Bachmann F-7s

[peteski]

Dunno what to tell you, Pete. In the long run, I'm not a fan of wheelback wipers either. But if the models run exceptionally well out of the box, does it really matter how they got there? I suspect that most people (IE the great non-posting majority) will be very happy with these.

Cheers,
-Mark

I know Mark, I know... 

[draskouasshat]

someone needs to grind down a chassis and slap a different shell be it a kato or IM so we can see if the trucks will swing freely for a good swap. i dont have any of these yet or i would. anybody care to try?

[SkipGear]

To tell the truth, I'm beginning to doubt the robustness of the Kato style pickup on diesels. I now have a Kato F7 and an NW2 that have worn through the needle point pickups enough that they are unusable. Both loco's have a little over a month of straight running on them. One on a holiday layout and one in our display layout at work. The good old Bachmann inside bearing system lasted till I wore the brushes completely away in the motors, about 4 months. By that time the flanges on the wheels were so sharp they could cut paper.

For somebody that is actually going to run and run these things, the Bachmann systems seems to hold up the best. Keep in mind, that is what those ancient LL GP38's had and I still have examples of those things that run great after 10+ years of hard running (my son letting them run on his roundy round layout for hours at a time).

[peteski]

To tell the truth, I'm beginning to doubt the robustness of the Kato style pickup on diesels. I now have a Kato F7 and an NW2 that have worn through the needle point pickups enough that they are unusable. Both loco's have a little over a month of straight running on them. One on a holiday layout and one in our display layout at work. The good old Bachmann inside bearing system lasted till I wore the brushes completely away in the motors, about 4 months. By that time the flanges on the wheels were so sharp they could cut paper.

For somebody that is actually going to run and run these things, the Bachmann systems seems to hold up the best. Keep in mind, that is what those ancient LL GP38's had and I still have examples of those things that run great after 10+ years of hard running (my son letting them run on his roundy round layout for hours at a time).

Were the bearing cups lubricated or dry?  When you say 1 month straight running do you mean around 720 hours?  That does seem like a relatively short life (assuming they were lubricated properly).

[spookshow]

Funny you should mention that, as I've recently had to spend a whole lot of time disassembling Kato and Intermountain trucks in order to clear the gunk out of the wiper cups. I'd sure like to know how it even gets in there! 

Cheers,
-Mark

[SkipGear]

Were the bearing cups lubricated or dry?  When you say 1 month straight running do you mean around 720 hours?  That does seem like a relatively short life (assuming they were lubricated properly).

Lubed bfore they hit the track and then checked once a week or so. The NW2 was running only store hours so about 10-11 hours a day. The NW2 was put on the display layout at the request of Kato as they were in the store after a local show. I sent it in to them after about a month and a half becuase of the main drive gear slipping, when we got it back, I put it on the layout and is lasted about a week before the trucks grounded out on the rails becuase the cups were worn so bad. I haven't had the desire to get it back on the layout.

[Puddington]

I have experienced the same issues with two Kato F units; the. Pick ups seem to wear out. My IM F units have shown no such problems. It is worth mentioning that both Kato F3 units were from the same run and my other dozen or so Kato's have performed well.