It'd be far better to simply

It'd be far better to simply remove all the overhead [the motor] and leave the trucks "Assembled."  Torn down, you wouldn't see them "fully assembled" like you would if you took the side frames off.  1:1 trucks have a number of parts that are one piece castings, so the only place you might see them sort of cut up like we do is a scrap yard, and even there, they recycle the trucks before scraping them.

You may put tarps over the middle to protect the traction motor from the weather while it sits, though I doubt even this considerations is employed often.

so... there is no value in the pancake motor?

Hey Benny,

So, one vote to trash the pancake motor and use the complete truck as a model.

Not a bad idea to have a couple of blue tarps partially covering a complete truck. The vintage Bachmann truck is so chunky that it needs to be covered by a tarp. I have already cut one of the trucks down to simulate the frame sitting on one complete truck with the other end supported by an old Bettendorf truck, sorta like the pic below.

...

You could probably put the pancake motor all in a scrap yard scene, grouped together....

The side details aren't too clunky if you're dealing with a large scene.  And as a flatcar load, I think they'd be fine too.  Make the tarps out of paper towel or dryer sheets, soaked in a white glue mix and layered over each other.

I personally like how they sound.  They have a very organic hum, one I kind of miss...you didn't need a sound decoder with these, at least a prime mover sound, they packed their own!

No value that I'm aware of

Anything has value, if you can find the right person at the right time.  In theory, you could find somebody who has an old model with a worn out motor, and who is willing to pay to rebuild the model instead of upgrading to something better.  The chances of actually making that happen, though.....

My advice would be to hang onto the motors, if you have a convenient place to store them.  You never know when a working motor might come in handy for some project, like powering a turntable or some other form of animation.  It might even turn out to be the best motor for a given model, though I doubt it.  If you don't have the space and/or don't want to keep junk laying around, I wouldn't hesitate to scrap the motors.  They're worth their weight in scrap plastic.

Thanks

Ken, my wife now dislikes you! She wants me to get rid of my excess junk, not keep it for someday! I like your idea cause you never know when that thing would come in handy. I had thought about powering a revolving sign or something but as Benny commented, they are quite loud, so maybe not.

Benny, your right with the scene stuff. That housing, not so much the functional motor could make a believable piece of machinery added to some of those Lifelike scenic gears, you might have something...

Some Value!

Kirk,

You can get a cup of coffee with a pancake motor if you have $1,50 to go with it. But not at StarBucks! I do not agree with Ken, Go buy a motor from a supply house [Jameco Electronics]. It will save you a lot of frustration.

Regards John **********************************

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. <> Yogi Berra

The key to the value

Hmmm...

Larry,

Nope, it runs good. I cleaned it up and used a tiny bit of medium Labelle oil to lubricate the gears. Then, I soldered 30 ga. orange and grey wires onto the pancake motor and diesel truck. Wiring it to a decoder or to power pickup is going to be someone else's responsibility.

Here is what I am going to do. I will put it on eBay and just see if it goes. I mean who would think the old horn hook (X2F) couplers would have any value? Those sell for about 1/2 the price of Kadees... Weird, I would just throw them away...

I do not need this motor nor do I want it. I use Mashima, Atlas/Kato or Genesis motors in my locos. My thing is that I hate to throw something away when there might be someone, someplace, who searches eBay for this very thing...

exactly

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Larry

FYI Update

The Bachmann parts site now list Pancake motor trucks and dummy trucks to repair the older HO diesels. These are complete with traction tires. It looks like they have a newer side frame. Rumor has it that the older power trucks were designed for a somewhat limited life of going round and round. I think these could be used on some of the other older brands of diesels. I do not recommend these, I just found them!

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_91&products_id=4398

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_91&products_id=4397

Regards, John *******

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? <> Abraham Lincoln

Thanks !!!

Well,

If Bachmann is selling these, there are obviously some "more than occasional" request for them... I happen to have both ends, YEAH !!!

Economic Motivation

Bachmann has a limited life time warranty, so it may be that it is cost effective to provide spare parts for the older diesels, They can repair the older units and not have to replace them with a complete new unit. Just a guess!

