Bachmann Pancake Motor Repair Sideframe Removal
How to get the wheels out
Bachmann locomotives equipped with the pancake motor have 1 piece sideframes. There are a couple different versions, but they all come off the truck the same way.
The sideframes are held in place by wedge shaped ends on each truck. The sideframe has a cutout on the end where the wedges fit when the sideframes are on.
To remove the sideframes, carefully take your flat blade screwdriver to the end closest to the fuel tank, also known as the rear end or the back end of the sideframe. Come in sideways as much as you can and give a twist with the blade and it should pop free.
DO NOT put the the flat blade in from the top and pry like you would a lever or you will break it. If you do break it, once it is off use super glue to repair it. NO OTHER GLUE will work. For extremely broken parts, especially if you are replacing the broken part with something you fabricated, then use 2 part epoxy, that is the only thing strong enough to hold a new part in place.
I use PC11 epoxy, its expensive, but for model making, it will last many years and you don't end up wasting it like the kind that uses a plunger to dispense the 2 parts. For about half price, there is a PC7 which is also supposed to be very good, but I don't have that one yet. As soon as I do I'll review it here.
This shows the rear clip released
They do have a proper direction, if you have a paint marker, put a dot on the rear end of each sideframe so you don't have to figure it out later.
Also, take a picture before you remove it, you'll notice on the U36 and BQ23-7 that those models have very easy to identify truck features that will help you get it back together again.
On the older models, those trucks are difficult to tell which way they go back, so mark them. If you forget to do this and already have them off, then you need to carefully match the slots on the ends to the wedges that hold them in place, don't worry it's not hard.
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