The $20 Switcher. Bachmann FTA overhaul (Part I)

The $20 FT

Prototype Photo of a Switcher FT.

So if you read that title, what you're probably expecting to see is nothing all that special. While I can say that the bachmann model is definitely not the ideal FT model to begin with. That shared wheelbase and chassis from the F7 series isn't exactly prototypical. I had one of these in high school in warbonnet, or at least the horrible rendition of warbonnet Bachmann had the gall to say looked "Ok". It ended up in the scrap pile a LONG time ago, replaced by much more prototypical models as my skills and efforts to be prototypical improved. 

Fast forward to the TCA show in Denver, March of 2016. I was in the middle of college at the time, not too much money going around, I told myself I wasn't going to buy anything while I was at the show. Primarily I was going to spend my time running trains on the Colorado Rail Link layout. Well, there's been a trend when I bring stuff to run at TCA, people become interested in the cars I've already done work to and make offers for stuff I bought. Long story short, I ended up selling some things I hadn't intended to sell. This left me with some cash to walk around the show with. Now this particular show right across from the layout was a vendor who had what I would call a junk stand. From a distance it looks like a hodgepodge of anything model related that could be considered a train. Many scales, mostly older, cheaper things. Normally I give this booth a walk through, because occasionally you can find good items mixed in, or kitbashing fodder. 

Remember the FT with the god awful paint job I mentioned above? Well, as I walked through the dealer's display, there was an FT that caught my eye. At first glance, the paint made it look like it should be a Stewart or an Intermountain piece, but on closer inspection, it's a bachmann model. Price tag stuck to it says $15. Now, I've wanted an FT for some time, and at that point in history before I started working as an engineer, Money was not something I had a lot of. So $15 for an FT? Why not, paint was good, bachmann certainly had stepped up the game here. I had bachmann F unit chassis before that were good drives, paired to shells with poor quality. It ran good on the little test track, so I bought it, took it back over to rail link, and ran it. At the time, I thought about getting a B unit to go with it, maybe another A..... but it would have to wait until I could afford to do so. 

Upon returning home, I looked through my library of research material I have for the Santa Fe. One image that came back up was for an FT that had been equipped with footboards on the front. Upon closer inspection it had a headlight on the rear as well. I was intrigued and set about to find out more about this, eventually finding photos of 405 in Texas switching with fore and aft pilot boards and a backup light. At this point, I knew what I was going to do with my FT. 

Switcher FT, Mark I

So I knocked together the first iteration of the FT in one night over Spring Break. it was a rather crude invention, at the time I didn't have decals to number it yet, so two square holes in the carbody led straight over to the frame on the inside, I planned to just decal the frame. In the back of the unit glued to the carbody on top was a piece of styrene tube with an SMD LED stuck in it for the backup light. In the front of the unit, two pieces of stripwood were glued to the pilot to make the front running boards, there were no brackets. In the rear, some styrene had been cobbled together to make the running boards for the back of the unit. A spare partially burnt DZ125 decoder was installed in the unit as well. It certainly wasn't the prettiest thing to ever grace the club layout, however it was a decent "stand in" given the current budget during College. I ran the unit quite a bit, the running boards had a tendency to just fall off and the backup light was wayyyy too small to be prototypical. One of the last things this version got was I found a spare Details West F unit door in the parts bin from an older project, so I hacked up the end of the bachmann unit and the Mark 1.5 veresion of the FT came into play, it looked much better than the stock end of the unit when switching.

Switcher FT, Mark II

Not too much later, it was May of 2016, college was letting out for the Summer, and I was looking for a job. I ended up getting hired as an engineer on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, and compared to my original minimum wage fast food and grocery store jobs of yore, I had money to put towards modeling. However during the tourist season, this meant no time to work on models. During the summer I purchased an ABBA of stewart FT's, getting the authentic lashup I wanted. However, so much as it tempted me to find a single Stewart or Intermountain A unit to replace the bachmann, my sentimentality made me end up keeping it.

I purchased Microscale decals to number the stewart FT's and also went ahead and cut out the hole in the bachmann shell to match the side numberboards on the stewarts. The bachmann FT got numbered as well, gaining the number 405. I also fabricated new running boards out of styrene and stripwood for the front, giving a more proto look, and also re-enforcing the running boards so they wouldn't fall off anymore. I also purchased a Cal-Scale backup light that was appropriate for the real ones the FT switchers had. It was installed in place of the styrene tube.  The rear running boards were re-designed, and again installed.  This worked out pretty well during the summer, but I wasn't 100% happy with it. 

