Tender contacts for N scale Bachmann 4-8-4 I was reading a thread on the AT&SF 4-8-4, specifically concerning the Bachmann model. I have one that I have redetailed, with new handrails, etc. I read several post about addng contacts to the tender. I also added electrical contacts to the tender trucks. I didn't need to scratchbuild the parts, I just used the Kato parts for their SP GS-4. Yes, the GS-4 has 3-axle trucks, vs. 4-axles on the Bachmann, but the axle-to-axle spacing is the same. The parts just dropped in. So, I still get three axles worth of wheel pickup per truck, compared to zero per truck from the factory. Net gain of 12 wheels of electrical pickup. The contacts from the Kato trucks have a tab on top, that contacts a phosphor-bronze strip in the tender. These tabs have to be removed, flush with the top of the contact. The center rib on the Bachmann trucks (that runs between the sideframe and the center "rail" of each truck) also has to be removed, giving you room to run wires down to the contacts. I use the Kato axle sets, since they are the split-axle type. The fourth axle in each truck is the original Bachmann part. As for the wire, I use the 32-gauge wire from TCS. It's very small and much more flexible than the wire from Digitrax. I run the wires up to two strips inside the tender, one for each side, which the decoder power wires also attach to.
Jonathan, nice job on that Bachmann Northern, as nice as I've seen. I particularly like the freestanding detail and your tender pickup idea is very clever...(I wonder whether it would work on my brass 2900's...I think I will give it a try). The only comment I would make is on the tender numbers and a lot of guys seem to make the same mistake: the numbers on the decal set are too tight, they need to be opened up to look right./...see attached photo. But overall, a great job, very Santa Fe! Regards, Otto K.
I believe you saw my pick up idea/discovery from way back when!!!!! Im glad its helped!!! I figured it out when i was building the first Kato GS4/ATSF Northern conversions. It works very well. Otto, if youd consider using the Bmann trucks under your brass, it would work fine. All of my Conversion northerns have the kato pickups on the 4 axle trucks and i dont have any pickup issues with them what so ever.
Nice looking engine Jonathan.... Here are a few of my Kato GS-4 conversion with my castings installed..... Adam Drasko came up with many of the early ideas.
Otto, sisters 3771 and 3772 are now earning their keep at the barren world of their new home, impatiently waiting for the roundhouse to be raised.
I'd love to give you credit, but I just joined this site a few weeks ago.......... I assumed someone else may have figured out the same thing. I do like to come up with different ways of doing things, and this was one of those things. The funny thing is, I was actually working on a "Coast-to-Coast" tender for a Pennsy loco for my friend Chris Broughton. We had been trying to figure out some way to add pickups to the Bachmann 8-wheel tender, and were getting nowhere. In the meantime, I had ordered a set of the Kato trucks, to put under an old Con-Cor Berkshire tender. I had always used the Walthers trucks, but I had already bought their last set. Just for the heck of it, I decided to see if the contacts would fit the Bachmann trucks, and well, you know the rest of the story. BTW, the tender on my 4-8-4 has a couple of mistakes, one is blatant, and the other depends on the prototype photo used. The rear railing on top of the tender, is too far forward. The other is the numeral spacing on the tender sides. I have seen some of the 4-8-4's with close spacing, and some with them spread out. I decided to do one closely spaced, siince my #3779 has the wider spread layout. Also, I'm attaching a pic of the loco, after I had my friend Chris do a little weathering. (I don't own an airbrush.......)
I agree, they do look too close. On my other 4-8-4, #3779, I spaced them further apart. I wanted some variety.............. On the other hand, I have seen them close together, see the attached links: http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_sf2914.jpg http://atsf.railfan.net/atsfpres/atsf2925.jpg http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?//may99/05-04-99/atxsf2928steam.jpg If you look at the relationship between the numerals and the vertical rivet rows, the numbers are definitely closer together. Maybe it depended on who painted the tender that day?
Actually it was on a thread on the Atlas forum MANY years ago so I was figuring that you were reading an old thread from there. Thats where i spilled the beans on the GS4 contacts and showed diagrams of how it was done. Good job figuring it out. Engine looks good.
Thanks! I do have a shining moment every once in a while............... I tried to post some more pics of it after it was wetahered, but I just kept getting an "!". I guess maybe the files are too big? For the record, I model eastern lines, but have always thought the Santa Fe 4-8-4's were really nice looking locos. I justify having a few based on the fact that the Pennsy leased a few 2-10-4's in 1956. Building a 2-10-4 from a 4-8-4 is one of my "soon to happen" projects. It's in the planning stages right now.
