing regular maintenance on the commutator and gears and its been working like a charm on my Athearn locos!

what kind of oil do you use to lubricate the Berrings and moving parts?

The best way I have found to repair Bachmann gears is to clean them, super glue the cracks, ream the hole out until they're a slip fit on the shaft and then I dot of super glue on the shaft then slide the gear on. The superglue will hold the gear to the shaft. Half the problem with these gears is that they're press fit onto the shafts and the pressure splits them after a while. I have locos that have been running for years with no clicks for years.

Thanks to this video I was able to fix a non running bachman gp30 locomotive I picked up cheap thanks!

@SMTMainline

Ай бұрын

Fantastic, I'm glad this was helpful.

I just bought that exact loco at the antique store, thanks for letting me know

Thank you for sharing.👍

I actually have one of those models painted in Union Pacific colors. I actually fitted it with DCC and sound by replacing the solid conductor bar and hardwiring in a soundtraxx ECO-PNP decoder and an oval speaker from a Digitrax decoder.

great jobs runs nice👍

Amazing how many vids this fellow made, all on the same theme: clean and lubricate.

SMT, You need a Hobby Town drive to put under that EL shell. Great video btw.

Well done Harrison! This is a rare find! Glad that EL GP50 is running again!

@MattKonsol

Жыл бұрын

It definitely is running here again like a champ here! Im thinking this erie lackawanna emd gp50 mightve came out in 1985 but i could be wrong here!

@mercuryoak2

Жыл бұрын

​@@MattKonsol there is a date code on the board it says 6-03-02 I would think it's from 2002 being that's how they did the date code.

@MattKonsol

Жыл бұрын

@@mercuryoak2 uh im assuming that could be the serial number for that circuit board right there instead of a date code I could be mistaken on it but I know around 2002 bachmann was like making the all wheel drive locomotives here instead of the pancake motor design.

Hi SMT I love your vids!

Congratulations ! Great job. Amazing what water and a paint brush can do. Unfortunatly, this is a foobie as EL had disappeared into Conrail before EMD began producing the GP15. "The EMD GP15-1 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1976 and March 1982. Intended to provide an alternative to the rebuilding programs that many railroads were applying to their early road switchers, it is generally employed as a yard switcher or light road switcher. This locomotive is powered by a 12-cylinder EMD 645E engine, which generates 1,500 hp (1,119 kW). The GP15-1 uses a 50-foot-9-inch (15.47 m) frame, has a wheelbase of 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) and has a length over couplers of 54 ft 11 in (16.74 m). A total of 310 units were built for American railroads. A number of GP15-1s remain in service today for yard work and light road duty. The radiator section is similar to those found on the EMD SD40T-2 and EMD SD45T-2 "tunnel motors," leading some observers to incorrectly identify the units as such or as GP15Ts, and giving them the nickname "baby tunnel motors" "]

Another great repair job even with the possible cracked gear, it sounds like to me, or it's getting ready to crack.

I was there for the Erie Hackawanna, and that pancake is burnt too charcoal

Do you hire someone to read all of these comments? No? Fine, I’ll do it. $20 an hour. 10. 5. I’ll do it for free. I’ll pay you. Another great fix. You’re a wizard Harry.

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

Haha, thanks.

The Lifelike and Bachman pancakes are suspiciously similar

Hermosa locomotora

On the subject of the actual Bachmann loco, I have always wondered why so many of Bachmann’s HO locomotives from the 80s had one power truck while the other one was a dummy. Curiously, their N locomotives had all wheels powered. Maybe it was just the ones that I bought.

These are based on the Southern Railway later Norfolk Southern.A train guy from N.C.And I saw these locomotive in action around Charlotte N.C.

@ericoxner326

5 күн бұрын

To add to this they where called GP50 . In real life saw them pulling a freight train at 55mph to maybe 65mph.It was 3 of them pulling a mixed freight.All have sense have there noses lowered.

I discovered that once Bachmann went to the Bachmann Plus line of trains, the flywheels and dual drive system was a definite improvement. However, they suffer from the same split gears issues that later Athearn and Proto 2000 locomotives have. I don't know if Bachmann has replacement gears for them, or if northwest short line offers a better replacement.

@Santaanacanyon

6 ай бұрын

Those split gears have ruined Bachmann’s reputation in both HO and N scale.

it is in very capable hands!

Surprised ya didnt change that cracked gear out as well when ya had it apart, sure looked like ya had the spare parts-! lol Running great-!

Serenity!

I noticed an extra spur gear from the donor motor. It may be a good idea to replace the cracked gear with it as long as it would fit. Another idea I had to experiment with is using MEK solvent to see if the solvent will bond the cracked nylon gears on the old Bachmanns. This would chemically fuse (melt) the crack, and it would a great alternative if it works. It's just a theory if it works. Also, I would use caution due to the VOC fumes if you want to try the experiment.

Serenity!! Really Smoke Iwanna lives to smoke another day.

Nice restoration. Interesting that lifelike motor fit the Bachmann locomotive so good. 👍

@MattKonsol

Жыл бұрын

Yup same with the lionel ho locomotives from around 1976-77 here im thinking?

