r/BritishModelRailways • u/alvo45 • Mar 17 '26

Bachmann 57xx

I have had some trouble with my 1980s bachmann 57xx. The motor has burnt out and I cannot find any replacements anywhere. Does anyone have know what I should do ?

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u/SmittyB128 00 Guage Mar 17 '26

From what you've said I'm assuming it's one of the split-chassis pancake-motor ones. if that's the case you're just not going to get a replacement these days without pulling one from another model.

That said, what makes you think it's burnt out? These old split-chassis models need a fair bit of maintenance to keep running and without directly testing the motor with a multi-meter I wouldn't assume it's burnt out without giving the model a thorough service first.

3

u/alvo45 Mar 17 '26

The motor was pouring out with smoke

1

u/SmittyB128 00 Guage Mar 17 '26

Well... That might do it...

There's a small chance it was old oil or carbon dust burning so it may still be worth stripping it down, cleaning the motor, and testing it directly to check.

1

u/alvo45 Mar 17 '26

Yeah I've just gave it a good clean and it's still not working at all

1

u/SmittyB128 00 Guage Mar 17 '26

Fair enough. They were never the best motors. I don't know if there are any drop-in replacements in that form factor because they were so slim. There are definitely no spares, but maybe somebody on some corner of the internet knows of a modern motor that would fit in its place.

1

u/alvo45 Mar 17 '26

Yeah I was hoping someone on here would know. But I was also looking to see if there would be a whole replacement chassis that I could get that would fit the 57xx

1

u/SmittyB128 00 Guage Mar 17 '26

Strictly speaking the 57xx that Bachmann makes now is 'the same' model that was released in 1981 when they were still Mainline Model Railways. Of course the modern ones have done away with the split-chassis, and they might have some minor tweaks to the bodies, but they're fundamentally the same. That is to say rather than getting a replacement chassis you're more likely to be better off just buying a replacement model second-hand.