Word of advice as i already tried it. Try using a Kato GS4 mech instead. The bachmann is a little too stout to cut down and align nicely. Also, using the Bmann valvegear will ease things a bit since the Kato stuff will have to move forward alot for the fifth driver as you will need to add it to the front of the driver set.
Thanks for the advice! I had been looking at both mechanisms. If I would use a Bachmann, it would be the older, plastic frame type. The only problem with those is that they don't always run very well, and that's before another drive axle is added! I would love to find valve gear other than the Bachmann, simply because it doesn't look so good. I really wish they would just go ahead and redo the whole loco. The new split frame models run great, but still look a little "iffy", even after redetailing. As for the GS-4 mechanism, they run beautifully, but I would have a hard time cutting a GS-4 apart.........They're so nice looking!
Jonathan, welcome to the group; nice work on the ATSF Northern. We can use more Santa Fe steam guys around here... As to the tender lettering, I must respectfully disagree; all three of your proto photos were taken at an oblique angle and a foreshortened perspective. I believe the accurate way to number large ATSF steam is to have the four digit engine number fill the entire space between and below the S and the E. One needs to look at flat side elevations or photos to get the correct perspective. There are some exceptions, but they have to do with spacing conventions involving skinny letters or numerals; ie 2911 or 3781 where the 1 is pushed closer to avoid an unbalanced gap. Just my humble opinion... Regards, Otto K.
The perspective doesn't alter the relative alignment. As someone who minored in art (many years ago....), I have a pretty good working knowledge of perspective. That being said, I do think they are a little "squeezed".The bad news is, the loco is already weathered, so the decals probably won't be changed............... But, in my defense: http://atsf.railfan.net/atsfpres/atsf2913.jpg Granted, that one is a repaint, but I won't tell. I have also seen some where the number was as long as the "Santa Fe". Again, it may depend on who the painter was. Stencils usually were placed one number at a time, so the spacing could have been altered. I will agree that the numbers do look better stretched out.
Dont be scared, im pretty sure i was the first to take a saw to one when they came out so i can help if ya need it. I have a partial frame i was turning in to an ATSF 4-6-4 and havent done anything with it since i made the cut if you need a partial frame. maybe we can do some trading or something. As for the lettering. Im going to have to go with Otto on this one. Ill just say he knows his ATSF steam. The lettering should be spaced a LOT more. Nothing against ya but Otto knows his stuff and i take his word like a bible when it comes to Cajon Pass and ATSF info. The last loco pic is a repaint and the numbers were most likely included in that repaint excluding the shops set of stencils.
heres a crude model from 6 years ago!!!! You need to go with the GS4 mech for the nice drivers. They will kill this model!! [/url
I'm never afraid to take a saw to anything. In fact, one of the threads on here is devoted to a Pennsy E6 Atlantic kitbash that I did, that I'm selling on ebay. It started life as a K4 "Pacific"! I won't say that I like to cut things apart, but it does help to make non-available locos.I will ask the Santa Fe folks on here one question about the 2-10-4's. Did they use the same boiler as the 4-8-4's? The overall length is only about 3' different, and they look very similar. As for the numbers, I definitely agree that they're not right. I have to have some sort of future project, right? I do wish I would have fixed it before weathering. One other thing about the Microscale Santa Fe set, and any other set printed in silver (SP diesels), is that the decal ink "runs" if you spray it with dullcote. I always place a patch of clear decal film over the numbers, to seal them, before dullcoting. I don't know why this happens. Back to my first 4-8-4, I had it all decaled, and then the dullcote blurred all of the numbers and letters. Had to redo the whole thing............
Ive had the same screw up with dullcote. It was on an ATSF express reefer i was building in a hotel room in Burlington, Washington for work. It was hard enough to spray the dullcoat in the room without much smell and all so seeing the decals run kinda pissed me off. As for the boilers. They are extremely similar and off the top of my head, you have to add length between the steam dome and cab. Your 3 feet does sound correct though although i havent researched it in a very long while. The unfortunate thing is the Bmann northern drivers arent a true 79" and are closer to the 74" required for a 5011 class............... That really throws a wrench into the aesthetics of this engine.
I thought I was the only one spray painting models in hotel rooms, while on business trips........... BTW, thanks for the info on where to add the length. I knew the drivers on the Bachmann were actually too small for a 4-8-4, but almost perfect for the 2-10-4. Again, I wish Bachmann would redo the whole 4-8-4, hopefully as a Spectrum model. The tender isn't too bad, but I do wish they had a six axle model, like behind 3751.