Love the appearance of CatZilla

That motor looks suspiciously like an old Aurora AFX slot car motor.

Great video! Considering the amount of small parts cleaning you do, an ultrasonic cleaner would be nice I think.

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

I'm on the market for one.

I have learned a lot from you unfortunately running fast forward is hard to keep up on everything because it goes too fast.

@SMTMainline

2 ай бұрын

The sped up sections are 4x, you can set the playback speed to 0.25 by clicking the gear icon at the bottom left corner of your screen to make them play slower.

Ah yes, the pungent smell of burning electronics and the curl of white smoke. More often than not a sign of catastrophic failure. Luckily the force was with you, young trainmaster., I think the "help" from the cat made the difference!

That loco has the same motor(similar) or pancake motor as you said in a couple of my 0-4-0 switchers that I have One switcher body that I have is completely locked up. As a kid I was very hard on it when I used it. It was a very fast switcher and I would run it until it fly's off the tracks and I melted the body too by some foolishness of me with it.

Nice work 👍 What is that layout behind the mountain layout?

“Mighty crispy” 😂😂😂

great job againt

That armature looks like the ones in my old AFX slot cars.

Oh no, it’s the Erie Hackawanna!

Bachmann, enough said. Don’t get me wrong, they are good to get started with the basics of the hobby for someone starting out and not experienced, anything more than that, no.

perfectimente!!

The same problem can be found in all off the bachmann TTTE range, the sole exception is Daisy

The armature looks like the ones in my Aurora “Thunder Jet” slot cars from the ‘60s. The magnets also look very suspiciously “familiar” as well. I wonder if these are the same? It might be fun to try one of the reproductions from Auto World. I really don’t understand why manufacturers like Bachmann and Tyco didn’t put more into their drive trains.

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

Life like and Lionel used the same design, I wouldn't be surprised if they stole the designs from slot cars.

When you first started looking for parts, I would have bet you would try a Model Power motor for parts. Even though they’re similar, I see far fewer of the Model Power locos going bad.

Thank you SMT very much for joining and interacting with us! We love your Model Railroad videos! www.youtube.com/@MoosesWorkshop

Good job! That is kind of what I expected on the engine. Those pancake Bachmann motors are one of my least favorite. I think I have 2 or 3 of them where the housing is melted. I remember seeing that on the live stream.

9:06 The scrapyard. Broken model trains are real!

Substitute an Athean drive and call it a day. Fixing a Bachmann engine is like preparing a carp. You clean and filet the fish on a board, throw away the fish, and eat the board.

I think those old pancake motors are way more prone to gear failure because the motor is so close to them, it heats them up, deforms them, and makes them wear faster.

@johnbeck3270

Жыл бұрын

Bachmann had gear failures for years. The problem was with quality control. The assemblers had bins of these of these nylon gears and axle shafts. On went the gear whether it fit properly or not, sometimes there would be a locomotive that the gears were loose. I have an older N scale 2-8-0 ( pre Spectrum) that the axle gears split and all the drivers fell off.

Hi Harrison, omg such a cute cat, she seems to be a little bit older but of good character! (Chewing trees is not a bad character trait - that's just what cats do). I ♥cats.

@JBofBrisbane

Жыл бұрын

That's NerfCat - famous on this channel.

What is that cleaning tool you used at 15:41 in the video? I've been wanting to get one of those for a while but I have no clue what its called or where to get it.

@mercuryoak2

Жыл бұрын

Track brite track cleaner. Or track bright hope this helps if ok to let you know

Nice job there. Did you replace the springs in the unit? If so, how was the performance? You also have a really nice layout. I sure wish I got my up and running. Some day.

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

I think I used the life-like springs but I can't remember to be honest.

SMT"I dont know if it was the armuture or the coils" if it was me i would be like "I dont care whats rong with it but as long as it works IM FINE"

I have this locomotive, it runs great

16:21 Oh No, Not Again!

It’s the Erie hackawana

dont it need to be coal between comutator and spring. just wondering havent done any bachmann. i do though work alot with small motors. great vid.

in my younger days i tended to over lube my locos, now im older wiser and a bit more experienced, and have learned that when they say just a little dab will do it they mean it!!

SMT awesome!!!

What did you use on the end of your q-tips for cleaning?

@SMTMainline

6 ай бұрын

Rubbing alcohol

I like those pencils, and use them in several applications, but I’m concerned about using them on commutators. The metal is very thin and scratches easily. I use denatured alcohol and a soft paint brush. The excess alcohol evaporates and leaves no residue. Your thoughts, Harris?

@SMTMainline

6 ай бұрын

I'm not too concerned since they are not too abrasive. Alcohol will remove carbon and oil nicely but of the metal has been sitting it could be oxidized which the alcohol will only make worse.

It was good as you had spare pats available. What do you do to find replacement parts?

@SMTMainline

Жыл бұрын

Out of locomotives not worth saving.

👍

The "Inspector" showed up.

So my lionel polar express chuff sound isn't working anymore after it derailed around my floor layout,could you know why?

Awesome video 😊

awwww, the cat