Bachmann Spectrum Operator's Manual page 18

This stuff was posted by Dave Goodson AKA "The Old Curmudgeon" an expert on Bachman
engines....
Climax Boiler Removal
June 17, 2000 at 23:27:54:
.......would be more pleasant. I do it all the time. I put batteries in the smoke box for on-board r/c. Lots of patience.
Remove front truck. Remove contact plate for front truck on frame. Two screws under this.
Remove running boards and piping. Disconnect steam line from front of steam dome. Disconnect two lines from steam
dome going to front wall of cab.
Obtain suitable block of wood and hammer.
Smack steam dome to un-seat unit from firebox.
Screw down through weight hidden under this.
Lift out sleeve under screw. Lift front of boiler to clear frame, pull unit forward.
There are more pipes and two brackets to the cylinders that screw into the front of the cylinders.
You cannot lift the boiler more than about 1/16" from the frame without going through all this.
You must be dedicated to want to do this!
Every Climax I open up for conversion gets hard-wired from chassis
Power was all 8.
If the power is chopped (or weak) at the pivot plate, and the pickups died (like sound power from one truck only), the
springs may overheat and retract behind the wheels.
Shay does not use pickup points like the Climax between frame and plate.
First, obtain some superflex, abot 18" to 24".
Remove trucks, Remove pivot plate.
Pull disk with 2 half-rounds from frame.
Unsolder or cut wires at plate and place plate to one side.
If you keep track of the wires left and right, you won't need to check when done for polarity.
Solder 4-6" of superflex to each stub, shrink-wrap for safety.
Remove tender shell.
Pull wires up one at a time, drill 2 holes just in front of speaker and frame bolster, drop wires down.
In front, stuff excess back up in boiler after pulling out of frame bolster.
Disassemble pivot.
Remove plates and screws.
Remove plungers, springs and sleeves.
With a Dremel, open up the section of the tower the pickups were in towards the center gearbox, so you have a "C"
shaped tower left.
Tin the center of the back of each metal plate you removed.
Strip, twist and tin about 1/4" of the end of the SuperFlex at each bight end.
Stick the wires (with proper polarity) through the plates.
Bend a 90 degree in the wire so it will be no longer than the hole the plungers used to reside in.
Solder the wires to the plates so the wires stick straight up.
Install the plates in the pivot.
Install the pivots.
Install the trucks.
Then we get to sort out why there is no power through.
Power jumpers on the ashpan board.
If you put loco on track and apply power, pick up one end and see if the firebox goes out, then the other end.
Whichever goes out is not connected.
But, fixing the wheel contacts may be all you need.
I hope I got it all......
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