Over the last few months there has been a lot going on in and out of the workshop. There have been some field trips to fellow model railroaders, Bob Murphy, Chris Adams and Bill Schneider home layouts for some amazing operating sessions. Some 3D modeling projects, some of which were seen on my Facebook page, some not shown yet!
However by far the most time consuming task taking most of my time recently is the result of a very impulsive eBay win.
The listing was for 6 HO scale locomotives, 4 of them Bachmann Spectrum models. Now say what you will about Bachmann Engines. I have always been a fan of the company since first starting in the hobby. To me they were a very good middle of the road manufacture that had very decent steam locomotives for under $300 dollars. Making them the perfect gateway locomotives for me into DCC and kit bashing.
I won the bit for around $200 at the end of the day which was a bargain in my eyes. Especially since the 4 Bachmann engines would be roughly $700-$800 new. Now I knew the seller stated that the models were in need of repair and most if not all of the decoders were removed. Not the end of the world since 2 of the engines might be cannibalized for future projects.
However when they arrived it became clear that the locos were in much rougher condition. Not only were the decoders removed but most to all of the wiring was as well. Plugs were missing and/or destroyed. So started my journey of taking each one completely apart and basically rewiring all back to DC operations. Oh did I mention that all of the headlights were burnt out LEDs..........................
