Bachmann Annie chassis installed

H

Huh? What?

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Got the new Bachmann annie chassis installed and under my 2nd generation Big Hauler this afternoon. It runs now, though the lights and smoke unit will wait for me to install a decoder in it.


It started life as this...


27702039388_80f59dc92a_o.jpg




This is it's current state...


42412124052_014c189e05_o.jpg
 
Huh? What? said:
Got the new Bachmann annie chassis installed and under my 2nd generation Big Hauler this afternoon. It runs now, though the lights and smoke unit will wait for me to install a decoder in it.


It started life as this...


27702039388_80f59dc92a_o.jpg




This is it's current state...


42412124052_014c189e05_o.jpg
Click to expand...
Great looking loco. Would you care to write a few words about how you did it?
 
The only real problem I had was with the air tanks. The annie chassis has longer steam chests, which interfere with the 2nd generation air tanks. I cut the air tanks back to the first mounting band. The tanks are made of four pieces - two sides, and two end caps. Once I cut the tank back, I glued the end cap back in place. once that was done, the air tanks went right back into place using the original mounting holes. That was the only physical problem with the changeover.

As far as the paint, I completely disassembled the loco, pulling the parts off the original chassis that I was going to need, such as the supports for the boiler. Everything got cleaned of grease and oil and primed with Rust-Oleum 2x grey primer. when that was dry, It got several light coats of Rust-Oleum flat black. We've had a lot of very windy days lately, and I live in Arizona, where dust is ever-present. So when it was just about dry, I moved the pieces outside and set them where they would acquire a coating of dust. After that I started painting the trim/accents/handrails. That is still being worked on. I haven't hooked up the light, or the smoke unit yet. I haven't even installed the stock smoke unit back in yet. I'll take care of that when I decide which decoder/sound card I'm using.
 
Very smart loco,great transformation,,,and REAL Arizona dust as mine has to be painted on!!:envy::envy:
 
It says in post 1 that it is a new Annie chassis, Aria 31, so I assume it is part of that.
 
He says : It started life as this.. and show the picture of the SPC version which is not having what I shown in red

This is my understanding , possibly I am wrong !!
 
It starts with - Got the new Bachmann annie chassis installed and under my 2nd generation Big Hauler this afternoon.
 
Ahh... not all "spectrum" versions have that complex valve gear... You can buy an "anniversary" or "spectrum" chassis with the simple type valve gear pictured in the first post.

So, Bachmann has pretty regular sales on this chassis assembly, $75 and even $50 some times if I remember right. As Dennis states, you have to modify the old locomotive air tanks a bit to fit the new chassis.

Greg
 
Yes, I added the Annie chassis to a second generation Big Hauler 4-6-0. The only modification was shortening up the air cylinders.
 
None of the Bachmann 4-6-0 are 'Spectrum'. They are all Big Haulers. The Anniversary series all have metal rods, some with Stephenson's valve gear and others with Walschaerts valve gear. The Anniversary models starting with the digit 8 have the plastic gear drive and the Anniversary series starting with the digit 9 have the newer metal gear drives and improved metal pilot truck. The SPC version never had full Walschaerts valve gear.
Bachmann have now discontinued the Anniversary 4-6-0. :cry:

BachmannAnnie9Series.jpg
 
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I purchased a Spectrum in the red box some time ago. They did exist. It had Walschaerts, metal rods, and cost a lot at the time. This was a long time ago.

In those days, Spectrum was more money, and this was BEFORE the anniversary edition, because it had just been released.

Maybe it never came to Australia??

Greg
 
Greg, it must have been a long time ago. Perhaps it was the precursor to the Anniversary model under the Big Hauler name. I always thought the Annie was spectrum quality and wondered why it was not marked as such.
Nothing much comes to Australia. You only ever saw the latest items sitting on the retail shelf for twice what you could import them from from OS. Zimbler who used to distribute Bachmann have now ditched the brand.
 
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