New 2-8-0-

[jr switch]

Well, drove up north about an hour to the nearest LHS that has a decent selection of trains and picked up my special ordered Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0. This thing is awesome! This is the best Spectrum Iv'e seen so far, Union Pacific, blackened hand rails, valve gear, etc., with the dark wheels with highlighted rims. Haven't run it yet, due to had to paint the engine / tender wiring flat black and letting it dry. Not many prototypes had red and pink wiring, as I remember.

I see now why the 2-8-0's are some of Dr. Waynes favorites. This just might replace my Decopod as no. 1 engine on my yet to be built and named railroad. On each side, in the rear, under the cab, are two lines that come down at a 45 degree angle. Does anyone know what these are? And I noticed also, this, like the Decopod, is belt driven. Does this system work ok for a reasonable amount of time or do these small drive belts wear out or break pretty early?

I have enough frieght cars now that I can somewhat judge pulling power, so I'll comment on that a little later. Thanks in advance for any 2-8-0 information or comments on this drive system-----JR

 

[Stuart]

On each side, in the rear, under the cab, are two lines that come down at a 45 degree angle. Does anyone know what these are? And I noticed also, this, like the Decopod, is belt driven. Does this system work ok for a reasonable amount of time or do these small drive belts wear out or break pretty early?

I have enough frieght cars now that I can somewhat judge pulling power, so I'll comment on that a little later. Thanks in advance for any 2-8-0 information or comments on this drive system-----JR

HI. Well done you will enjoy the loco. the 2 lines at 45 dedrees are the steam pines to the tender.
The belt drive is OK but if you start hearing a noise this will mean that the front shart carry bearing will need a drop of oil, I use labelle 103.
Pulling power is great for the 2-8-0 but the decapod don'y like to much of a grade.

Hope that helps.
Stuart

 

[jr switch]

Stuart, or Wayne---while painting the wires and the outside of the tender plug-in, [ being very careful so as not to get paint on contacts, ] I noticed that the tender trucks only turn to one side but not the other. The problem is a very small molded pin on the top of each truck that contacts the edge of a small rectangular section that is molded on the bottom of the tender frame. Can these small pins be cut off? Are they there for a reason? I haven't tried it yet, but with the very slight amount the truck can turn to the left, I'm afraid it will derail. Could the pins limit movement of the contacts or connections inside the tender? This isn't going to work the way it is. Any suggestions? JR

 

[doctorwayne]

JR, the pins on the tender trucks are to prevent the truck from turning around 180 degrees. The front tender truck picks up current from one rail, while the rear truck picks up from the opposite side. I've noticed in mine that which truck picks up from which rail varies, although these were from when the locos were first released. The circuit board inside the tender compensates for this, but I'd guess that swapping these tenders between locos might be a problem.
Those two lines, running at an angle beneath the cab, are part of the injector piping. The injectors, located on either side of the boiler, just ahead of the cab, are the method of moving water from the tender to the locomotive's boiler. The injectors on the Spectrum 2-8-0 appear similar to the Sellers Class M, although the control rods to the cab have not been modelled.

Not too easy to see, but the control rods have been added to mine. The longer of the two angled pipes is the pick-up pipe that delivers water from the tender to the injector. On the prototype, there would be a hose between the end of the pipe and the tender, but this is usually omitted on models because of our unprototypically tight radii. The short angled pipe is an overflow pipe, and the water from it would just dump on the track. The steam to run the injector is supplied by the curved ribbed pipe that comes out of the front wall of the cab, then curves down to enter the injector. On the prototype, to simplify, the steam is passed through a venturi, which causes a partial vacuum in the body of the injector, thereby drawing water through the supply line from the tender. The water and steam is forced through the pipe that runs alongside the boiler, then through the check valve and into the boiler. The fireman controls the operation of the injectors.
As for the drive belt, I've had no problems with any of mine. The belts are similar to those used in computers for running the cooling fans, so they should offer a long service life.

Wayne

 

[jr switch]

Wayne------Thanks for answering my questions. Are some or most of your 2-8-0's by Bachmann? I'm already quite attached to this engine and Iv'e only had it since this morning. This thing makes two or three different little noises, but none of them sound like a problem, but more like thats how it is normally. It seems to have plenty of pulling power, I have not been able to slow it down and it runs very smoothly at a very low scale speed. Why does this not have the drive rod driven pumps like the others? No little ecentrics driving anything!

The teardown diagram that came with it is not the same tender. This one is shaped like a tank car with a large square box on the front for coal. The reverse light on the tender
is not working and I can see no obvious way to take it apart, so I'll just not use it in reverse at night.

Thanks again---JR

 

[doctorwayne]

All six of my 2-8-0's are Bachmann Spectrums, and the four currently in service look like the one pictured. I have changed the headlight, and classification lights, and added number boards, cab sunshades, and a pilot mounted air tank. I've also moved the generator. The tender shown is the one supplied, shortened by about four feet, and with the coal bunker modified. The stock tender looks more like the one on the loco pictured below.

