Michael Kirrene said:
They say it’s a rich man’s hobby.
…
What with Caboose Hobbies going out of business and all, this reminds me that the English singer Rod Stewart spent $65,000 in Caboose Hobbies in fifty minutes just before and after closing on a Saturday afternoon a few years back. This is a true story.
Michael, yes. That is one reason I purchase what I can when I am at train shows. It saves the shipping cost. But yes, it adds to the cost of the cars. I cant see spending $31 on a boxcar when I seldom spent (past tense) more then $40 on the car itself. But spending less then $20 to have the car become reliable and interchangeable (compatible) with other cars in my fleet, I will spend that.
Again, I am glad the major fleet expansion for my railroad is in the past. Now its the odd purchase every once in a while.
Ah, David, that’s what we all say…to our wives. But when something comes by we can’t live without we all falter. Me, I lust for a Hudson, but it would be the most expensive locomotive in the fleet after the new living room set!
Well, yea. But I am not buying everything I see on sale anymore, since I am not running a locomotive and caboose, with only 4 cars between them anymore.
Contact Star Hobbies http://starhobby1.com/ I have not gotten off my behind and ordered from him yet but if you get the Bmann wheels by the case he gives you a heck of a discount. Quite a bit better than Ebay. I forget now the last quote he gave me but it was a round $12 a set I think, but don’t hold me to it. I just know when I was looking it was almost 1/2 ebay prices.
Also don’t email them you wont hear from them. Call them.
Edited to say I was motivated to call Star. He sold me the 92421 Bachmann large wheel sets, four to a card, 6 cards per case for $65. I assume he will add some for shipping but didn’t say. But at that price your at about $11 bucks a set. That’s way cheaper than Ebay. He is out of the small ones.
Okay, gentlemen, I promised to report on my purchase of these wheelsets from Starr Hobbies back there in Maryland, so here goes:
I bought six boxes each containing six wheelset cards (four axles each wheelset). That would make 144 axles or enough to do 36 boxcars, takers, reefers, what have you. Yeah, I know, I know, I got carried away again.
My youngest son and I took apart the cards and test rolled each axle on a test track. Out of everything, there were enough wobbly wheels to make up six sets of wheelsets, or 24 axles out of 144, for a percentage of about 15%, that I think I’ll call Philadelphia out there and see if they will replace them.
Too bad Irving retired, so I won’t get to hear a lecture for an hour or so about the proper use, gauging, and long-term maintenance of wheelsets and journal boxes!
Let me be clear, it doesn’t seem to me that many of the wobbly wheels seemed to be so defective that they’d actually derail rolling stock, but I don’t know, maybe in the turnouts?
John -
I thought I mighta been picky, but you have confirmed my findings. Bachmann in Philly never did confirm my findings in writing; only replaced the wobbly wheelsets for the sake of “making the customer happy”. I believe that if they had replied to me in writing and acknowledged a problem, it would have opened up a can of worms. It took four (4) weeks turnaround time. When they came back to me, the wheels weren’t wobbling anymore. Also, my replacement wheels from Bachmann were separate (loose) pairs of wheelsets - they do not have the 4-per-card wheelsets in stock like you buy retail. Also, I had to provide Bachmann with receipts from every purchase I made from Star Hobby or they would not honor the warranty. Bachmann Customer Service Manager Laura Harris told me the next time I buy wheels that wobble, to send them back to Star Hobby, not Bachmann.
You can’t really simulate the issue by installing the wheels on the trucks then rolling them down the track, or even rolling them down the track by themselves. You can clearly see the issue by installing the wheels on the trucks, then while the car is still upside down, placing a finger in the middle of an axel and spinning it. Usually, it’s one wheel that wobbles, but sometimes both - easy to identify. Out of the new box, I have 4 wheelsets (1 card) so far that wobble. Not a bad wobble, but still a wobble.
Thanks John for the report. I will be curious to see how mine come out. @15% that means nearly one card per box of six will be defective or wobbly. That’s not great at all. It certainly drives the price up. But even if 5 cards are good at $65 bucks that puts the price at 13 a set. Still not bad comparatively.
