Pete;s fine article has me thinking about a friends Bachmann rail truck. We know that the weakest part on that thing is the drive line and U joints,

His has been broken for quite some time. I believe ordering a new drive line and joints will not fix the weak part, as it will prolly break again.

Has anyone come up with a decent fix for this? I’m thinking about completely removing the bachmann motor and drive line and going with a vertical motor

in the back of the truck similar to my Accucraft Goose.

Well, the good news is that the Bachmann has a single axle. You could fit a swiveling truck, but you don’t have to.

There’s a couple of UK suppliers of basic chassis: Essel Eng and Spoerer come to mind. The latter had a drive axle with an in line motor. NWSL has similar drives. Just have to figure out how to bolt it solidly in place.

While looking for something else, I did find a couple of interesting motor/gearbox combos on Aliexpress for $6-$16. This one is 12V 120rpm.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000175997566.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.481f2e0eoBYZxE

They seem to have 3mm output shafts, so I would try to remove the existing shaft and insert a standard Bachmann axle.

Another option might be the power unit in the Rogers 2-4-2, sold by Aristo but originally from REA. I heard they had a separate motor drive for each axle (maybe only one per loco?) Anyway, I was at Star Hobby and they have replacement drive units, complete but without wheels, for $15. Probably had them for 20 years. They are a bit big, but if you have a covered wagon they would fit. Otherwise use the mocro motor under the deck.

Yes they are totally separate blocks would work great for bashing and the wheels unbolt so you might be able to fine drivers off of old LGB clamshell blocks that might fit, Bill

Having now taken a Rail Truck back axle apart, I found the axle gear split, which I understand may be a common problem. There are a pair of 1:1 bevels in there.

This is a “Yoke Assembly with Gear (G 2-Truck Climax) $12.40” from the Bachmann Parts store.

https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_641&products_id=9984&zenid=tp504hj6gebigfo21ju8u0b236

It drives the gear train from the truck using this bevel, and I would not be surprised if the bevel is the same one as used in the Rail Truck.