Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-2

Bachmann are, it seems, about to release this model again. Can anyone tell me if these have been improved over the years, or is the new one essentially the same as all the previous ones?
I believe that some of the split chassis locos, e.g. the J72, have been improved over the years with better/stronger axles. I'm not sure if this is the case with the Ivatt 2-6-2 tank.
Some of the newer Ivatt 2-6-2's seem to have smaller couplings. I prefer the older Mainline style ones: can the new ones be unscrewed and replaced with the Mainline couplings?
Thanks

On Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:52:54 +0100, Gerald H
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I have to say that I threw away a Bachmann J72. It was cheap, but it ran very poorly indeed. When it ran at all.
Guy

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Mine runs OK once it warms up. Until then it emits smoke - from the cab.

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Now that's what you call a true to prototype model!
Fred X

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If the fireman was smoking shag!

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That would indicate oil on the armature and commutator. I'd have said "excess oil" but there shouldn't be any there.
Regards, Greg.P. NZ

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I took it all apart, split chassis and all, and cleaned it up once. I guess I need to do it again.

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That smoke has to come from somewhere! (ie somewhere more specific than "the cab") Oil impregnated brushes from previous over-oiling are a possibility, if you're sure you did it right last time in cleaning the motor. In my experience that can only be fixed by replacement of the brushes.
Regards, Greg.P.

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I have never oiled it since I bought it (new, AFAIK).

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Hi Martin,
In that case there's something seriously wrong! There's very little that can smoke if you eliminate excessive oil. - The armature windings can burn off the shellac insulation. - Wrong material brushes can burn. In either case the smoke would get worse the longer you run it.
Regards, Greg.P. NZ

One other issue I was concerned with regarding the Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-2 was whether it would go round UK first radius curves. I figured that an earlier version was more likely to, so I picked up a mint example at the local swapmeet. This goes around first radius curves with ease.
It's a shame that Bachmann and Hornby give the impression that 2nd radius is the minimum for most of their locos, when quite a number will negotiate 1st radius, as it stops me buying more modern locos.

"Gerald H" wrote
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The real shame is that we still insist on using curves as tight as 'first radius' but rest assured all of the smaller Bachmann and Hornby locos will manage these comfortably. It's only the larger locos that need 'second radius'.
John.

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All my locos except one will negotiate 1st radius, albeit with a bit of binding. The exception is the Bachmann 9F, which derails on some 2nd radius points (but not others).

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If you insist, or have to, use curves as found on industrial railway you should stick to four and six wheeled tank/diesel engines... The point being, modern RTR models have become scale models rather than toys, 20 years ago one still had to kit and scratch build to get the standards now found out of the box, you can't expect to have scale models and then expect them to go around grossly non-scale curves - if you do say good-bye to scale wheels and a lot of main-frame detailing.

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My Dad has three failed J72s, one of which is on its second chassis. It's a shame, because they're nice models. Mainly Trains sell a chassis kit for them and Dad's bought one so we might get a J72 back up and running eventually. They also do a kit to convert a J72 to a J71 which might be an interesting use of one of the other wrecks.

"Gerald H" wrote
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It would be nice to think that they'd incorporated the chassis from the 2MT 2-6-0, but somehow I doubt it. Unless they've gone down that route I suspect we're still stuck with the dreaded split chassis and self-destructing wheel sets.
John.

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Do the J39s have a split chassis? We've never had any problems with them and yet the J72s have been awful.

"Graham Thurlwell" wrote
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Yes they do, but maybe they have a different design of wheelsets?
John.

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Possibly. It could also just be the case that my family use the J72s more intensively than we use the J39s, but in the relatively short time I've been reading this group I've never seen anyone complaining about failed J39s whereas J72s seem to come up every now and again.
I just wish that Bachmann would re-tool the J72 chassis, because the body is superb.

"Graham Thurlwell" wrote
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Never had any problems with the J39s, but the J72 and original BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 were legendary for bad long-term reliability. Both incidentally J72 & 4MT were originally tooled by Mainline.
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That body tooling is over 30 years old, and could do with a revamp in my opinion, but it's still not bad!
John.