Ahhh, back to my roots for a while :)
Jan 8, 2017 16:56:25 GMT -5
JNXT 7707, wildecoupe, and 3 more like this
Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 16:56:25 GMT -5
You know, I hate posting these days because my time is so fleeting, when I do post it seems like saying “heeey look at meeeee!!!” when by all rights who should I expect to do so, when I don’t have time to comment to everyone else? What a catch-22. But ugh, time to get out of my head and back to my roots as it were, if only just for a few moments.
I haven’t bought trains of any sort on ebay in what seems like well over a year... maybe closer to two? That seems like a stretch but yeah. A sour combination of too much going on and competing for money, life pulling me in unexpected directions, and having more than enough trains to last me another lifetime (as moving more than amply reminded me). My layout STILL isn't set back up and I wonder if it ever will (or should?) be.
But trolling around ebay while recovering from a hospital stay, I stumbled on a BIN of $30 for six non-running engines. 6 unique models, 5 powered, 4 of those complete, 3 from AHM, 2 I’d been after if opportunity hit, and 1 worth the bid by itself. (No partridges or pear trees were harmed in the parsing of the auction). Sold!
The box arrived Friday and it was like a late Christmas gift to myself: I forgot how much fun I have working on these things, even when they're practically worthless by all rights and measures. With a rare free evening to dispose, by that night I debugged them all and by Saturday they were all running again. So here’s the motley crew:
^ Tyco Dummy F7 in Penn Central. OK, nothing special there, except that it happens to be probably the nicest Tyco PC F I’ve ever laid hands on. Seriously: hardly a scratch or nick on the thing, and since that PC paint never wears well, that’s a truly noteworthy sentiment. I’ll probably swap this into my collection and let the other one go, provided the road number is the same.
^ Bachmann Spectrum Fairbanks-Morse H16-44: the “Baby Trainmaster”. My first FM model of any sort. Bachmann doesn’t even list these any more, so does anyone recall when they were available? To that end, the detail is kind of middling: you can see they were trying for the advanced look of perforated mesh grilles, but there’s lots of mold seams and low-res detail. I doubt this would fly on today's market and it's too esoteric to use as train set filler, but still kind of a neat looker. This one now only seems to be missing the end railings.
As found, it lit up but refused to buzz or in any way act like it had a motor at all. Completely dead. I took it apart and discovered the lower prong for the motor was not making good contact with the frame: an easy fix. Runs smooth and quiet now! I love how the mech and chassis design is essentially an HO upsizing of Bachmann's N scale diesels.
^ Mehano EMD SD40-2. My first encounter with this model. As received, the couplers were busted and the driveshafts were taped to the body: uh-oh. The motor spun freely, but trucks were bound tight and I couldn't even turn the universals by hand. Took them apart and discovered this loco was a victim of over-greasing from the factory: the worm and bearings were caked in it. Cleaned those out and could finally turn them by hand. Added some Labelle, re-assembled the loco with new couplers, and it seems to work fine.
This is an interesting model: kinda crude, but effective. Like a clone of the old Athearn shell, with Mehano's design sensibilities. And this Pennsy example is unpainted, so you can see the machining marks in the tooling.
^ AHM Mehano GP18. I’ve had a handful of these primitive guys. This one is dual-geared but as listed and received, is missing a set of truck sideframes and geared axles. I don't have any lying around. But it seems to run strong! I wasn’t concerned about fixing it, since I figured it could be a parts source for the next two. But turns out I didn’t need it.
^ AHM Mehano BL-2. I’ve had a couple of these and seen dozens more, but not the strangely elusive Western Maryland. Even better, this one turned out to be the original 5-pole version, which is a first for me. As found it buzzed and lock, though. I rebuilt the trucks (removing billiard table felt and all manner of gunk) and now all is well. The original cast weight (along with its retaining boss) is missing, but should be easy enough to replace with something. I have a Proto2K WM BL2, but this clunky old-school rendition certainly has charm.
What is that screw in the cab for, though?
^ The real gem - why I jumped on the lot - was this AHM Rivarossi Krause Maffei, powered, in Rio Grande. I already had the dummy in SP so this finally completed the set. The listing stated it would only “want” to run in one direction. As received, it had a few problems. The power truck had broken from the gimbal yoke. The sprung pin to transfer power from the truck to the frame was also a hairs’ breadth from falling out, since the bore was cracked off. And even when removed the motor would still only turn in one direction, making a loud clicking noise while doing so.
Looking at the motor first, I determined one of the armature poles was striking a magnet. It could spin in one direction because the leading edge of the pole would clear the plate and pass under it, but the trailing edge would contact it and drag. Reverse direction and that prone edge of the pole, now leading, could not clear so it would strike the plate and stop.