Switcher FT, Mark III (current)

So here we are, its October of 2016. What else have I done to the unit? Well, the Mark III upgrade occurred in August of 2016, mostly as a tidy up of previous work. The rear running board came off for yet another re-design, it kept falling off. I created new styrene inserts for the numberboards on the sides and moved the numbers closer to the side of the carbody. The bachmann shell was so thick, that with the old method of the numbers being on the frame, you couldn't see the numbers unless you looked staight on from the side. Eventually this will also get a frame around it to match the stewarts. I also did some drivetrain improvements, the contacts in the trucks were replaced with new wire ones, and they were hardwired to the decoder, no longer does the unit use it's frame to conduct power. This about brings us to the current point of the project.

Fireman's Side long shot.

Looking down the firemans Side of the FT. You can see my running boards on the front and the numberboard on the nose that was fabricated from styrene. 

Rear of the FT 

Looking at the rear of the FT, showing off the details west door and cal scale headlight. Minus my running board thats out service. 

Engineers side, missing some decals I see...

The drive next to the shell. 

A shot of the shell sitting next to the frame, you can see the old frame attached decals on the frame, and the new styrene ones on the shell. This rats nest is going to be cleared out when the lokpilot goes in.

So there we have it, if you count actual money spent on the unit at this point, we're sitting at around $20. Most parts came out of the scrap bin or from older project. Still to do is to order some dynamic brake blower boxes from Stewart, install the rear running boards again, and a crew to add. 

Stay tuned for part 2 when the above gets finished and then we take it out for another test drive.

-Jimmy

HCB Brass 4-6-2 Pacific 3160 Class (3400 Class)

Our first article for the blog here is going to be about a recent purchase I made to which I could find very limited information about. This article is to help potential buyers for other HCB products figure out some more about them.

From what I've been able to determine from google searches online, HCB was a Japanese company that produced models imported to the US by AHM. Some boxes I've seen pictures of say AHM along with HCB, however mine came without a box, so your mileage may vary here. 

This particular model is supposed to be of an ATSF "3160 class" according to the box. However 3160 was a class of 2-8-2 Mikado, not a pacific.  Looking through Worley's "Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail" I found a match in the 3400 class Pacifics, so from this point forward I'll refer to it as a 3400 Class Pacific. 

Worley's book indicates there were a total of 50 units in the 3400 class, 3400-3449 built between 1919 and 1924. There were a combination of coal fired and oil fired units in service and all seem to have lasted into the early 1950's. Some received the larger square tenders and boxpok drivers to improve distance and high speed operation. Photographs of the engines seem to indicate they were used rather system wide instead of being held in certain operational districts. There are photos of the engines being equipped with flip over stack extenders and the curved folding style stack extenders at different times. 

As for the model, it is a little bit different so far as brass goes. The model is quite heavy and has a decent amount of tractive effort, however this is all because of its metal underframe. There is no boiler weight, and although the model is "brass" it does seem to be a different brass than I've ever seen anywhere else. It's much lighter and has a different feel that everything else I have. Paint finish is immaculate on mine, and this appears to extend to the other HCB pacific's I've seen on ebay. 

Long shot of the firemans side.

So, there we have a view of the HCB 4-6-2 Pacific on the fireman's side. Finish looks good, this one has a slight bend in the cab roof, but that will get masked with paint and weathering.

I will note at this time that the model came with the coal load in the tender. Viewing other HCB auctions seems to indicate this the norm for these models to come with.

Head on shot of the Pacific, Elasco Feedwater heater tank is under the smokebox.

Engineer's side of the engine. 

Power Chassis

View of the power chassis and frame. HCB used a different kind of material to do the base frame (the black metal). This is where the bulk of the model's weight comes from, as there is no boiler weight. The drivetrain is slightly different from most engines out there, I've been told it's similar to MDC's system for driving the wheels. The motor doesn't pick up power from the drawbar like most brass either, there's a wire that goes to the tender, there is no spot above the drawbar connection for a wire to be soldered to on this model. 

View of the interesting drivetrain

A view dead on the drivetrain, a worm gear on the motor shaft powers an idler gear and the main gear on the axle. This setup is a little odd for a brass manufacturer. The drive noise exists but is tolerable, and it runs very smooth. I have yet to really be able to see how it does on a layout but on the test track it seems to have a decent amount of pull. The motor torque on this particular open frame isn't anything to write home about, that will be tested more thoroughly when I get it to the club. Like most open frames, you can achieve slot car like acceleration and top speeds. 

Tender shot.

The tender has some very pronounced rivets on it, and it weighs about as much as the engine. While the tender is painted brass, it appears looking at the bottom of the tender that the frame itself is a silver metallic type metal where the finish is scratched off. 

In all a decent brass model, and usually can be had cheaper than most equivalent brass. If you have any more information on HCB models, please send me a message. 

-Jimmy