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 Posted - February 17 2009 : 3:12:19 PM
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Hey All
I picked up two Varney F7's with 8 wheel drive and cast metal frames and really feel that they were never meant to run, wall hangers the whole lot. The metal frame crumbled in my hands upon dissambely on one and they both seem to have too short of a driveshaft to engage both trucks, wheel slip as well, and they have those rubber drive wheels.
Lots of plastic gears that look vulnerable to shaft splinting. The bodies are nice thou, a war bonnent SF A/B unit in orginal box for $5.00 and a SP bloody nose for $3.00. I know Lifelike picked up the molds and I have a couple but I wanted to keep them Varney but feel that they are not worth the effort and fustration. Any advice?
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Posted - February 18 2009 : 01:43:24 AM
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I've seen a few frames that crumbled like that.
You might be able to find a good frame and get it running.
There looks to be a few frames in this lot.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HUGE-LOT-OF-8-VARIOUS-VARNEY-F3-DIESEL-SHELLS-LOCOS_W0QQitemZ370160706627QQihZ024QQcategoryZ38278QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Ray
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Posted - February 18 2009 : 10:52:31 AM
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Thanks Ray
I will look into what the seller is offering hey I really dont mean to complain either, they were cheap enough. I guess I expected more from the Varney name and was a little dismayed by the poor construction and design. I did get both to run a little, used allot of superglue on the frame, it broke again but I got a test run at least but the driveshafts kept slipping out on both models on 18 degree curves. I started with Tyco MUs in my youth and quickly moved to Atheren without a glance at Life Like, as even in my youth I did not think too much of them, except for the Circus wagons, had to get me a couple of them. So for nostalgias sake I thought getting the Varneys up to snuff would be fun.
Both of my models are brand new and I can see why, I am sure they did not last long on anybodys layout very long. I may restore them and shelf them as an oddity. I do have an early Varney that is a F3 and molded in plastic with crude details but allot more rugged and a metal shell without the top cover.
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Posted - February 18 2009 : 11:16:50 AM
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I have a metal F3 that I am piecing together. The roof section and the truck gear blocks are crumbling to pieces. The frame was broke but I was able to save it.
I bought the F7 drive with the crumbling frame for the trucks to put on the F3.
Ray
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Posted - February 18 2009 : 5:15:37 PM
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I bought a Varney F3 drive & frame at the LHS that I tuned to to the best of my ability. It's a later version with the plastic trucks. The frame is in perfect shape, but I'm not sure if it's compatible with those older versions with diecast trucks. If anyone wants it, let me know.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 19 2009 : 04:24:18 AM
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quote:Hey All
I picked up two Varney F7's with 8 wheel drive and cast metal frames and really feel that they were never meant to run, wall hangers the whole lot. The metal frame crumbled in my hands upon dissambely on one and they both seem to have too short of a driveshaft to engage both trucks, wheel slip as well, and they have those rubber drive wheels.
Lots of plastic gears that look vulnerable to shaft splinting. The bodies are nice thou, a war bonnent SF A/B unit in orginal box for $5.00 and a SP bloody nose for $3.00. I know Lifelike picked up the molds and I have a couple but I wanted to keep them Varney but feel that they are not worth the effort and fustration. Any advice?
Originally posted by Trans-Slam-February 17 2009: 3:12:19 PM
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Hi
Sounds like Zinkpest!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinkpest
Erich
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Posted - February 19 2009 : 11:32:50 AM
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quote:I bought a Varney F3 drive & frame at the LHS that I tuned to to the best of my ability. It's a later version with the plastic trucks. The frame is in perfect shape, but I'm not sure if it's compatible with those older versions with diecast trucks. If anyone wants it, let me know.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759-February 18 2009: 5:15:37 PM
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Do the trucks have the metal gear box?
I have a set that has the metal gear box with plastic sideframes and a set that is all plastic.
Ray
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Posted - February 19 2009 : 11:48:03 PM
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No Ray, the trucks are all plastic, and the bottom covers were held on by small brass brads, if you can believe it. The rear truck has a 5 pole Japanese motor. I guess this was a later model, maybe early to mid-60's? I drilled out the holes slightly and replaced the brads with small machine screws salvaged from tape drives. They hold together now, but it's still a crummy drive. 
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 20 2009 : 02:59:04 AM
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quote:No Ray, the trucks are all plastic, and the bottom covers were held on by small brass brads, if you can believe it. The rear truck has a 5 pole Japanese motor. I guess this was a later model, maybe early to mid-60's? I drilled out the holes slightly and replaced the brads with small machine screws salvaged from tape drives. They hold together now, but it's still a crummy drive.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759-February 19 2009: 11:48:03 PM
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I haven't gotten those to run well either.
Ray
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Posted - February 20 2009 : 5:57:17 PM
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quote:
I haven't gotten those to run well either.
Originally posted by Ray Marinaccio-February 20 2009: 02:59:04 AM
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Give this a try.
It drops the speed, and eliminates most of the gear noise.
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Posted - February 20 2009 : 10:48:00 PM
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| Very cool idea Nelson! I may just have to try that on my SW. I am replacing the original motor and having a bit of trouble matching up those drive gears. Odd to think I am going BACK to the old drive bands!
