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DRAFT: June 16, 2001 “Converting A Bachmann On30 Mogul To S Gauge” by Craig S. O’Connell Photo by Pieter Roos When Bob LaRiviere set out to convert a $79.00 Bachmann Industries On30 2-6-0 loco to S gauge he never imagined that it would be as simple as it was. Yes, there are a couple of tricky steps, but overall he was able to complete the job in ____ hours, start to finish. The conversion is basically a three step process that includes regauging the axles, replacing the steam chest arm and rerouting the pick up wires to the tender. Here's how he did it. First Bob had to disassemble the unit, removing the boiler shell which pops right off. The base, held in place by three screws, was unfastened. The Bachmann steamer draws its power from the track through fingered wipers that extend down to each of the drivers. However, the wipers are mounted in place and could not be expanded to make contact with wheels that will be extended to S gauge. So Bob simply snipped off the two contact wires and removed the brass wipers. Bob had to remove the axles altogether because they could not be extended. He disconnected the six drivers and the two pilot wheels, putting them aside to be reused later. At this stage, Bob fashioned new axles out of a piece of 15 inch ____diameter brass stock cut to size with a dremel tool. With a micrometer Bob took the measurements of the existing axles and simply replaced them with ones he fashioned just a bit longer for S. All measurements, including diameters remained the same, except the length of the axles from shoulder to shoulder. DRAWING OF THE DRIVER AXLE WITH MEASUREMENTS The wheels were then fit back on to the new axles snugly without any glue or cement being necessary. Next he slid the power axle gear off the existing power axle and placed it onto the new axle. Locating the drive gear on the axle was one of the few tricky parts and required a little math to be sure that it was placed in the proper location and alignment. The driver wheels were then assembled back onto the new axles. Bob fashioned a quartering tool out of wood to be sure that the drivers on one side were at a distance of ninety degrees from those on the other side. DRAWING OF QUARTERING TOOL AND CAPTION The only other gauging modification that was required was to extend the cylinder saddle that connects the two steam cylinders on either side of the locomotive. Bob cut off the existing cylinders from the saddle and cleaned out the pockets with a dremel. Using a piece of _____ inch styrene he created a new longer saddle, ____ inches in length. He then glued the extended cylinder saddle onto the cylinders, drilled out the location holes and painted it Floquil Engine Black. The assembly was then mounted back onto the chassis, the drive arms were attached and the eccentric arms were inserted back into the cylinders. The boiler shell was placed back on. DRAWING OF THE NEW CYLINDER SADDLE WITH MEASUREMENTS Finally Bob rewired the power pickups to the tender. This first involved soldering a two pin connector to the wires from the can motor that were initially snipped off the wipers. The wire was then fed through the cab end of the locomotive. Next he removed the tender trucks and replaced them with S gauge archbar pickup trucks (one set of metal wheels, one set plastic) from Ace. He screwed the trucks back onto the tender chassis, adding double nuts inside to hold the trucks in place while allowing them to rotate freely. He soldered another two pin connector to a pair of wires and fastened them, one to the front truck screw/nut assembly and the other to the rear truck assembly. The wire was then routed through the tender and the two wire pairs, pin and socket, connected. Bob runs his newly converted Mogul on his hirail layout. Scale modelers should simply replace the original drivers and pilot wheels with S scale ones. Other details can be added.
