Buddy L?
- Thread starter trammayo
- Start date
Rhinochugger
Retired Oik
Are you suggesting that you are the founder, and only member, of the Buddy L appreciation society? 
I do have one of their boxcars, in addition to the loco
I do have one of their boxcars, in addition to the loco
trammayo
Interested in vintage commercial vehicle, trams, t
Tim Brien said:
Alas, I'm totally analogue (so are the trains!). The Buddy L sound is quite impressive as it competes with tractors, PA, bands, gennies and all the other aural pollution found at country shows. It suits me and the spectators. Just got to lick it into shape!
The smoke does come out in little puffs although this cannot be seen in bright sunlight. So I suppose its a thumbs up - I'm not a purist
Mick,
while LGB 'digital' sound, it does work very well on analogue, although one cannot access the usual MTS add-on sounds like brake squeal, station announcement, etc. Bell and whistle as track magnet operated. A decoder programmer is needed though to better synchronise chuff to wheel movement.
The Buddy 'L' sound uses an optical chuff sensor, but its main downfall is the three 'AAA' batteries required to operate. It is simple enough to rewire so that the tender is not required when testing a loco. Its positive point is the power pickup on the pilot and trailing wheelsets. My later Buddy 'L' (after a few regular failures I called them bloody ells) came with plastic main driver bushes, so the loco relied entirely on the pilot and trailing wheels for power pickup.
The drive block is very, very loosely based on a LGB Mogul drive block. A point of failure on every model is the rear two mount screws on the top cover (retained by four screws. The forward screws do not pose a problem). At some point in the loco lifetime the rear two screws will strip out and allow the motor drive worm to separate from the drive gears. This will give the impression that the drive has stripped. Remedy is to remove the top cover and drill down through the rear two mount bosses and then reassemble with longer screws. I purchased replacement motors from an American eBay site (around $10 each) and swapped over the Buddy 'L' motor pinion gear and fitted to the loco. This is a direct install with no mod required. The motor is sold as a replacement for Bachmann Big haulers and Anniversary models (sold without drive pinion gear). This gave a better responding and more 'torquey' motor for minimal cost.
Another potential point of trouble is the poor soldering technique used for all electrical connections. The solder has little penetration allowing a very weak 'cold' join, thus broken wires are common after usage. These locomotives are a delightful challenge to keep running. When you get a good reliable loco keep hold of it as they are few and far between.
while LGB 'digital' sound, it does work very well on analogue, although one cannot access the usual MTS add-on sounds like brake squeal, station announcement, etc. Bell and whistle as track magnet operated. A decoder programmer is needed though to better synchronise chuff to wheel movement.
The Buddy 'L' sound uses an optical chuff sensor, but its main downfall is the three 'AAA' batteries required to operate. It is simple enough to rewire so that the tender is not required when testing a loco. Its positive point is the power pickup on the pilot and trailing wheelsets. My later Buddy 'L' (after a few regular failures I called them bloody ells) came with plastic main driver bushes, so the loco relied entirely on the pilot and trailing wheels for power pickup.
The drive block is very, very loosely based on a LGB Mogul drive block. A point of failure on every model is the rear two mount screws on the top cover (retained by four screws. The forward screws do not pose a problem). At some point in the loco lifetime the rear two screws will strip out and allow the motor drive worm to separate from the drive gears. This will give the impression that the drive has stripped. Remedy is to remove the top cover and drill down through the rear two mount bosses and then reassemble with longer screws. I purchased replacement motors from an American eBay site (around $10 each) and swapped over the Buddy 'L' motor pinion gear and fitted to the loco. This is a direct install with no mod required. The motor is sold as a replacement for Bachmann Big haulers and Anniversary models (sold without drive pinion gear). This gave a better responding and more 'torquey' motor for minimal cost.
Another potential point of trouble is the poor soldering technique used for all electrical connections. The solder has little penetration allowing a very weak 'cold' join, thus broken wires are common after usage. These locomotives are a delightful challenge to keep running. When you get a good reliable loco keep hold of it as they are few and far between.
trammayo
Interested in vintage commercial vehicle, trams, t
Hi Tim, thanks for that info - I'll know what to do if anything goes wrong. I have another one which will need the same attention. The jumper cable is missing from loco to tender but it runs OK. Tender works fine as I tried it out with the current loco. I'd really like to go digital but cannot justify the costs involved with 18 track powered items. Besides, the trailer line operates at 12 volt (did pose the question on GSM but, alas, cannot remember the answer!).
