My Bachmann Heavy Mountain threw a main crank which caused the valve guides to bend. So I sent it to Bachmann and two months later I received a new locomotive from them. However, this one is DCC whereas my old one was analog. I haven't done anythng with it since I may want to send it back. My questions on this is this: Can I just remove the DCC chip and connect the two ends of the wiring harness or do I have to get something like a light board to replace the DCC chip? Also any know if the tender takes a 1015 or a 2004 MT coupler?
The heavy mountain was always DCC. You probably had a light mountain. The heavy mountain will run on DC as well. I use a 2004 on the tender but had to grind a little to make it work. And welcome to trainboard!
No it was a heavy mountain. Maybe the chip is one of those dual mode types. Thanks for the welcome but I have been here for about ten years. I was member #300.
Inky, If I may call you that after ten years:tb-biggrin:, I think they were DCC-equipped from the very beginning. I have only one, about a year old now, and it came with a decoder installed. It ran fine on my test loop, which is DC, and runs fine on the layout. An outstanding performer!
Okay, I change the coupler and I am good to go. My original engine ran great and until it threw a main crank was easily on par with the B'mann Consol and [dare I say] the Kato mike.
Mine outpulls any steamer I have. Well, I don't have any of the new mallets, but it does quite well up my 2.5% grades.
Yep, they're dual mode. Mine is a great runner/puller. It's noisier than either of my Kato Mike's but I appreciate the factory DCC.
I just bought my second Heavy Mountain: On eis going to be a GN P2, the second one a UP MT, so there are a fee more projects on my workbench (again). I like the engines, and though I have not put a lot of runtime on them yet they are smooth, silent, powerful and very well detailed. woo woo woo Kleins had them for 149 USD, including the dual-mode decoder. In my book that is a steal! Cheers Dirk
Bachmann hit a homerun when they released this fine steam locomotive. It is very nicely detailed and performs beautifully on level track and grades. The nmber of cars that this steamer can pull is amazing. The dual mode decoder is a great feature. Bachmann should have used a sound decoder in this loco as this is way N scale locomotives will be released in the years to come. The Spectrum Heavy mountain and the Spectrum J class 4-8-4 are a big step forward in Bachmann's design of steam locomotive's. Both steamers have exceptional pulling power and performance on grades and level track. Both clearly outclass the Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2 and Light Mountain 4-8-2 in performance and pulling power. This is a "must" steam locomotive for those that run steamers on their layouts. Bachmann states that this locomotive will run on 9 3/4 " radii. I think a minimum of 11 to 12"radii would be more appropriate,
I plan to get a Bachmann heavy 4-8-2 undecorated and do it up in Great Northern. I know they pulled passenger consists, but does anyone know if GN used these for freight consists? Thanks, John
With all the posts on the A forum about the 2-6-6-2 and its three pole motor rather than the advertized 5 pole I'm now beginning to wonder what motor Bachmann put into their heavy mountain. My hope is that it is not the three pole motor but somehow I think it may well be. Anyone know for sure?
Sorry to say but it is the new motor in them. As much as I lambasted them over the motor's going bad prematurely, I have a 2-6-6-2 that I am running through a tourture test and is close to pushing the 100 hour mark now. The loco performs well and has shown no signs of degrading as was shown over on the A board.
We've had the three-pole versus five-pole argument a few times here. I think we came to a consensus that a good three-pole motor works just fine, and probably better than a bad five-pole motor. I don't care what type of motor is in the heavy mountain. All I care about is that it is one of the finest steam locos yet produced.
My first Bachmann USRA heavy Mountain was a real smooth running gem ATER I broke it in. Suddenly it just quit running and Bachmann replaced it. I think I would rather have my old one back. Odd-d
I have one of each of the above mentioned Bachmann steamers. While it is slippery-footed, my 2-6-6-2 is a fine running loco, albeit noisy. In my opinion, the finest running/looking steamers to date (that I own) are the 4-8-4 J class and the 4-8-2 heavy mountain. The latter two out-pull my Kato Mikes, even with the traction tires. The dual mode decoder has funtioned quite well on DC on my layout.
Your basic premise is that the three pole motor is a good motor. But that is not what is being reported. Motor failures after twenty hours in some cases are being reported. That is not good. Then there is the whole deal with Backmann advertising the locomotives as having a 5 pole motor when they knew or should have known they didn't.
I keep hearing about how great their heavy 4-8-2s are. I guess Im not one of the lucky buyers. I bought 3 different units from 3 different places (woo woo woo woo woo woo, Trainworld, Favorite Spot), and 3 roadnames (Rio Grande, IC, C&O). ALL 3 have mechanical/physical issues. -C&O has its holes for the breakshoe/undercarriage piece drilled in the wrong position, so the break shoes scrape the drivers, also many misaligned detail parts. -Rio Grande's motor runs like it has metal bits spinning in it, also wobbles side to side. Took the tires off, tweeked tuned, no better results. Also the trailing truck axle was bent so that dances up and down when rolling. Surges, inconsistent speed changes. -IC again bent trailing truck axle. Has vertical and horizontal wobbling. Wheels in gauge, everything clean and aligned, but still no deal. Runs louder than it should but not as loud as the Rio Grande
