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 Posted - June 13 2010 : 2:35:06 PM
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I picked up this Model Power Alco Demonstrator at my not so LHS. The motor didn't work so I got a good deal on it. Brought it home and remotored with a can motor I've had for a while, added a decoder and she's up and running.
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Posted - June 13 2010 : 2:53:34 PM
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roco powered e-r models shark ken
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Posted - June 13 2010 : 4:46:34 PM
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Nice pics guys...
I picked up a dual motor TYCO/Mantua F unit in my box lot find yesterday...
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 Posted - June 13 2010 : 5:22:54 PM
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Hi All,
Nice stuff! That Shark Sure is crisp. I like the gold on the Alco too.
shaygetz, Is the dual motor engine something that Tyco sold or is it a home made deal? I bet it pulls well with dual motors.
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
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Posted - June 13 2010 : 7:50:56 PM
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quote:
shaygetz, Is the dual motor engine something that Tyco sold or is it a home made deal? I bet it pulls well with dual motors.
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
Originally posted by mytyco - June 13 2010 : 5:22:54 PM
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Nothing about this lot struck me as someone who'd modify something like that. It's my understanding that they were offered with dual motors for a very brief period in the 60s, though I'm not 100% sure.
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Posted - June 13 2010 : 7:51:03 PM
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quote:I picked up this Model Power Alco Demonstrator at my not so LHS. The motor didn't work so I got a good deal on it. Brought it home and remotored with a can motor I've had for a while, added a decoder and she's up and running.
/tyco/forum/uploaded/eaglerock109/20100613143418_Alco.jpg
Originally posted by eaglerock109Â -Â June 13 2010Â :Â 2:35:06 PM
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This one holds a special place in my heart. My son loved my Tyco Golden Eagle loco and when I came across an AHM Alco Demonstrator I picked it up for him. This engine will always be referred to as the Golden Hawk by me. I thought of foghorn leghorn and his little sidekick Henery Hawk, the golden eagle and my weird mind came up with Golden Hawk. It worked, he loved it.
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 01:08:38 AM
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This isn't really a demonstrator, but it's also got no roadname. It's a Varney that I got in last week's garage sale lot. I'm currently working on restoring it.
The biggest problem is that it has no front wheels. Anybody know where to get replacements? I haven't really fooled around with it much yet other than putting some power directly to the motor, which seems to turn okay.
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 06:19:11 AM
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Hey B77:
Which powertrain does your F3 have? Pittman? Does it have a centrifical clutch/Flywheel?
Best,
Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 5:17:01 PM
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quote: It's a Varney that I got in last week's garage sale lot. I'm currently working on restoring it. The biggest problem is that it has no front wheels. Anybody know where to get replacements?
Originally posted by burlington77Â -Â June 14 2010Â :Â 01:08:38 AM
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Is everything else there? There's a double-worm shaft inside, and a cover over the wheel shafts. Are both those there, or is it just the truck framework? I have two geared axles to go inside the housing if you need those.The wormshaft and cover will be hard to find as well...HOWEVER, I just bought 3 Varney powertrains ( so it was said, it looks a bit different than the set I just got from my junkbox buddy),has both front and rear trucks. If you need a complete front truck assembly, I'll sell ya one for $5 plus the shipping. There's also a shaft that goes between the front and rear set, so they're both powered. Do you have that as well? I don't have any extras, but you could at least have a single truck-powered Varney if you can get the front rolling. Let me know if you want/need JUST the brass wheelsets with gears, or if you will need a whole truck assembly if you're missing the internal wormshaft and outer cover to hold the wheels on. $2 for a wheel set, and $5 for a complete weighted front truck assembly ( I assume you have the motor end ).
Is the underside cover of the powered truck black or grey? My black one has Varney imprinted into the plastic, but the gray ones I just got don't have anything, plus they have flathead screw holes in the middle of the covers, the older? black one doesn't. I'd prefer to keep my older black set intact, and sell you a grey one. That way I have one of each kind at least.
