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 Posted - February 12 2010 : 9:32:11 PM
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I was gluing the pinion back on this train show Durango Geep and I noticed the strange brass fittings, contacts, that hold the brush springs and brushes. I don't think I've seen this before. I started looking at other Power Torques but I haven't found others like this.
The oval-like protrusion on the top of this block looks like the place were a spring would go on the rear truck in a C430. The wiring looks to have been re-soldered so maybe this isn't the PT that came with it.
The Gen II 430 Alco, that I've posted about before which was the first PT in the Alco looks the same as the PT in the S630 Alcos. All of my early post "Rivarossi 630 Drive" S630s have this motor and these contacts. It has this bullet shape brush contact and has the brass pinion gear that is not pictured here. The early Alco type sideframe has only three leaf springs sticking out in the middle of the truck. The EMD Blomberg trucks show 4 spring leafs.
For comparison this PT is from a later ATSF Geep and has one of the more common flat brush "contacts". These "sideloader" contacts can be carefully lifted over the little black post and slid out of the way to remove or install the spring and brush after doing maintenance on the PT. That's much easier than loading the spring and brush into the sidecover and trying to align the armature shaft with the bearing and keep everything from moving around.
The top of this engine block locks as if it went through a redesign compared to the top example.
All three of these examples have different side covers on the motors.
The reason for showing these was to show the of the odd contacts in the Durango Geep. There are other variations and I'll add some pictures later.
Here's a picture of a plastic MU2, from around 1974, that uses the same cradle or bogey as the PTs.
Here's a PT from a BN Alco 430. The brush contacts are now a bigger contact on the end.
The PT shown here is probably among the last produced, around '93, since some of the USA Express 430s were sold by IHC. It now has a holder for the light and to secure the wires a bit also eliminating the need for soldering another wire to the bottom contact.
The side cover on this PT has extra holes at about 11 and 5 o'clock where the one on the BN shell doesn't. Possibly this was done before the big round vents were added.
Added 3/6/10: Here's another variation that I came across. The side cover is a translucent plastic rather than the typical solid black but it does have vents in it.. This was taken out of an engine some time ago so I'm not sure what year it was made. This looks similar to the cover on the USA Express Alco.
Alco Fan
Edited by - Alco Fan on March 06 2010 7:05:32 PM
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 2:37:43 PM
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Other than the contacts, is everything else on that first truck the same as the others? I don't think I've seen one like that before.
That's an interesting comparison. I wonder just how many different PT's Tyco made
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 2:56:17 PM
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There are several more that I have with variations and I'll add pics asap.
Alco Fan
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 8:49:40 PM
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I wonder if that isn't the very first version, AF, because those brush holders are actual brass turnings, which would be more expensive from a production standpoint. I've never seen that one either.
I think the most common is the one with the brush retainers/contacts held in place by plastic snaps that snap very easily when you bend them back.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 9:36:16 PM
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A good observation Nelson.
I went to see a collection for sale today. The seller had a Durango Geep with metal handrails and it didn't have this type of contacts.
I can't remember anyone showing these before.
Alco Fan
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 10:35:06 PM
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Hey AF:
Real useful Photo's those Thank you
-Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 10:59:35 PM
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| I second Romcats statement of GREAT PICS!!
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Posted - February 13 2010 : 11:04:02 PM
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I need to talk to Todd about creating an Archive section, for like the Tyco Patent drawings and pics like these. I know alot of stuff is on Tony Cooks Web pages, but some here would I think be a good idea.
Like the threads about traction tires and the PT maintenance video... that kind of thing.
-Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
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Posted - February 17 2010 : 1:36:33 PM
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I have added two more pictures to the original post. I'm still looking at the PT to see if there are other versions.
Alco Fan
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Posted - February 18 2010 : 8:56:41 PM
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quote:| I have added two more pictures to the original post. I'm still looking at the PT to see if there are other versions. |
What about that one with the snap-on bottom? I have one but it's missing the brush side, so I'm not sure what it looks like or if you've posted it already
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Posted - February 19 2010 : 03:01:02 AM
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Good comment Cheez. Actually the second picture from the top is one with the snap-on bottom and the separate coupler boxes. It's in a Spirit of '76 C430 there but was also in the second version of the S630, early Sharks and Geeps. It is a snap on type truck with sideframes but it does require and usually has one screw in the power truck to keep the middle gear/axle from popping out when under power. It was probably designed to have screws in all of the openings then it was discovered that they could reduce costs by using only one necessary screw.
In your first reply you asked if everything was the same as on the first truck, I think. They look to be similar but not exactly the same. The side plates are similar but and would work on any PT but the design changes/ improves over the years they were produced.
Interesting questions.
Alco Fan
Edited by - Alco Fan on February 20 2010 09:34:49 AM
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Posted - March 06 2010 : 4:31:58 PM
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That last one, the translucent plastic sided Powertorque...I have one from a Tyco switcher. Pretty sure it's a later model than the other types, but I'm not really sure.
    
- Matt -
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Posted - March 06 2010 : 7:03:24 PM
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Thanks MM 1498.
I just noticed that this side cover looks a lot like the USA Express motor and side cover used to '93.
Alco Fan
Edited by - Alco Fan on March 06 2010 7:06:05 PM
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