Cracked Gears on Bachmann PCC Trolley

I purchase one of these, however it runs poorly. I think the issue could cracked gears in the trucks. I see a fine line across the gear and when I apply power the trolley may go forward slighlty and then seizes up. It runs ok if I have upside down and there is no pressure on the wheels.

Bachmann is out of the replacement trucks.

I found replacement gears on Shapeways: https://www.shapeways.com/product/9SQNXVNJ5/bachmann-n-street-car-brill-trolley-gears-1st-gen. Has anyone tried 3d print gears?

Also was considering swapping out the whole chasis for a new power train, but didn't know of anything in production that would be a good fit.

 

I bought the ones shown above to have on hand that work on a Bachmann Doodlebug that I add DCC to. It seems the three Doodlebugs I have maybe don't have broken gears at this point but while they are available I got them. More info from James about the Doodlebug and the gear problem ( HERE ) and ( HERE ) and how to order them on Shapeways ( HERE ).

So at this point I have them but haven't used them so can't help from that point of view. I'm hoping they will work if I need them and I probably would never put a lot of hours on one of the Doodlebugs so would hope they would work in that situation.

Sumner

 

Cracked gears are common on older Bmann stuff. As far as another chassis take the measurements on the power chassis in MMs and then look at TomyTec power chassis. You may need the truck spacing measurements also.

 

Okay, if you send me your address I will send you a donor chassis. You can strip it for any usable parts. The Tomytec TM-19 fits the shell perfectly.

 

ive printed one gear with my ender 3 and it came out great, its still working so far. took me a bit ti get it designed just right. ive had to use super glue on one as well , that loco is still working good and its been about 8 months or so when i did that.

 

Nice, was it for a Bachmann or something else? What software did you use? I've seen some software out here to help in designing gears, Gear Generator, but have never tried it.

Sumner

 

sumner it was for a kato unit . the gear got hot from slipping that it just would not work then it got a bit chewed up. for software i used a gear maker from some place cant remember where and worked with it through tinker to finally get it right. it took me a while. i made a lot of prints too, then one time it printed out perfect . i did have to drill a hole and file a spot on the steel shaft so the glue would grab. other gears ive printed was for the oil pumper oil rig. those came out sweet . didn't even need to file those. all that tinkering with the ender is paying off with great prints.
im still working on learning fushion 360 but im finding it hard to learn (im not real smart and mostly learn by jumping in head first cracking the noggin a time or two )

 

Thanks! How does it look with the truck placement? I had passed over it in my search because the truck spacing looked too wide.

 

I hope you can see the wheels enough, if not, I will try tomorrow with better light.

 

Not a great enlargement but maybe it will help,

Sumner

 

Thank you Mr. Sumner!

 

I have one new one bone stock and the mass and awd is amazing for getting traction and staying on the curves, and I have a tomytech chassis one, which is much lighter despite all the lights and sparking pole stuff I added but those are fwd only and 1/4 the weight.

if you can find a non runner black geared one cheap On eBay get it and canabalize the trucks?

 

Depends. There are two versions. White gears crack. Black don’t crack.
This the suggestion to cannabalize a black gear.

Homestly if it becomes an issue just buy another one for $35 new and be done with it.

that’s why I have 2. Black gear stock will go with TTrack modules, the now customized rechassissed one runs around my daughters mini Xmas tree in her room.

 

Unless I was after a particular model that only Bmann makes I would hit the Japan venders. They have a lot of trolleys that are better on details and better running. And most will run on less than a 9.75 inch radius like a 6 or 7 inch radius.

 

I run my stock pcc on 4” radius. The radius isn’t a problem. It’s the early white gears that crack, the later models with black gears are bulletproof.

 

I wanted the PCC specifically because it is the trolley that runs near my home. I also have the Kato pocketline tram and love it