Are you certain that your loco is a Spectrum? There is an older Bachmann 2-8-0 that is not a Spectrum, and I believe that a Vanderbilt tender was available with it.

Wayne

 

[Old_Bob]

Both of those are great looking locos!
Question, a matter of curiosity: why the orange roof on the 2-8-0? I have seen that elsewhere as well.

 

[doctorwayne]

Thanks, Bob. The paint and lettering scheme on the Consolidation was based on that of my favourite prototype, the Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo. The mainstay of their freight operations was a small fleet of 2-8-0's, along with a similar-sized family of 0-6-0 switchers. They also rostered 3 Pacifics, a pair of ex-NYC Hudsons, and the only two Berkshires owned by a Canadian railroad.

Wayne

 

[jr switch]

Wayne----We have a sweet little canon and I have photos in a file ,but pics are too big so the system will not let me post them. I tried to follow the instructions on posting pics , but I don't see the "post replay or go advanced" sections and besides, as I said, the photos are too big anyway.
The 2-8-0 is a Spectrum, came in a Spectrum box and the hobby shop owner and I discussed the Spectrums verses the straight Bachmanns at length. I would think this is the Spectrum version with the Vanderbilt tender. I'll figure out how to reduce the picture size and get them posted.--- JR

 

[trainwhiz20]

JR - You can always use www.imageshack.us and link the photo if you're having too much trouble downsizing.

Personally, I'm with you on the Spectrum 2-8-0. It has to be my favorite locomotive in the small fleet I operate on my 4x7 HO layout. I equipped it with the plug-in Soundtraxx Decoder and DCC, and it's really an attention-getter.

I wish I only had the skills that our friend Doc Wayne had to add some handy details. I still have the default color wiring, mainly because I'm not the rivet counter type of modeller, although I've been thinking about really spicing this locomotive up.

But I've been very impressed with its performance and it's realism. (I've had it for about, what, 2 years now?) It's also a steam locomotive the PERFECT size for my layout. Here's a picture, albeit it's probably a year old or so when the layout was still in its late-early stages.

 

[brakie]

Wanye,What tender are you using with the 27 or did you add details? That is a sharp looking engine.

 

[cidchase]

Hi jr,
I just use mspaint to resize photos. Open the picture file using paint, click on Image,
Stretch/Skew, enter 50 (or whatever per cent you want) in Vertical AND Horizontal boxes,
click OK. Use File, Save As to change the name so you don't lose the original!
You can change the file type if you need to by clicking the pull-down arrow on the
"Save as type:" box.

Yessir, that Spectrum Consolidation is a sweet loco!!:thumb:

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

That Connie is a nice loco - it was my 2nd. Spectrum loco. I had an issue with the wiring going to the tender - there was so muck slack it lifted the front truck of the tender off the track. I had to open the engine and push the extra wiring into the loco. Other than that, it works great !!
Wayne, thanks for the explanation of how water gets to the boiler. I thought those two lines were for getting compressed air back to the train. Great engines you have. I did notice the enhancements you made to your loco.:thumb:

 

[doctorwayne]

Thanks guys. Larry, the tender is the stock tender that came with the loco. I shortened all four tenders by taking about 4' out of the length of the cistern. I then removed the "coal" load, and cut out the plastic substructure under it. A new coal bunker was built, with the bottom high enough to clear the wiring. I also built up the top of the bunker, as I've always liked the looks of clear-vision tenders. They also make sense on my layout, as the road power usually has to do a lot of en-route switching of industries. I added the handrails, both on the sides of the bunker and around the cistern deck, plus the grab hoops at the top of the ladder. There are also rests for the hatch lid, and a new back-up light, complete with a sheet metal shield above, to protect it from damage when the loco is being coaled. I also added about 2 ounces of weight in the rear of the tender, over the circuit board. When the bunker gets filled with loose "coal", it adds another 2 ounces of weight, which keeps it fairly well balance.
While the tender modifications are more apparent, the loco received changes, in addition to those mentioned earlier, that were intended to enhance its performance. This included removal of the lighting-related circuitry, which allowed for the addition of some custom-cast lead weights. I also filled the domes and any other available interior space with more lead. There is also a block of it in the cab, and all of the air tanks, including the new one on the pilot deck, are made of brass tubing, filled with lead. This necessitated repiping the entire air system. I also added lead weights above the front of the frame.
I have one more of these locos to rebuild for the Grand Valley, and while the tender will be the same, I have some ideas that will make it quite different in appearance from its four sisters. I would also like to equip all five locos with stoker engines, as my heavily-graded line must make these locos real backbreakers for my LPFs (little plastic firemen).
The sixth loco that I alluded to earlier is slated for conversion to a CNR N-2-b, a feedwater heater-equipped loco that was equal in tractive effort to most of the CNR's Mikados. That model is in an extremely stripped-down state at present.
Here're a couple of photos of the 27 again, showing the tender from different angles.

Wayne