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 Posted - October 18 2020 : 2:52:11 PM
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My SOTW offering is not 1, not 2, but 3 Bachmann N-Scale Santa Fe F9 B-units! I have no idea Bachmann even made F9B's in its old days, let alone dummy versions.
Now I can do this.... ABBA
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - October 18 2020 : 3:34:32 PM
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Wowser! How many are powered? Those F's really led the way to beating the brains out of steam.
This weeks offering is not one, not two, but three Round House Boxcabs, fresh off the bad order track.
Had two of them for decades; they had a hard life, various lettered for N de M to present state, two of them
were DCC'd at one point, in ore service, the third is one I got off eBay for $50, ouch, to go with the M & L
shell I found in a junk shop. Took hours to attach the horn hooks. Yech. Hopefully they stay put.
I really like these old slow moving lunks. They are, however, susceptible to split universal joints. Blech.
Cross fingers and toes they hold.
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Posted - October 18 2020 : 4:26:51 PM
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RP, those are neat I love that ABBA set
Chops, those are awesome! I didn't know that those were a thing! 
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Posted - October 18 2020 : 5:36:27 PM
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Thanks guys!
In that pic, Chops, only the leading A-unit was powered, the rest are all dummies. Not sure how well it would perform on the layout, hauling passenger coaches which I hope to get in the near future, to have "Warbonnets" accurately hauling passengers and not freight. 
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 03:54:11 AM
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Well, you win some, you loose most of 'em. Dang boxcabs fail, fail, and fail.
Thought they worked, but I should have run them more before putting so
much time into them all morning. The one I bought for $50 luckily has
a return policy, and it is a pure dud with a frozen transmission. Not sure
why I didn't think to check it better first.
The Canadiana Shark bought gave me convulsions, as it went
from running good on test, to sputtering worse than an AHM.
Cleaned the wheels, and it stills struggled. Cleaned them again
and this time it took.
Lot of wasted effort today because I failed to test the box cabs. 
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 08:51:32 AM
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Chops, your boxcab trio is too cool to let go. You said the problem is a frozen transmission. I'm assuming you are talking about the main gearbox tower, and that it is jammed. Have you tested to make sure it is the gearbox tower and not the truck worms and gears?
Crack open the gearbox tower and inspect for any stray plastic or flash. These locomotives came as kits and the gears came on sprues. One modelers poor job of removing a teeny bit of flash from a gear could cause the entire thing to lock up.
If that is all cleaned out, test it. Make sure all the gears rotate freely. Of course, make sure the boxcab doesn't have an electrical issue either. No power = no move! As I said earlier check the worm gears in the trucks too. You never know what suspicious activity could be going on in there.
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 10:03:18 AM
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Yeah, you're right. I'll pop open the gear housing on the underside see
what going on. The motor turns, but is held back by the tranny. Also
missing one universal coupling, which I can replace from another
junk box cab.
Then, I thought about it some more. The other two box cabs, that I purchased when they
still made these things, frequently had trouble with gear binding, never a flash issue.
Repeated assembly and disassembly to fix them left them in their current poor state.
For the 50 clams, I was looking for an RTR piece, not another project, of which too many
sit on the shelf. So, back it goes. If I get time, will try to see if I can combine parts to get
one operational. It does stink, as I rather like switchers, the smaller the better, but this
is another consequence of farming out these things to Red China where quality control
is all over the map.
Edited by - Chops124 on October 19 2020 11:39:51 AM
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 1:31:51 PM
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| Alright then. But if all of these boxcabs are notorious for the mentioned problems, there isnt any real chance you'll find a good RTR boxcab unless it has been tinkered with by someone experienced. It's like the old Bachmann's. Even if you find one NIB, the axle gears are going to crack. It's the inevitable fate.
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 3:32:53 PM
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You are right, Senior Blax, you are right. I'm trying to assemble
one working one now. Two customized jobs are on eBay with the
absurd list prices in the mid 200 clam range. Yeah, sure. Dream on.
Fixing a split gear is well nigh impossible. I've never been able to
cement one up yet with anything.
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 6:20:05 PM
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Ive seen people take plastic or metal tubing, trim it ti fit, then slip in onto the end parts of the cracked gear. Apparently it keeps it together!
Did you figure out what the transmission issue was?
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Posted - October 19 2020 : 10:50:16 PM
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Posted - October 20 2020 : 12:05:49 AM
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Posted - October 20 2020 : 02:56:32 AM
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Ladies & Gerbilmen! Not three, not two, but one working Round House Box Cab!!! 
As they say, half a loaf is better than none. Sent the defective one back, thinking now maybe I
could have fixed it if the gears weren't split, took the remaining two completely apart and salvaged
two good drive axles with intact universal gears, Heaven help me if they split. The other two
universal gears had split, causing most of the trouble. The rest of the trouble is that the motor and
the transmission chassis were screwed in too enthusiastically, creating excessive drag. Once reassembled
to lightly firm, not tight, the gears were then able to spin more easily. Dose of lube, too.
Edited by - Chops124 on October 20 2020 02:57:41 AM
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Posted - October 31 2020 : 09:46:46 AM
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I have repaired the split u joints by using brass tubing that fits on the hub. I cant remember what size, but this tubing is available at Ace hardware. You can slice off some collars and super glue them over the hub. Should last forever. I would get new u joints, but I couldn't find them anywhere.
Regards, Vic B.
quote:
Ladies & Gerbilmen! Not three, not two, but one working Round House Box Cab!!!
As they say, half a loaf is better than none. Sent the defective one back, thinking now maybe I
could have fixed it if the gears weren't split, took the remaining two completely apart and salvaged
two good drive axles with intact universal gears, Heaven help me if they split. The other two
universal gears had split, causing most of the trouble. The rest of the trouble is that the motor and
the transmission chassis were screwed in too enthusiastically, creating excessive drag. Once reassembled
to lightly firm, not tight, the gears were then able to spin more easily. Dose of lube, too.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â October 20 2020Â :Â 02:56:32 AM
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Vic Bitleris
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Posted - October 31 2020 : 10:20:46 AM
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| could you post pictures?
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