But if its one wheel that wobbles on one set, and one wheel on anther set, you can put the 2 wheels that don’t wobble together on one axle and make a good set. Then when you have the time, you can fix the bad set. Or spend the time and effort to send them back.
David Maynard said:
But if it’s one wheel that wobbles on one set, and one wheel on anther set, you can put the 2 wheels that don’t wobble together on one axle and make a good set. Then when you have the time, you can fix the bad set. Or spend the time and effort to send them back.
Not only the time and effort, but the cost to send them back, which ain’t cheap! That’s one thing I haven’t tried though, David. Swapping the individual wheels out to get good wheelsets I’ll try that.
By the way, Star Hobby will NOT acknowledge a problem with defective Bachmann wheelsets. Before I ordered the last box on the phone two weeks ago, I asked him if he’d ever had any returned, or if he knew of a “wobbling” problem with them. He replied with an emphatic “No” to both questions.
Michael, I would bet that many folks don’t even check the wheels when they put them on. The ones that do check them, either fix the defective ones (like me), or toss them.
Yeah, I think you’re right, David. But like many people do, once you know there’s been an issue with a product (or part) and a history of failures, your eyes gravitate to that spot so see if the part is OK. In this case, you want to verify that the wheels are true. You know from being in Quality, David; you inspect to see if the part is in spec. If the part is out of spec, out of tolerance, it is rejected, then reworked (or not) until it passes inspection. Parts that can’t be reworked are scrapped. In this case, I’d like to feel that I came out ahead here cost wise, but I DON’T feel like I came out ahead if I have to reject a bunch of them!
That’s what Quality is all about. Getting it right the first time. We shouldn’t have to cherry pick the good parts out of packages of parts. Bachmann should have done that already.
Is it time for the dead horse beater to come back?
David Maynard said:
But if its one wheel that wobbles on one set, and one wheel on anther set, you can put the 2 wheels that don’t wobble together on one axle and make a good set. Then when you have the time, you can fix the bad set. Or spend the time and effort to send them back.
Yeah and I don’t mind tackling the project like that.
Michael Kirrene said:
Yeah, I think you’re right, David. But like many people do, once you know there’s been an issue with a product (or part) and a history of failures, your eyes gravitate to that spot so see if the part is OK. In this case, you want to verify that the wheels are true. You know from being in Quality, David; you inspect to see if the part is in spec. If the part is out of spec, out of tolerance, it is rejected, then reworked (or not) until it passes inspection. Parts that can’t be reworked are scrapped. In this case, I’d like to feel that I came out ahead here cost wise, but I DON’T feel like I came out ahead if I have to reject a bunch of them!
That’s what Quality is all about. Getting it right the first time. We shouldn’t have to cherry pick the good parts out of packages of parts. Bachmann should have done that already.
Yes, they should have. But all wheels I have purchased, except for LGB, need to be checked and many re-gauged. So QC isn’t the best on any of them, except LGB. Bachmann being cheaper has the lowest quality of the bunch, but they can be made to work just fine. For some reason, Large scale is like that. Many things need tweaked or fixed right out of the box. Its a shame, new products should just work, and work right.
But I do have to say that the quality of Bachmann wheels has improved. I find fewer that need re-guaged and fewer that have a wobble to them, then I used to in the past. But all of them I have fixed, so I haven’t had to scrap any of them. Its not difficult, and it doesn’t take long
How did you fix the wobble?
The wobble is because the plastic center isn’t pressed in straight. Many times I can seat it all the way into the metal wheel, and straight, by squeezing with a pair of pliers. The really bad ones I drive the plastic center out with a steel rod, then trim off the flashing on the insert, and then press it back into the wheel, again with the pliers.
If I don’t have to drive out the insert, fixing it takes less time then typing the explanation on how I fixed it. Ok, maybe its not that quick, since I have to pull the wheel off the axle. But its not a long drawn out procedure neither.
David, I have no idea what you’re talking about. How 'bout a short video?
thanks Dave… worst case pull the wheel, pull the insert, trim flash if needed and reassemble insert and wheel. Got it.
I’ll have to try it. You are the first person I know that has a fix for wobbly Bachmann wheels, congrats.
Greg
Steve I would, but I cant find Super8 8mm film anymore. Maybe I can take some pictures.