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 Posted - March 29 2009 : 01:44:39 AM
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I was digging through the one of the boxes all of our old train stuff is stored in downstairs. And I came across this and didn't even think we had it anymore.
But the excitement of a free engine goes downhill rather quickly. First thing is the obvious stuff. Wheel cover is long gone and so are the side rods. It doesn't run, but I had no problem ripping it open to find out why. More bad news, parts of plastic frame are cracked all over the place. Heck look above the headlight you can see where someone pryed it open before. I pulled the motor apart (metal frame PT drive from what I can tell?). I pull the brushes out, expecting to find springs behind them. And these two what looked like smaller brushes (or pencil lead) fell out. Ok that's wrong, thankfully I have springs that I could cut to work. I clean the whole thing and shove it back together. Put some power to it, it buzzes and occasionally one of the brushes puts on a light show. Makes a weee bit of motion sometimes like it wants to turn. One thing I did notice was the contact area where the brushes touch the motor seemed very worn. Instead of a copper looking contact surface it seemed more silvery looking, a possible issue?
I was gonna maybe repaint it if it worked. But with the chassis having so much damage its really almost not worth it less I'm going to park it somewhere. But I wanted to post here to see if anyone could give me any quick pointers about these engines!
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Posted - March 29 2009 : 11:41:40 AM
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I have never had the pleasure of working on one of those.
You mention it looks like a PT motor. Could it be replaced with a PT from a diesel (swapping the wheels of coarse) or is the block different?
Ray
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Posted - March 29 2009 : 12:57:16 PM
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That's the last version of the 0-6-0. Actually, pretty much the last steamer sold by Tyco. And it's crap.
Basically it's the Diesel Switcher version of the PT slapped into a steamer shell. It never had but just one long siderod - no valve gear (even decorative) was ever present. Unlike most steam loco models, the tender is purely a dummy accessory and is not needed for the loco to run.
So the good news is you can fix it with almost any flavor of PT drive you can find.
The bad news is, it's a pretty lame steamer model. But it does have its perverse charms. I have a couple of them.
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Posted - March 29 2009 : 1:38:04 PM
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I have the Western Maryland version of that engine.
Bought at a show as new last year,never been run.
This loco is very unpredictable when running,it speeds up and slows down by itself.
Maybe with more running it will smooth itself out.
I really like these engines,and am looking for more in the future.
Carl T.
President of the Cape James Terminal RR.
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Posted - March 29 2009 : 8:55:18 PM
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Thanks for the info guys, so the general impression I'm getting is torch the thing before it infects something else? lol
Here was a shot I took of the motor before I ripped it apart. I'm starting to do this before I tear something apart in case I forget where wires go when I put it back together. You can see where the front piston assembly cracked off the frame.
My friend might have another dead one of these laying around. I might be able to use the parts to maybe get one of them running. If not, no real loss. Like I said the chassis is cracked in so many spots even if it ran it would be shaky. Whats really weird like GIC said, is that the tender has hook horn couplers on both ends. So you could tow it with anything. I'll keep that around at least, might be useful later on. I really need to get to a local show and buy something more worth while to fix up.
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