between the directly driven axle and the other axle. Again
some power was saved at the expense of traction. I also used
Northwest Short Line’s (NWSL) geared replacement wheel sets
as another alternative. All worked, but ultimately I found that
two fully geared motored trucks could easily be driven by bat-
tery power.
The boxcab loco is built with the body of an old Roundhouse/
MDC locomotive also available as a track cleaner, powered and
non-powered. Its lower mounting “ears” are cut off. These bod-
ies are no longer in production but are readily available in swap
meets and on eBay.
As mentioned above, the chassis and drive motors are from
an old dual motor Bachmann GE 44-ton switcher. The body is
removed and cut down to the walkways [17]. The wiring board
is removed and the top of the metal chassis is shortened as
much as possible [18]. The top metal protrusions are removed.
The metal chassis is used to support the power trucks and
18. Bachmann 44-ton switcher, chassis cuts.
18