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 7:08:52 PM
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I'm going to have to take some pics to show you guys. I don't know anything about this loco. I assumed it only had power in the rear truck. I guess I'm missing more than I thought. I was thinking it just needed wheels to roll and pick up power in the front.
I'll take pictures and get back to you. I might be interested in parts.
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 7:28:55 PM
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here's what I've got, maybe you can tell me what I need:
I can see now where a shaft could fit on the end of the motor to power the front truck. If I could at least get rolling wheels on it and get the power conducting right, I'd be happy. I probably won't run it much anyway.
There is also the screw to hold the body on the frame. This little piece was floating around in there. It has the remnants of glue on it, and it's just a little chunk with the number 21 on it.
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 7:53:16 PM
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B77, I'm not sure where that chunk came from, but it's obvious that the frame has suffered some zinc rot. Just light cracking, nothing fatal. You need some dummy brass wheels for electrical pickup on the front truck, but I don't know what the axle diameter is.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 10:07:45 PM
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quote:here's what I've got, maybe you can tell me what I need...
I can see now where a shaft could fit on the end of the motor to power the front truck.
Originally posted by burlington77Â -Â June 14 2010Â :Â 7:28:55 PM
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Wow, that's even older than the ones I have! Mine are gear-driven, yours is an 0-ring type drive. Way different than the chassis/power combo I have. I'd say you have a really early version, and it's a single-power truck type, that the front is only used for opposite rail power pick-up, looking at the front truck design. On the gear-driven type, there's a plastic piece coming off the bottom shaft (from the wheels ), not the motor shaft. There's a driveshaft which fits under the weight block and goes to the front drive truck with a similar plastic hollow tube to mate with the driveshaft. Yours looks like it's just a single-truck drive, as there's no provision for gearing the front wheels. So you will probably just need a pair of insulated brass pick-up axles and wheels. I doubt mine would work in your truck, then.
Mine measure shy of 9/16 of an inch flange to flange edge diameter, and the inner rail-riding part about 15/32nd's diameter. See if you can measure your drive truck wheel diameter(s) inner and outer. There's so many different axles and wheel diameters, it'll be a bit of a search to find what you need. I'll check with my junkbox buddy again to see if he has any early style Varney, I think I recall seeing the 0-ring truck in one of his boxes, so he may have the other truck as well. Mine are all black, not grey like yours. So for now, I don't think I can help you (yet).
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 14 2010 : 11:27:32 PM
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AMC: I'll bet yours looks like what I posted in the May 2-8 LOTW thread. Take a look at that.
NickelPlate: I think you're right on that I need some wheels, and it will go. The zinc rot looks bad, but at this point it's really only cosmetic. The frame is still solid.
The thing that's got me a little confused is that the wire going to the front truck appears to contact both sides, therefore both rails. I guess the wheel/axle has to be insulated or non-conductive on one side. I really wish someone had a running example that I could see.
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Posted - June 15 2010 : 06:23:37 AM
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quote:| AMC: I'll bet yours looks like what I posted in the May 2-8 LOTW thread. Take a look at that. |
Yes, the same. And that will work with your current body as well, so you can use the later drivetrain with your newest acquisition shell. Chassis should fit.
quote:
The thing that's got me a little confused is that the wire going to the front truck appears to contact both sides, therefore both rails. I guess the wheel/axle has to be insulated or non-conductive on one side.
Originally posted by burlington77Â -Â June 14 2010Â :Â 11:27:32 PM
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yes, it's the axle that's insulated, because that way it makes the truck easier to make, it doesnt' have to be specially insulated on one side. The axles determine that. I don't have any pics of a unit that early, but I will see if I can get my junkbox buddy to find his motor truck like that, and see if he has the other one as well ( with wheels ) .
