Just ripped through my brain here at library now...I damaged a decoder wire at the orange plug once or twice merely fiddling with the tender in some way or other.. you name it...Many of us try to rely on the draw bar to do this job.. But many times we don't see it come off the pin. We, say, drop or tweak the tender too far and, boom ! Well, at least, I have. Thinking : What if we took a female part of a tie pin (I mean as in suit and tie, say) and push it on to the male tender pin once draw bar is on...If no that piece of jewelry perhaps something to lock draw bar onto pin...know, many times we DO want bar off..
Interesting idea with the tie pin backer. I don't run steam but if I'm conceiving the problem correctly one could even use the eraser off a standard pencil to secure the drawbar pin. It's a bit smaller in diameter. Not quite as secure as a tie pin backer but its removable and reusable. Brian
Hi may this part from soundtraxx can help http://www.soundtraxx.com/access/Images/DBX-9000.jpg or did I understand you wrong ? Regards Karsten
It's a creative idea, but my first order of business would be to figure out how to keep the loco's drawbar from sagging. I would use a combo of Kadee shims and bending the drawbar so that it doesn't want to come off the pin on the tender. So far, that orientation to the problem, and it is somewhat common in the HO steam world where drawbars slip onto pins and are not of the pinching type, seems to have me enjoying reliable operations.
Crandell, ouch! What on earth do you mean " bending the draw bar so that it....." ? Sounds scary ! What I'm suggesting is the idea that we keep the draw bar on the pin by way of some object attached to pin preventing bar sliding off whilst messing with tender and loco mechanisms. Unless it is an impossible job if keeping units coupled, a simple way to know they're still together so as to not put strain on tiny wires. Of course many will merely unplug units to begin with. But, sometimes doing this ruins something at plugs to boot...Thus I picture the female part of a (dress) tie-pin to be the lock. Haven't tried it yet myself. But, anything which will clamp onto pin to keep bar on pin is all I'm gettin' at... M PS. Another way could be a short, short piece of rubber tubing, inside Diam. a tad smaller than pin.....
there is a soft rubber like piece that comes with earrings (pierced) or can be purchased at hobby stores (Michaels / AC Moore) used to make such earrings. not sure of the pin diameter as I am in N Scale...but it might stretch enough???...to be pushed onto the bottom of said pin. [I use them for switching peco turnouts]. http://www.michaels.com/search?q=earring backs fwiw respectfully Gary
Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, Mark. Sorry. I just meant that I prefer to fiddle first before I resort to more creative or additive/modifying processes. The little cap you mention would work if you could use a tool to impart a thread to the outside surface of the towing pin. I just have found that actually bending the drawbar a bit helps to keep it further up the pin so that it doesn't slide down and off at any point during its tour around the layout. Seriously, I have had to do this to at least three BLI steamers so far. I don't like having to do it, but the alternative is a lot of other work or doing without the locomotive's use. Once the two or more kinks, very slight usually, are in place, the pair work marvelously. The process takes me maybe four minutes at most. Also, the post just above mine suggests tubing. I believe you can get relatively thin gas line for RC aircraft and other small internal combustion engines that little collars made of it slipped over the ends of the pins might do the magic.
One of of my locos has a particularly annoying drawbar - seems to want to drop off the tender pin when putting the locomotive on the rails or re-railing the front tender truck. The pin wasn't particularly long. I used a piece of insulation from a larger wire size - I think it was 12 gauge solid wire I use for DCC buses. Worked like the rubber grommet idea, but no driving to the store. George V.
Glad tender trucks were brought up here.. I'm betting most of you who own the HO Bach Connie have been annoyed by the decoder wires consistently lifting the front truck up off the rails ! Of course, adding weight to tender would solve this. But those truck pins (screws) are really tough to get back on due to their overhead nuts inside its weight. Mine is on its way to Bachmann as we speak. I tore out some wires plus couldn't get those trucks, which never had to be removed to begin with, back on. Very clumsy affair. Wasn't even enough room for tweezers to hold nut whilst turning screw ... for me, anyway... I like the adding threads on pin idea. But then watch, nut will jiggle down and drop off in a tunnel....
I used a very small o-ring on the post on several Bachmann steamers. Worked well and still allowed disassembly when required.
I have used similar on non-train gadgets. A small o-ring from the hardware store over the pin. It will not hang below the pin like a tie tack clasp yet hold as well or better. And they are cheap, readily available, and look better. Thanks for the reminder. I have had issues with my 0-6-4 uncoupling and had forgotten about that simple fix.