I'd noticed the optical unit during a cursory examination of the workings. Never having seen a "full" train set in the flesh, how did the loco operate on the supplied track - or was it sold without track? And, another question: What was, or is, the operating voltage normally?
I'd noticed the optical unit during a cursory examination of the workings. Never having seen a "full" train set in the flesh, how did the loco operate on the supplied track - or was it sold without track? And, another question: What was, or is, the operating voltage normally?
Mick,
I only ever purchased the locomotive in its 'maroon' Heritage Express guise and the Buddy 'L' configuration as a locomotive only (no full sets). It is still available in Keystone military and circus configurations. In so far as voltage, then whatever you normally operate your Bachmann locomotives, 12 - 14 volts. I believe that Bachmann are really only rated to 14 volts.
The loco was designed primarily as a Christmas type 'round the tree' item. It may have achieved this function but I had problems with operation through point work until I removed the excessive sideplay in the leading and trailing drivers. In effect, this limited the amount of required swing on the pilot and trailing trucks. In this setup the loco was most likely useless on four foot track, but I at least attained reliable operation through points. Definately a love/hate relationship with these rather than an admiration society.
I only ever purchased the locomotive in its 'maroon' Heritage Express guise and the Buddy 'L' configuration as a locomotive only (no full sets). It is still available in Keystone military and circus configurations. In so far as voltage, then whatever you normally operate your Bachmann locomotives, 12 - 14 volts. I believe that Bachmann are really only rated to 14 volts.
The loco was designed primarily as a Christmas type 'round the tree' item. It may have achieved this function but I had problems with operation through point work until I removed the excessive sideplay in the leading and trailing drivers. In effect, this limited the amount of required swing on the pilot and trailing trucks. In this setup the loco was most likely useless on four foot track, but I at least attained reliable operation through points. Definately a love/hate relationship with these rather than an admiration society.
trammayo
Interested in vintage commercial vehicle, trams, t
Well, bought a rattle can of matt black and got rid of the "copper" clad boiler and pther annoying details like product numbers and gratuitous advertising (on the tender).Printed a roundel with number for the smokebox door and a couple of fictitious builders plates for the smokebox sides. Trailing truck re-gauged and modified. Full test tomorrow at a show. Fingers crossed.
vsmith
G Scale indoors, O Tinplate, Micro Layouts
When repainted these are nice looking engines and are an alternative to the Bmann ten wheeler, but they cant pull worth squat on any kind of grade though. On my old layout the engine could barely pull itself, tender and bobber caboose over the 4% ruling grade, and that was with alot of wheel slip, on the flats its much better and will the number of cars that come with the sets, but thats about it. Definetly Xmas tree material.
trammayo
Interested in vintage commercial vehicle, trams, t
Anyway it worked!, suffice to say that it performed for almost 7 hours - with only a short break - without any problems. Sound, which relies om 3 AAA batteries, worked all the time without fading away by the end of the day!
I had another thought about the slipping. The wheels seem to be bright chromed - they certainly do not appear to pick up any dirt - maybe the polished finish causes the loco to lose traction (through increased resistance) when negotiating reverse curves. Yesterday it hauled a small consist - two tankers, one box car, and a 2-axle caboose.
I had another thought about the slipping. The wheels seem to be bright chromed - they certainly do not appear to pick up any dirt - maybe the polished finish causes the loco to lose traction (through increased resistance) when negotiating reverse curves. Yesterday it hauled a small consist - two tankers, one box car, and a 2-axle caboose.
The ancestor of the Buddy L was the Heritage Express. This loco was endowed with a hefty cast iron weight, thus traction was quite good. The Buddy L copied all the 'good'(?) points of the Heritage (were there any?), but neglected the onboard weight, so pulling power is poor. If one looks inside the Buddy L, the weight attach points are intact in the cast boiler.