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 15 2010 : 07:32:00 AM
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B77, here's some Penn Line / Varney trucks on Ebay, it says Penn Line, but they look exactly like the Varney type I just bought. Might want to check them out, only 99 cents so far on one with no bids.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HO-Penn-Line-rear-locomotive-truck-parts-train-/170499753035?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item27b293c44b
The wheels may work if nothing else.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 15 2010 : 10:09:15 AM
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quote:
quote:
The thing that's got me a little confused is that the wire going to the front truck appears to contact both sides, therefore both rails. I guess the wheel/axle has to be insulated or non-conductive on one side.
Originally posted by burlington77Â -Â June 14 2010Â :Â 11:27:32 PM
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yes, it's the axle that's insulated, because that way it makes the truck easier to make, it doesnt' have to be specially insulated on one side. The axles determine that. I don't have any pics of a unit that early, but I will see if I can get my junkbox buddy to find his motor truck like that, and see if he has the other one as well ( with wheels ) .
Jerry
Originally posted by AMC_Gremlin_GTÂ -Â June 15 2010Â :Â 06:23:37 AM
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^
^ What Gremlin said. The insulated wheels had plastic insulators to isolate them from the axle. I wouldn't bid on that auction though, because that's a much later plastic version, and the axles don't ride in the sideframe journals. There might be a NWSL set that would fit.
Unfortunately older Athearn wheels wouldn't work, because they would short out through the truck frame.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - June 15 2010 : 7:04:08 PM
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quote:
What Gremlin said. The insulated wheels had plastic insulators to isolate them from the axle. I wouldn't bid on that auction though, because that's a much later plastic version, and the axles don't ride in the sideframe journals. There might be a NWSL set that would fit.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759Â -Â June 15 2010Â :Â 10:09:15 AM
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Yup, Nickelplate is right, that truck wouldn't work with your older setup. My bad. But a more modern chassis should fit under that body that has that truck,as the body clips onto the same slots. I think Varney and Penn Line had similar chassis design, and other makers also made retro-fit chassis's that would fit the 3-slot side mounting of those older shells. So while you're waiting to find parts for that one, you could always use another maker's chassis.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 16 2010 : 12:20:15 AM
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Guess what...it's running. Well, sort of. I pulled some wheels from an Athearn passenger car (they've got one wheel non conductive, one metal, and are made so you can install lighting kits) and dropped them in the front truck. I soldered the wiring back in place and did a little oiling and I was able to run the chassis around the track a few times, with some stalling on turnouts, but not a bad start.
The problem came when I put the body back on. It runs fine, until it hits a curve. The steps of the front ladder hit the brake cylinder on the front truck so bad that it will not turn at all. Anybody know what's up with this? Seems like a serious design flaw. I don't want to do anything yet without some advice, but it looks to me like the brake cylinder is going to have to be modified. I'm not talking about serious curves here...I've got typical 18" R track. The front truck won't turn at all with the body on. If you look at my first picture you can kind of see what's going on.
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Posted - June 16 2010 : 07:27:45 AM
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quote:| Guess what...it's running. |
That's an improvement! - Jerry
quote:
The problem came when...it hits a curve. The steps of the front ladder hit the brake cylinder on the front truck so bad that it will not turn at all. Anybody know what's up with this? Seems like a serious design flaw. .... The front truck won't turn at all with the body on. If you look at my first picture you can kind of see what's going on.
Originally posted by burlington77Â -Â June 16 2010Â :Â 12:20:15 AM
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I can think of two things - the frame cracking is causing it to expand ( something has to go somewhere if it's cracking ), so it's "stretched" some from original specs, and thats' why it's hitting. Or, it's not exactly the correct frame. If you look at your first picture, you can see both trucks have gaps at the trailing side of the openings, but almost none at the front , in other words the trucks aren't centered in the shell wheel openings. So many of these engines are close in spec, but have slightly different chassis's for different units, so that's a possibility.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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