# Jackson Sharpe Coach Truck/Contact Upgrade



## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

A.K.A. what I spent an hour or two doing earlier this evening...










Acquired another one of Bachmann's very nice green Jackson Sharpe coaches for my recent birthday, but like the prior coach, the brass strips scraping against the axles for interior lighting power pickup leave just about everything to be desired...  To counter this, I've found that LGB 3080/1 coach trucks fit exactly into the spot the original Bachmann trucks do. (Made of better plastic to boot.) LGB brushes also work wonders for power pickup versus the scraping of the brass plates.

Thanks to the wondrous folks at Reindeer Pass/Kidman Tree Farm, I acquired both items, and got right to work. Here you can see the differences between the trucks and contact design.










After unscrewing and disassembling the Bachmann trucks, the contact plates can be unscrewed and pulled away after forcing through small blobs of retaining plastic, and then the wires peel (worryingly) easily out of the factory solder, leaving them free.










Push the wires into and through the tube slots for brush contacts, and then solder the LGB contacts to the wires, and shove them back in once the solder hardens and the contacts aren't blistering hot... 










Do this four times for four brushes, and then attach the new LGB trucks, preferably with new/stainless wheels added into the mix.










The new coach is ready to go, and now matches the first one, making a fine pair of varnish.










Lights off, and viola. Reliable track powered lighting, with nary a flicker from plastic switch frogs and/or other things.










If a nincompoop like me can do this, any one of you can too.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks for posting. How does the drag on the wheels compare from the old design to the new? More, less, about the same?


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Are they Bachmann's new generic green J&S coaches? They look familiar from the catalog. They do look good.

Andrew


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

ewarhol said:


> Thanks for posting. How does the drag on the wheels compare from the old design to the new? More, less, about the same?


I would say about the same, maybe a little better. The lack of noise is the biggest improvement though. Conductive lubricant might help, but I pass off the drag as coaches being heavy like their real counterparts. An engine might have trouble with ten, but not two or three.


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

Garratt said:


> Are they Bachmann's new generic green J&S coaches? They look familiar from the catalog. They do look good.


Yes sir. Have metal handrailings on the ends as well. Hopefully Bachmann will consider producing a combination version. They look splendid and seem to be a bit more robust than older production coaches.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Sampug394 said:


> I would say about the same, maybe a little better. The lack of noise is the biggest improvement though. Conductive lubricant might help, but I pass off the drag as coaches being heavy like their real counterparts. An engine might have trouble with ten, but not two or three.


Thanks for the info. I've thought about trying to make brass wipers for electrical pickup. Now that I know the Bachmann and USAT electrical brushes have about the same amount of drag, I'll just stick with those.


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## ezaircon4jc (Mar 31, 2012)

Time for a resurrection.......

I did this a little differently; I used the power "outlet" on the rear of my LGB Mogul's tender. I installed sockets on each car and ran wires between the cars. They kind of resemble the air lines between the cars. It was a pretty inexpensive solution for me. 

My issue now is I have some burned out bulbs. Anyone know where I can get replacements?? I've been going blind searching the interweb.......

TIA!!!!


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Trainli has 18 and 24 volt plug in bulbs as well as the screw base bulbs.
What is your max voltage?? This will determine your bulb voltage and remember that automobile bulbs are 14 volt, not 12 volt as the charging voltage for Car batteries is at least 13.6 volts or higher and that is what all electronics and bulbs see in a car.

The Bachmann cars with the 9 volt battery would have 9 volt lamps and I wired mine in series for track power. Better yet is to change to leds which can give light at lower voltages.


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

In spite of your observations, that the B'mann trucks are not made of as strong plastic, they do stand the tests of time, from my observations over at least ten years.
For anyone that cares to save money; the B'mann trucks have just about the same truck bolsters, with the same design to adapt to the electrical pick-up brushes, so you don't have to spend the money on the replacement LGB trucks.
Also, B'mann may still stock the battery boxes to hold the 9 volt batteries. You don't need the lights on during daylight running, so the batteries work very well, for the dark hours of running. With the batteries, there is no flickering of the lights.....unless you like that effect !!
B'mann do manufacture a Combine, and a two door baggage car, although, possibly not in your chosen paint scheme. There are people that can, and would do a repaint job for you, or you could try doing it yourself.
Fred Mills


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

I installed those LGB contacts into my Bachmann trucks, replaced the incandescent lights (whether they were there or not), and removed the battery boxes in favor of track power. I designed my own power circuit to feed the LEDs and ran jumper wires between all the cars. Only needed power from one truck and no limit (as yet) to the number of LEDs this will power.

This is really a great idea!


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

Fr.Fred said:


> In spite of your observations, that the B'mann trucks are not made of as strong plastic, they do stand the tests of time, from my observations over at least ten years.
> For anyone that cares to save money; the B'mann trucks have just about the same truck bolsters, with the same design to adapt to the electrical pick-up brushes, so you don't have to spend the money on the replacement LGB trucks.
> Also, B'mann may still stock the battery boxes to hold the 9 volt batteries. You don't need the lights on during daylight running, so the batteries work very well, for the dark hours of running. With the batteries, there is no flickering of the lights.....unless you like that effect !!
> B'mann do manufacture a Combine, and a two door baggage car, although, possibly not in your chosen paint scheme. There are people that can, and would do a repaint job for you, or you could try doing it yourself.
> Fred Mills


With my observations from the retrofit and comparisons, the bachmann trucks are made of bendier plastic that is cast with lots of flash bits, especially on the contact pockets that seem to almost be an afterthought with the goofy design of the brass wipers. From dis-assembly and manipulation they don't seem nearly as sturdy.

Also, I didn't exactly break the bank acquiring the trucks. $16 + shipping for a pair from Reindeer Pass, where I got both sets: http://www.reindeerpass.com/trucks-f-3080-81-coach-pkg-2.aspx

Having used the battery boxes on early generation Royal Blue coaches my friend has, I would actually prefer installing contacts for track power than buying 9v batteries with semi-regularity. The battery setup seems to be dying out as it is with more reliable track lighting.

Finally, yes Bachmann makes those coach styles, but in cheaper big hauler form that doesn't have the generic green/pinstripe paint scheme or metal handrails. The generic JS coaches seem to be a new direction for Bachmann to make better quality coach stock and look very nice, hence why I shelled out at least $80 each for both of mine. I would buy a matching combine in a heartbeat if they produced one. (And light it like the other two!)


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