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Tyco Trains

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Tyco C630 with Frame Mounted Motor Drive

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Srenchin
Big Boy

Status: offline

Posted - June 16 2016 : 12:19:35 AM

With out a doubt, Tyco's most impressive diesel locomotive model was the Alco C630, an absolutely brutish looking machine that easily dwarfed most other engines found on the HO market. Unfortunately the majority of Tyco's C630 locomotives were equipped with the infamous "Power Torque" drive system and decorated with fanciful "Vampire" style truck side frames making these models relatively useless to most serious model railroaders. However for a short period of time at the very beginning of C630 production, Tyco did sell a version of their C630 that had both a frame mounted motor and realistic Alco "Trimount" style trucks. These models were produced by a European model train manufacturer (possibly Rivarossi or Mehano) and their version of this locomotive stands a breed apart from all other C630 units Tyco sold over the years.

Needless to say, these European style models are hard to come by, so when one appeared on eBay recently I jumped at the chance to get one of these beasts for my own collection. The bidding was fierce but in the end I finally acquired my first Tyco C630 with the European drive!

For those of you who have never seen one of these rare engines up close and personal I took the following pictures of this model as I disassembled it for cleaning and lubrication...

Model came complete with a box, but alas no instructions.

First look at the model out of the box, note the Trimount trucks with the off center middle axle. The side frames have great relief detail too!

To disassemble this model, the first step is to remove the pilot pieces, this will allow the shell to come off the frame without fouling the truck mounted coupler pockets. I broke one of the clips that attach to the bottoms of the side ladders, I ended up removing these bottom clips because they are fragile, unrealistic looking, and redundant.

This is the interior of the shell, notice the tape just behind the cab, this keeps heat from the centrally mounted light bulb from damaging the shell. Light from the bulb is transferred to the front and rear number boards and headlights by clear plastic "ducts" mounted inside the top of the shell. (Think of it as "poor man's" fiber optic).

This is the European mechanism, note:
1. The motor sits inside the cab
2. The main drive shaft runs from the motor to a central gear tower mounted over the fuel tank
3. The light bulb mounted on an inverted L bracket between the motor and central gear tower.

This is the underside of the model, note the bottom of the central gear tower and the universals extending to both the front and rear trucks!

To access the truck universals, gently remove the fuel tank weight, Note the orange paint flakes from the pilot pieces.

To remove the front truck first remove the motor, this is done by simply removing two screws on the motor mounting bracket. Once the motor is removed, the "truck bolster plugs" are revealed...

The Truck bolster plug on the rear truck is unobstructed and easy to access. To detach the trucks from the frame, gently "pinch" the truck bolster plug tabs together to allow the assembly to slide out of the chassis.

To make disassembly easier, I cut the wire leads to each truck to free them from the chassis, when I reassemble the mechanism I will install quick disconnect plugs to make maintenance easier. Also note that when you remove the trucks, be careful not to damage the plastic pegs on the back of the truck side frames...

The truck side frames are attached to the truck by pegs that snap into clips mounted on the truck's bottom cover plate, to remove the side frames, gently push the side frames up while prying apart the clips.

This is the truck's bottom cover plate, it is held in place by two clips, one on each end of the truck. Caked on grease on this part must be removed before re-lubrication.

With the truck's bottom cover plate removed, the axles, truck drive shaft, worm gears, axle gears, and power pick up shoes are revealed. Note that the center axle is just an idler making this locomotive only a four axle drive unit. (Still better than the three axle drive on a "Power Torque")

With the truck's bottom cover plate removed, remove all moving parts and clean them with a plastic safe electronics cleaner. When all the old grease is removed, relubricate with fresh grease and oil the bearings (Caution, do not over lubricate the mechanism, a little goes a long way). Once you are done, reassemble the trucks but make sure the wheels are oriented properly!

This picture shows the phosphor bronze plate which electrically connects the trucks to the motor, to making servicing this model easier, I installed new truck wire leads with quick disconnect plugs. Attach the new wire to the phosphor bronze clip with a dab of solder. The new wire I used was of a larger gauge than the original wiring so I had to thread the new wire through the truck bolster plugs first before soldering the new wire to the phosphor bronze clip.

If you choose to install electrical plugs to your truck wire leads, be sure to use enough wire to allow the plugs to be curled up and tucked away one the frame. Note: These wire plugs can be found at hobby stores that stock RC car parts.

I also replaced the original "horn hook X2F" style couplers with Life Like knuckle replacements that plug right into the original draft gear pockets.

This is a photo of the reassembled mechanism, note how the truck power leads are curled and tucked into place to keep the new disconnect plugs from getting in the way of reassembly. Also note that I did not take apart the central gear tower because I could not find a way to extract it from the frame.

If anyone has any experience removing this part without breaking the frame, please let me know!!

Here is my new C630 on my layout, she runs a bit stiff but with some operating time it should break in.

Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016

Edited by - Srenchin on June 17 2016 10:48:32 PM

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