Regards, John ********

     .. When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

Regardless of the feelings discussed

Pancake motor....I need one

Guys,

     I have an older 2-10-4 Bachman steamer and I love that thing.  until the motor quit (my step son doused it with smoke oil to make it billow...and it got all thru the motor and now it stopped working....)  so...I want to fix it.....does anybody have one they would like to part with...OR is there anything I can use in it's place....

     Any help will be greatly appreciated (I just went round and round with Bachman {Louise} and after 10 emails they finally told me there is  nothing I can do short of purchasing a complete chassis with an upgraded motor for $120. )

     Michael D

pancake motors

If those motors are still available, I'm interested!!!

You likely have to get a scrap engine

to get a pancake motor.
I believe this engine has a CB pancake motor:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bachmann-ho-Chessie-System-C-O-7071-locomotive/133683367102?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D4439583338184519b67ed4cb1e9786b6%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D133683367102%26itm%3D133683367102%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DBachmann&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac98a583f-7efb-11eb-87d1-72ccc13f397b%7Cparentrq%3A0ae5f0851780ab8ece5bb101fff586a0%7Ciid%3A1
 

I haven’t been active with these since 2017, but this one looks like it fits the catagory.  These were common on the older F9A & GP40 models as well as some of their steam engines.  You have look closely, because Bachmann had at least 3 drive variations of these engines after the pan cake motors.  You can look on hoseeker.com to identify some identifying features that will help get the right version.

The image isn’t showing up ...

Is this one of the motors that are in one half of the frame with the axis parallel to the driver axles? Basically just an armature?  I'm presuming it looks about like this:

In the case of the steamers, the metal part of the frame provides the actual motor housing and one of the gears is on the back of that half in the open space between the frame halves where it mates with the drive gear.

I have an original 2-8-0 (#0654) that uses one, and despite oodles of threads to the contrary it is not appearing all that hard to isolate it from the track.  All it took was:

• one measly 1-72 nylon screw
• removal of the smoke unit that joins both halves electrically
• removal of the incandescent bulb that joins both halves electrically - will replace with a properly isolated LED and resistor.

I am in the process of experimenting with the cheapest decoder I could find. 

If it all works out, I will be upgrading the tender with power pickup wheels and adding a sound decoder and will do a post about it. 

Dynamo Generators

Pancakes look a lot like Dynamo Generators, 

dynamo generators

 dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which ...  Wikipedia

@ Michael D

If it was just smoke oil, you may be able to clean it. It’s likely just gummed up the brushes and it’s the same work to put in a new one as it is to clean it.  They are not hard to disassemble. Be mindful of the springs and brushes under the electrical contact plates. It won’t work if you lose them, although Bachmann likely sells the parts.  
On the 2-8-0 you only need to remove the boiler shell to get at it. The driveline can be left alone. 

Image might not be showing up because ...

... this thread is from 7 years ago.

Pancake Motor Image

@StefAnv - Lots of posts on here older than seven years.  More likely it's missing not because of its age, but because the OP inadvertently renamed, deleted from their photo gallery, or pasted it in rather than storing it. 

Here's a picture of the innards of a pancake motor. In the case of the Bachmann steamers, the housing was actually milled into the frame.

I confirmed late last night the full isolation of needed areas and ran the 2-8-0 with directional LED lights with the cheapest Digitrax decoder I could find.  100% successful.  With the acquisition of goodies for tender power pickup from the track, a sound decoder and some small plugs I will get documenting the project and soon publish a thread.  Once complete I will have a nice DCC sound equipped 2-8-0 for a bit over $100 Cdn.  I’m guessing the techniques will apply to similar vintage Bachmann steamers.  Sadly the shop only had one Digitrax sound decoder so the 2-8-0 at the farm that my Dad got me will have to wait a bit.  That one might just get Soundtraxx equipped.

Hey -

These are pretty much the same motors as the "HO" scale slot cars we used to run, but larger. 

I love these motors

I really like these vintage motors. They're easy to fix up, and leave tons of room inside the loco. I'm using them on the two lithium-powered locos I'm going to be using on my model railroad.