Pair of completed Re-guaged, Bachmann On30 Heisler trucks; now On3.
I recently re-gauged four pairs of Bachmann On30 Heisler trucks to On3 for a couple of customers (one for me, one each for two customers, and one spare). The fourth pair was purchased from Bachmann for extra parts should anything have gone wrong during the re-gauging process. Nothing did go wrong and all four were finished without any problems, leaving me with a spare pair. That pair sold on 9/19/2015.
This custom work has left me with a set of jigs, parts, a CNC milling program, and a process to convert or re-gauge Bachmann’s On30 Heisler trucks to On3. Meaning that I’ll be able to do more conversions in the future, on a time-permitting basis!
The Conversion Process:
- Paint stripped off of all the parts.
- New, On3 length, steel axles made.
- New insulators and washers made as needed.
- The wheel sets reassembled, gauged, and quartered. (Using custom made, CNC milled quartering jig.)
- The truck body castings de-burred and filed clean of casting sprues. They are then bead blasted to even out the surface texture.
- Small adaptors made with the CNC mill to move the brake castings out to On3, and are then glued back together.
- The universals de-burred.
- The side rods will have stray paint removed, casing sprues filed off, and straightened.
- The wheel faces and truck body castings re-painted black and flat finished.
- The gear boxes are then re-greased and the bearings re-oiled.
- The trucks then re-assembled and tested.
For anyone interested in the oddities of Chinese painting techniques, the paint on the wheel faces was weird. The wheel faces were painted white, then the centers were filled-in in black. This was done while fully assembled, meaning the side rods got black paint on them from stray brush strokes.
The trucks are attached to the body via a “snap” pin. They pop off with a small common screw driver pried between the truck and the body. The truck body casting blocks the screw head. (Yes, that is a Heisler after the extra floor was machined off and the end beams narrowed, as per the prototype.)
Pricing:
- Completed pair of On3, ready-to-run heisler trucks: $165.00, plus any applicable sales tax and shipping and handling. This price includes the cost of the pair of trucks from Bachmann ($40.00 plus taxes, shipping, and handling) and 6 hours worth of labor.
- Parts and labor to convert a pair of customer supplied Bachmann On30 trucks to On3: $120, plus and applicable sales tax and shipping and handling.
This can only be done on a “time permitting” basis. Check with me for availability.
©2015, Foothill Model Works.
Rev. 9/22/2015.