Post by Mopacman on Mar 6, 2024 3:38:03 GMT
Good evening,
There is nothing like experiencing a humbling self-induced event with my trains and sharing it in order that it does not happen to anyone else. Last night I was running a Williams SD90 Heritage engine, pulling a long freight train. After an extended time of watching this engine effortlessly pull the consist, I momentarily looked away. Big mistake. I saw the engine derail, and the front truck come completely loose from the frame. The engine came a bit too close to falling off of the table for my comfort level. The issue was a truck mounting screw that came completely out of the bottom of the truck. Apparently when I performed maintenance on this engine, I failed to tighten the screw tight enough. For those of you who are familiar with Williams engines, you may have experienced an audible noise when stopping your engines if the truck mounting screw is over-tightened. For that reason, I typically tighten the screws until they are snug, but no more than that. Ironically, one of the lead boxcars that I was running in the consist has a large magnet fastened to the bottom of the frame. I periodically pull it to find loose track screws, shell mounting screws, etc. On this night, it picked up the errant truck mounting screw.
The repair was simple, and the engine again runs great! I never miss an opportunity to plug the Williams engines. I have several of them, and they have been really enjoyable to run. Although not the most prototypical, I think they are very well made. Does anyone out there have any information on Bachmann's future plans for the O scale line? In reviewing the Williams by Bachmann product line website, I am seeing very few different models, and they are getting expensive (as are the used engines on Ebay).
There is nothing like experiencing a humbling self-induced event with my trains and sharing it in order that it does not happen to anyone else. Last night I was running a Williams SD90 Heritage engine, pulling a long freight train. After an extended time of watching this engine effortlessly pull the consist, I momentarily looked away. Big mistake. I saw the engine derail, and the front truck come completely loose from the frame. The engine came a bit too close to falling off of the table for my comfort level. The issue was a truck mounting screw that came completely out of the bottom of the truck. Apparently when I performed maintenance on this engine, I failed to tighten the screw tight enough. For those of you who are familiar with Williams engines, you may have experienced an audible noise when stopping your engines if the truck mounting screw is over-tightened. For that reason, I typically tighten the screws until they are snug, but no more than that. Ironically, one of the lead boxcars that I was running in the consist has a large magnet fastened to the bottom of the frame. I periodically pull it to find loose track screws, shell mounting screws, etc. On this night, it picked up the errant truck mounting screw.
The repair was simple, and the engine again runs great! I never miss an opportunity to plug the Williams engines. I have several of them, and they have been really enjoyable to run. Although not the most prototypical, I think they are very well made. Does anyone out there have any information on Bachmann's future plans for the O scale line? In reviewing the Williams by Bachmann product line website, I am seeing very few different models, and they are getting expensive (as are the used engines on Ebay).