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Posted - February 21 2009 : 01:03:49 AM
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Yeah, except these drive bands don't turn to goo like the old ones. I guess they're PVC? They're Goody hair bands from Wallyworld, and they're the perfect size for this particular drive. The old freight car wheel is just there to keep the band from walking off the shaft, and there's a short length of silicone tubing to up the speed a little.
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Posted - February 21 2009 : 01:41:12 AM
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I've used those belts for Athearn Hi-F locos.
They have to be carefully stretched to size before they are installed but work well when fitted properly.
Ray
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Posted - November 30 2012 : 12:21:34 AM
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The Varney F3 guts look a lot like the guts of my Revell F unit. In fact, the gears look interchangable. Does anyone know if this was due to a lack of copyright, or were the two related in production. For their similarities, I'm lead to believe Varney was bought by Revell. It's just a guess, I'm still trying to learn based on Mr. Cook's websites.
Are Varney guts interchangable with Revell parts? Has anyone seen these run well? Is it worth trying to aquire more of them? If it runs as good as it looks, I'll start hunting for more.
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Posted - November 30 2012 : 01:21:52 AM
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quote:The Varney F3 guts look a lot like the guts of my Revell F unit. In fact, the gears look interchangable.
Originally posted by Islanderh93Â -Â November 30 2012Â :Â 12:21:34 AM
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The smaller companies like Revell and Cox farmed out their production, so it's probable that the Varney drive is used in the Revell engine. I don't have enough of either to confirm this, but you are right, they are similar.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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waw47
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Posted - November 30 2012 : 11:09:39 AM
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Varney, Revell, Penn Line, American Flyer (Gilbert) , Marx and some other smaller companies all used an eight wheel drive system with a drive shaft for their F unit diesels at one time or another. Some of the drives are the same, some are not.
Varney supplied F-3 units to Gilbert from 1955 to 1960. Penn Line went bankrupt in 1963. Varney obtained their F7 diesels and produced them going forward. In the 1960's some of the same individuals were involved with Revell and Varney. Revell used Varney's Dockside shells for their PRR 0-4-0 Dockside. The Varney and Revell F-7 drive system are very similar, but not an exact copy. From 1961 to 1963, Gilbert and Marx F-3 were almost identical. Marx may have produced some of the components for the AF F-3 in Hong Kong.
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Posted - December 03 2012 : 8:15:40 PM
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| Is this why I've never seen a Revell Dockside? They have a Varney shell? What's the drive for one look like?
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Posted - December 03 2012 : 10:38:23 PM
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Life-Like got a lot of Varney tooling. I don't think Revell did, in fact I think they were out of the train biz before Varney closed its doors.
Revell never had a Dockside, but they did have a UP 0-6-0 saddle tanker.
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waw47
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Posted - December 03 2012 : 11:07:02 PM
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The Revell Pennsylvania Docksider (T-3650) can found in Revell Cataloges from 1959 thru 1962. They do exist, I have one.
Edited by - waw47 on December 04 2012 10:10:01 AM
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waw47
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Posted - December 03 2012 : 11:49:53 PM
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| Gordon Varney sold his company to Sol Kramer of Life-Like in 1957. Kramer continued to use the Varney name until 1968, when everything was rebranded Life-Like. Revell produced HO trains from 1956 thru 1962. Some former employees of Varney worked for Revell, there were some collaborative efforts between the two.
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Posted - December 03 2012 : 11:58:21 PM
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Interesting. They called it the "Yard Hog."
http://ho-scaletrains.net/revellhoscaletrainsresource/id7.html
That's even more minimalist than the Life-Like Dockside.
I have two of the Omaha 0-6-0's, which were all diecast except for the cab and insulated wheels.
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Posted - December 04 2012 : 07:55:01 AM
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Nelson,
Thats not a bad idea! I must say, how well does it pull? any slippage on it under load?
I have 4 of the old Varney diesels that have that same drive and I plan to remotor mine as the CD-90's (I think) open frame motors are shot......And they to my aren't worth trying to repair as I have TONS of motors so......Figure, I'd toss in a can motor in each of them! BUT, I like the belt drive, I am curious on how well it pulls!
~John
Many have tried to, and failed, ya just can't repair stupid...
Do NOT try to Idiot-Proof anything!!!! God, will simply create a better......IDIOT!
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Posted - December 04 2012 : 11:41:48 PM
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| Is the only means to ID the Revell version, the Pennsylvania roadname?
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waw47
Hudson
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Posted - December 05 2012 : 12:18:00 AM
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| On the Revell Dockside, the number 3510-021 appears on the rear coupler pocket cover.
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Posted - December 05 2012 : 4:37:15 PM
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John,
It's been a while, and I can't remember if I put the silicone tubing on the motor shaft to speed it up or eliminate slippage. I think it was the speed issue. The clear bands really are worth the small investment, since they haven't rotted or hardened on me yet.
You have to reverse the pickup wipers so it runs the right direction, of course. I moved one wiper up to the front truck, since the pickup on one truck was lousy. The band does put tension on that lousy drive shaft, which I deburred and polished as well as I could, and it's well greased with Super Lube. The motor handles it fine, even tho the magnet is pretty weak. It doesn't get more than lukewarm.
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