J72

"Gregory Procter" wrote

Firstly avoid the old Mainline version at all costs. The mechanism was erratic and the plastic axles have a regular habit of splitting and allowing the wheels to go out of quarter.

Bachmann redesigned the drive slightly with an improved motor, and the latest ones (now sold out at Bachmann) run quite nicely - providing you get a good one to start with. The wheelsets are also improved and the splitting axles are now a thing of the past.

John.

"Lozy" wrote

I see dozens of all the various types of Mainline J72s each year and ALL suffer from the splitting axles problem - they're ALL to be avoided. You might get one useable one in ten .............. maybe!

John.

I actually had three mainline ones and I found two of them to be great. But there are two versions of the Mainline J72 - the very early ones had wheels that screwed into the axles and they were subject to the axle problems - avoid. The later ones had wheels that pushed onto the axles and they were far, far better.

I've not seen a Bachmann one run, but they have changed the mechanism so that you could see into the cab. The Mainline one had the motor in the cab.

The Fencehouses one is superb. Kit around the £50 mark, plus the wheels, gears and motors.

(wrong scale I guess :-) )

- Nigel

The "X" on the ends of the axles should make the earliest one easy to spot.

Being able to see through the cab would be nice :-)

Thanks, Greg.P.

From looking at the very early Mainline ads, the first one must have had a split chassis like the old and nasty Bachmann US models.

Sounds like I don't have much of a chance buying a good one via internet auction?

Regards, Greg.P.

Just a bit - I model in HO / 3.5mm and thought I might try the J72 to G6 conversion. I suppose you can't pick anything the 2mm version would convert to in HO??? ;-)

Regards, Greg.P.

Bash it into a Southwold Railway locomotive ?

(Now that's obscure :-) )

- Nigel

I'm on the other side of the Earth - everything British is obscure! :-)

Hi all,

I have 4 J72s.

I've two bachmann ones, One is LNER no 8680. This runs ok, but the body doesn't seem to fit to the chassis correctly and is loose. This says Bachmann Hong Kong on the bottom I paid £26 sh in good condition - ebay

the fourth is the best one. ( and more or less as new) LNER no 2313 Lined Black it has blacked wheels and connecting rods. This says Bachmann CHINA on the bottom I paid £35 mib at a fair (i'd go for one like this)

Avoid the mainline ones.

Craig

I have an LNER 8680, made in China with the blackened wheels and rods, that I bought new a couple of years ago. For the first circuit or two of the layout after it has been sitting, it runs very slow and smoke emerges from the cab. I have taken it apart and cleaned the commutator, but the problem recurs. It's quite difficult to disassemble with the split chassis. Once the excess oil (assuming that's what it is) has burned off, it runs just fine.

It sounds like you have the brushes impregnated with oil - the only cure is to fit new brushes and avoid getting too much oil in the bearing in future.

I have found a similar problem with the cheap Tyco locos, less the smoke. The commutator of those seems to be made of a copper that oxidizes badly so if you leave one for more than a couple of weeks it runs very badly for a few laps until the commutator surface rubs clean. If you add oil at the beginning the situation gets worse and you get smoke and a tarred comutator.

Regards, Greg.P.