A.K.A. what I spent an hour or two doing earlier this evening...
Acquired another one of Bachmann's very nice green Jackson Sharpe coaches for my recent birthday, but like the prior coach, the brass strips scraping against the axles for interior lighting power pickup leave just about everything to be desired... To counter this, I've found that LGB 3080/1 coach trucks fit exactly into the spot the original Bachmann trucks do. (Made of better plastic to boot.) LGB brushes also work wonders for power pickup versus the scraping of the brass plates.
Thanks to the wondrous folks at Reindeer Pass/Kidman Tree Farm, I acquired both items, and got right to work. Here you can see the differences between the trucks and contact design.
After unscrewing and disassembling the Bachmann trucks, the contact plates can be unscrewed and pulled away after forcing through small blobs of retaining plastic, and then the wires peel (worryingly) easily out of the factory solder, leaving them free.
Push the wires into and through the tube slots for brush contacts, and then solder the LGB contacts to the wires, and shove them back in once the solder hardens and the contacts aren't blistering hot...
Do this four times for four brushes, and then attach the new LGB trucks, preferably with new/stainless wheels added into the mix.
The new coach is ready to go, and now matches the first one, making a fine pair of varnish.
Lights off, and viola. Reliable track powered lighting, with nary a flicker from plastic switch frogs and/or other things.
If a nincompoop like me can do this, any one of you can too.
Acquired another one of Bachmann's very nice green Jackson Sharpe coaches for my recent birthday, but like the prior coach, the brass strips scraping against the axles for interior lighting power pickup leave just about everything to be desired... To counter this, I've found that LGB 3080/1 coach trucks fit exactly into the spot the original Bachmann trucks do. (Made of better plastic to boot.) LGB brushes also work wonders for power pickup versus the scraping of the brass plates.
Thanks to the wondrous folks at Reindeer Pass/Kidman Tree Farm, I acquired both items, and got right to work. Here you can see the differences between the trucks and contact design.
After unscrewing and disassembling the Bachmann trucks, the contact plates can be unscrewed and pulled away after forcing through small blobs of retaining plastic, and then the wires peel (worryingly) easily out of the factory solder, leaving them free.
Push the wires into and through the tube slots for brush contacts, and then solder the LGB contacts to the wires, and shove them back in once the solder hardens and the contacts aren't blistering hot...
Do this four times for four brushes, and then attach the new LGB trucks, preferably with new/stainless wheels added into the mix.
The new coach is ready to go, and now matches the first one, making a fine pair of varnish.
Lights off, and viola. Reliable track powered lighting, with nary a flicker from plastic switch frogs and/or other things.
If a nincompoop like me can do this, any one of you can too.