Fortunately I was able to loosen the screws to buy another .001” inch or so of clearance, which remained when I tightened them... it now spins strong, quiet, and free in both directions. With the motor problem fixed I used a Kadee #5 draft gear cover plate to replace and reinforce the boss hole for the electrical supply pin in the truck. Then tapped the hole for the gimbal yoke (I suppose this was riveted previously?) for a #2-56 screw and replaced the yoke. Reassmebled, it all works like a champ.
It's stupefying that Rivarossi made three distinct truck toolings for these: Pilot, motor, and dummy. (In fact, my original plan to fix the motor truck was to simply swap a housing with my dummy unit, but nope! Owing to many differences, that won't work at all). Seems like they could have simply tooled one truck and attached modular parts (pilot plows / motor yokes / etc) as required. Actually this whole thing is needlessly complex: even though they made a unique tooling for the rear motor truck, adding a coupler to it requires SEVEN additional different parts. And that electrical contact I mentioned before: axle wipers to spring to pin to chassis plate to wire to motor...? Wow. In contrast, the dummy unit is about as dumb and plain as a boxcar by comparison. Actually, I *have* boxcars that are more complex than a Riv KM dummy.
But in many other ways, the quality, craftsmanship, and cleverness of Rivarossi amazes and delights me. It took me almost half an hour to figure out how to remove the motor from the truck. Finally I realized that “Hmm, the top of that one spring on that one side of the truck looks kind of weird”... yes indeed, they actually fashioned one spring's top coil as the end of the retaining yoke that secures the truck to the motor shaft. So clever and obvious when you see it, but so discreetly hidden and unlike anything else, you’d miss it entirely otherwise. And their plastic formula and fitment tolerance has a sort of intangibly tactile quality that is only matched (IMO) by modern Kato diesels. It's joyous stuff to be sure.
~~~~~
Anyway, this 3 pages of drivel is my big story for the last several months. It felt good to tinker and play a little bit. Wish I had time and space to do more, even though these aren’t terribly valuable. And on that note, the only ones I really intend to keep are the KM and BL-2… and possibly that PC F7. If anyone needs the Reading GP18, Pennsy SD40-2, or Pennsy FM H16-44, let me know. Not looking to make a killing here. Just a reasonable offer plus shipping from zip 40601 to you and we can work it out. And I’ll probably finally send Nelson that Bachmann K4 (free project) while I’m en route to the Post office too (if I can find it, sigh)!
-Tony L.
I haven’t bought trains of any sort on ebay in what seems like well over a year... maybe closer to two? That seems like a stretch but yeah. A sour combination of too much going on and competing for money, life pulling me in unexpected directions, and having more than enough trains to last me another lifetime (as moving more than amply reminded me). My layout STILL isn't set back up and I wonder if it ever will (or should?) be.
But trolling around ebay while recovering from a hospital stay, I stumbled on a BIN of $30 for six non-running engines. 6 unique models, 5 powered, 4 of those complete, 3 from AHM, 2 I’d been after if opportunity hit, and 1 worth the bid by itself. (No partridges or pear trees were harmed in the parsing of the auction). Sold!
The box arrived Friday and it was like a late Christmas gift to myself: I forgot how much fun I have working on these things, even when they're practically worthless by all rights and measures. With a rare free evening to dispose, by that night I debugged them all and by Saturday they were all running again. So here’s the motley crew:
^ Tyco Dummy F7 in Penn Central. OK, nothing special there, except that it happens to be probably the nicest Tyco PC F I’ve ever laid hands on. Seriously: hardly a scratch or nick on the thing, and since that PC paint never wears well, that’s a truly noteworthy sentiment. I’ll probably swap this into my collection and let the other one go, provided the road number is the same.
^ Bachmann Spectrum Fairbanks-Morse H16-44: the “Baby Trainmaster”. My first FM model of any sort. Bachmann doesn’t even list these any more, so does anyone recall when they were available? To that end, the detail is kind of middling: you can see they were trying for the advanced look of perforated mesh grilles, but there’s lots of mold seams and low-res detail. I doubt this would fly on today's market and it's too esoteric to use as train set filler, but still kind of a neat looker. This one now only seems to be missing the end railings.
As found, it lit up but refused to buzz or in any way act like it had a motor at all. Completely dead. I took it apart and discovered the lower prong for the motor was not making good contact with the frame: an easy fix. Runs smooth and quiet now! I love how the mech and chassis design is essentially an HO upsizing of Bachmann's N scale diesels.
^ Mehano EMD SD40-2. My first encounter with this model. As received, the couplers were busted and the driveshafts were taped to the body: uh-oh. The motor spun freely, but trucks were bound tight and I couldn't even turn the universals by hand. Took them apart and discovered this loco was a victim of over-greasing from the factory: the worm and bearings were caked in it. Cleaned those out and could finally turn them by hand. Added some Labelle, re-assembled the loco with new couplers, and it seems to work fine.
