26 years ago my Bride to be proclaimed we needed a train for our first Christmas tree in our new house. That concept was foreign to me as that was never a tradition in my house growing up.
Off to the Toy Store we went where she picked out a simple Bachmann G scale set on sale for $89.99. We purchased a few extra sections of track and an extra freight car.
That was our Christmas train (and our only train) for about 10 years. Right around 2004 as we set the train up around the tree, it just stopped working. Now with 2 year old twin children in the house, we needed a train and right quick. That was the year Polar Express came out so our choice was simple and the Bachmann train was retired to the attic.
Now fast forward another 16 years. My son (now 18) has been in charge of the Polar Express Christmas layout for a few years now. He had heard about the story of the Bachmann train and decided he wanted to put that around the tree this year.
He took the train apart and found that the gear on the drive shaft had cracked. It was just spinning on the shaft, not turning the wheels.
We took a drive to a train shop not to too far away that claimed to be a "Full Service" repair shop. From my novice eye, a wheel needed to be pulled off, a new gear installed and the wheel press fit back into place. The train shop wouldn't touch it and suggested I contact Bachmann and mail it to them. I laughed thinking, if I did that, I'd wouldn't get this thing back until Easter.
I offered to buy my Son a new G gauge engine there at the shop. They had Piko and LGB to choose from. When he saw the price tag of $400 and $500, he thanked me but passed and said he would just set up the PolEx. He's a good young man.
On the way home we talked about using epoxy to fix the cracked gear. What do we have to lose? We gave it our best shot and got the old Bachmann train running again. Just a simple oval around the tree. Just like 26 years ago when times were a little simpler too.
Merry Christmas!
Ron
