# Aristo vs Bachmann Trolley



## Rocket88 (Jun 17, 2011)

Hello All!

I was wondering if any of you folk run either the Aristo or Bachmann trolley on your layout. I've purchased both and am pleased with each unit's appearence and detail. (OK, at least both companies could have spent a dollar and placed a motorman in each of the trolleys).

My big question is with the Aristo unit. It runs around my layout like its' pulling an invisible freight car behind it, the unit is as slow as can be. The Bachmann trolley is no speed demon but has considerably more "zip" in it's operation and is considerably faster. One could argue that a prototypical trolley wasn't designed to be as fast as the Super Chief but my Aristo unit seems to be too slow. Has anyone else purchased an Aristo unit and do you find it to be too slow?


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## dbodnar (Jan 2, 2008)

*Aristo Trolley*



Rocket88 said:


> Has anyone else purchased an Aristo unit and do you find it to be too slow?


Good day - the Aristo trolley does run more slowly (for a given voltage on the track) than most other engines or trolleys.
You may be interested in some notes on that trolley that are on my web page.
http://www.trainelectronics.com/PCC_Trolley/index.htm 

dave


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

If you open up the Aristo trolley, you can see the reason for the slow speed, very cheap little motors.

That said, it DOES run at a pretty much prototypical speed at 24 volts. Not great for battery power though, most people have to run it at a higher voltage than what is used for Bachmann trolleys.

The Aristo trolley also has significant issues with the wheel gauge and flange width. 

http://www.elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=535&Itemid=647

The lighting sucks too, but all these things can be fixed, although it takes a lathe to make the wheels right.

Greg


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## Rocket88 (Jun 17, 2011)

*Aristo trolley*

Dave and Greg

Thank you for your comments, I feel better . I thought I got a "lemon", it's just a poor performer, not well engineered and missing a motorman. Oh well, you live and learn....

Mike


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

After I machined the wheels to run true, narrowed the flange thickness, and regauged the wheels, it ran nice and smooth, slow but smooth.






Greg


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Funny, I've been rebuilding the motor units for two Bachmann trolleys (the 2 axle kind). Both had cracked axle gears (three out of four) and because of that they ran erratically and with a lot of noise. I took them apart, removed the motors and tested them. With no load they ran very quietly. The cracked gears slipped under load resulting in the noise as the slightly large gears now slip across the knurls on the axle. I also cleaned the pick ups so track power actually reached the motor. I'm not sure how to do it, but I think a capacitor could store enough energy to be stored to carry the trolley over unclean track. Oh, and the wheels were so close together that both trolleys seemed to hunt for the rails. Widening the gauge helped them run better.


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