This is an interesting model: kinda crude, but effective. Like a clone of the old Athearn shell, with Mehano's design sensibilities. And this Pennsy example is unpainted, so you can see the machining marks in the tooling.
^ AHM Mehano GP18. I’ve had a handful of these primitive guys. This one is dual-geared but as listed and received, is missing a set of truck sideframes and geared axles. I don't have any lying around. But it seems to run strong! I wasn’t concerned about fixing it, since I figured it could be a parts source for the next two. But turns out I didn’t need it.
^ AHM Mehano BL-2. I’ve had a couple of these and seen dozens more, but not the strangely elusive Western Maryland. Even better, this one turned out to be the original 5-pole version, which is a first for me. As found it buzzed and lock, though. I rebuilt the trucks (removing billiard table felt and all manner of gunk) and now all is well. The original cast weight (along with its retaining boss) is missing, but should be easy enough to replace with something. I have a Proto2K WM BL2, but this clunky old-school rendition certainly has charm.
What is that screw in the cab for, though?
^ The real gem - why I jumped on the lot - was this AHM Rivarossi Krause Maffei, powered, in Rio Grande. I already had the dummy in SP so this finally completed the set. The listing stated it would only “want” to run in one direction. As received, it had a few problems. The power truck had broken from the gimbal yoke. The sprung pin to transfer power from the truck to the frame was also a hairs’ breadth from falling out, since the bore was cracked off. And even when removed the motor would still only turn in one direction, making a loud clicking noise while doing so.
Looking at the motor first, I determined one of the armature poles was striking a magnet. It could spin in one direction because the leading edge of the pole would clear the plate and pass under it, but the trailing edge would contact it and drag. Reverse direction and that prone edge of the pole, now leading, could not clear so it would strike the plate and stop.
Fortunately I was able to loosen the screws to buy another .001” inch or so of clearance, which remained when I tightened them... it now spins strong, quiet, and free in both directions. With the motor problem fixed I used a Kadee #5 draft gear cover plate to replace and reinforce the boss hole for the electrical supply pin in the truck. Then tapped the hole for the gimbal yoke (I suppose this was riveted previously?) for a #2-56 screw and replaced the yoke. Reassmebled, it all works like a champ.
It's stupefying that Rivarossi made three distinct truck toolings for these: Pilot, motor, and dummy. (In fact, my original plan to fix the motor truck was to simply swap a housing with my dummy unit, but nope! Owing to many differences, that won't work at all). Seems like they could have simply tooled one truck and attached modular parts (pilot plows / motor yokes / etc) as required. Actually this whole thing is needlessly complex: even though they made a unique tooling for the rear motor truck, adding a coupler to it requires SEVEN additional different parts. And that electrical contact I mentioned before: axle wipers to spring to pin to chassis plate to wire to motor...? Wow. In contrast, the dummy unit is about as dumb and plain as a boxcar by comparison. Actually, I *have* boxcars that are more complex than a Riv KM dummy.
But in many other ways, the quality, craftsmanship, and cleverness of Rivarossi amazes and delights me. It took me almost half an hour to figure out how to remove the motor from the truck. Finally I realized that “Hmm, the top of that one spring on that one side of the truck looks kind of weird”... yes indeed, they actually fashioned one spring's top coil as the end of the retaining yoke that secures the truck to the motor shaft. So clever and obvious when you see it, but so discreetly hidden and unlike anything else, you’d miss it entirely otherwise. And their plastic formula and fitment tolerance has a sort of intangibly tactile quality that is only matched (IMO) by modern Kato diesels. It's joyous stuff to be sure.
~~~~~
Anyway, this 3 pages of drivel is my big story for the last several months. It felt good to tinker and play a little bit. Wish I had time and space to do more, even though these aren’t terribly valuable. And on that note, the only ones I really intend to keep are the KM and BL-2… and possibly that PC F7. If anyone needs the Reading GP18, Pennsy SD40-2, or Pennsy FM H16-44, let me know. Not looking to make a killing here. Just a reasonable offer plus shipping from zip 40601 to you and we can work it out. And I’ll probably finally send Nelson that Bachmann K4 (free project) while I’m en route to the Post office too (if I can find it, sigh)!
-Tony L.
I don't recommend it unless you have a machine vise to press it back on, and there's still the possibility of bending the motor shaft.
But since you mention it, I had to disassemble that whole thing (clogged with gunk so coupler wouldn't spring back) too. So consider: a plastic horn hook of proprietary design, a microscopic coil spring that makes Kadee springs seem huge, a metal cover plate (ah, make sure orient this correctly so the indented nibs secure the spring! Also, that cover's stupid crimp-over tangs are ridiculously tiny and fragile: despite my careful efforts I now only have 2.5 instead of 4 
), a metal mounting tongue, an insulating washer, a plastic spacer, and a screw to attach it to the truck. 
Great score!
