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Posted - October 21 2021 : 1:25:42 PM
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Long ago, I had an MDC Boxcab Diesel. I found another at a very low price and decided to buy it in case the one I had needed parts. It would be as cheap to cannibalize one this inexpensive as to order parts. That second one came with a defective motor, in that the magnet was weak, and that was before you could order rare earth magnets to easily replace the original. Eventually, I replaced that with a scrounged motor that worked but wasn't quite as good. Unfortunately, the scrounged motor's shaft was just a hair bigger and caused the first spur gear to split.
I moved the best parts into one locomotive and the others into the spare. Both fell into disuse because it was hard to keep the steel wheels clean and I didn't really have the connections between the truck and the frame adjusted quite right. Eventually, I figured out that much of my pickup problem was the maladjusted electrical contacts and fixed them.
A while ago, I ordered some nickel silver wheels for the good one and for a Trains Miniature Alco FA. They were sold by the dozen, so to get the 16 wheels I needed, I had to buy 24. I put the 8 extras on the spare box cab. While I was doing that, I wondered if I could get it back running. I did, and I relettered it for my railroad and did some other painting. Here it is, fixed up.
I put a ferrule on the split gear, but the thing was still obnoxiously noisy because of the scrounged motor which was a rough running 3-pole motor, not a 5-pole like the original. I looked for the old motor, but couldn't find it, but I did find another MDC motor with a worm on the shaft. I popped that off and put the repaired spur gear on and the engine ran more quietly. I also painted the frame to hide it in the shadows.
Here's a better view of the ferrule on the split gear. It holds the gear together well enough to run like new.
There are ball and socket universal joints between the frame and the trucks. One ball split, long ago, and I cobbled up another out of plastic sprues. This ended up on the spare engine, which in its present "good enough to use" state runs just fine with it, even if the thing is not precisely made.
This fixed up engine (formerly spare parts) has a speed range close enough to the other to run together double headed. Here are the two, together:
From time to time going back for another look at something I had previously written off pays off in another usable piece of equipment.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - October 21 2021 : 9:05:35 PM
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Incredible work and revival of an old engine destined to be parted out.
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Posted - October 21 2021 : 9:20:42 PM
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I had that trouble, now I might get it fixed. What exactly did you use a ferrule? Engines look just magnifcent.
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Posted - October 21 2021 : 9:35:58 PM
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Cute engine.
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Posted - October 21 2021 : 10:31:46 PM
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quote:I had that trouble, now I might get it fixed. What exactly did you use a ferrule? Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â October 21 2021Â :Â 9:20:42 PM
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I had a piece of an old telescoping car antenna, but that's just a brass tube with some plating on it.
The gear is much longer than it needs to be, so I just trimmed down the last 1/16" or so to the inside diameter of the tube and pressed it on. It turned out a little loose, so I shoved some little stubs of wire into the tube as shims to tighten it up. I used a jeweler's saw to cut the short ring out of the tube. When I was done, there was still enough of the teeth left to engage the next gear down the line.
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Posted - October 21 2021 : 10:32:34 PM
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Thanks for the kind words, everyone.
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Posted - October 23 2021 : 12:00:34 PM
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quote:Long ago, I had an MDC Box-cab Diesel. I found another at a very low price and decided to buy it in case the one I had needed parts. It would be as cheap to cannibalize one this inexpensive as to order parts. That second one came with a defective motor, in that the magnet was weak, and that was before you could order rare earth magnets to easily replace the original. Eventually, I replaced that with a scrounged motor that worked but wasn't quite as good. Unfortunately, the scrounged motor's shaft was just a hair bigger and caused the first spur gear to split.
I moved the best parts into one locomotive and the others into the spare. Both fell into disuse because it was hard to keep the steel wheels clean and I didn't really have the connections between the truck and the frame adjusted quite right. Eventually, I figured out that much of my pickup problem was the maladjusted electrical contacts and fixed them.
A while ago, I ordered some nickel silver wheels for the good one and for a Trains Miniature Alco FA. They were sold by the dozen, so to get the 16 wheels I needed, I had to buy 24. I put the 8 extras on the spare box cab. While I was doing that, I wondered if I could get it back running. I did, and I re-lettered it for my railroad and did some other painting. Here it is, fixed up.
I put a ferrule on the split gear, but the thing was still obnoxiously noisy because of the scrounged motor which was a rough running 3-pole motor, not a 5-pole like the original. I looked for the old motor, but couldn't find it, but I did find another MDC motor with a worm on the shaft. I popped that off and put the repaired spur gear on and the engine ran more quietly. I also painted the frame to hide it in the shadows. There are ball and socket universal joints between the frame and the trucks. One ball split, long ago, and I cobbled up another out of plastic sprues. This ended up on the spare engine, which in its present "good enough to use" state runs just fine with it, even if the thing is not precisely made.
This fixed up engine (formerly spare parts) has a speed range close enough to the other to run together double headed. Here are the two, together:
From time to time going back for another look at something I had previously written off pays off in another usable piece of equipment.
Originally posted by scsshaggy - October 21 2021 : 1:25:42 PM
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Hey Shaggy, I really enjoyed this post. You did well in bringing these two box-cabs back from oblivion. You made a useful pair of them. frank
toptrain
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