Okay, it’s tarnished and dirty and I can live with that. It’s undecorated so that will making a CI&L out of it a bit easier.
The big things now:
Its always run very slow, barely able to pull 5 cars. This morning I took off the shell and found: The Sagami motor appears to be secured with something like florist’s putty and is turned at a slight angle to the frame. Then the “happy” part… both u-joint/driveshafts are slipping. The rear at the motor and the front at the middle of the joint.
Some speculation… I suspect the motor may be an odd replacement that someone kludged in. Next, I suspect there are no genuine replacement parts in the known universe!
So… I’m not hesitant about tearing the beastie down to fix it, she needs a GOOD cleaning. The motor seems to be running okay, but the whole putty thing has me annoyed. I tend to prefer hardware attachment to glue.
I’m not opposed to keeping this motor, but would like to replace it. Barring replacement, are there generic driveshafts that might work?
When I remoter a locomotive I use Amazing Goop to anchor the new motor. Goop is very strong yet it can be removed by pulling with long nose pliers and a bit of elbow grease. What I really like about Goop is it remains slightly flexible and absorbs vibration and sound. The only problem is the motor must remain in the exact position until the Goop sets up, about 30 minutes then cure for 24 hours.
I have remotored about 50 locomotives using Goop and I wouldn’t attempt any other type of motor mount in any of my locomotives. Works better than GREAT.
As for drive lines NWSL is the only way to go. Their universals are the best available.
Both Canon motors are anchored with Amazing Goop and both drives are NWSL universals.
I have not remotored anything. Brasstrains.com has a bunch of videos, in which they frequently have a repair or painting video. I think their painting guy soda blasts the locos.
I agree about the “glued-in” motor however, I have installed several using Scotch foam double-stick mounting pads, sometimes supplanted with RTV silicone. This stuff is strong and flexible and also reduces vibrations transfered to the frame.
It can be cut or pried off if you need to remove the motor for some reason later.
This link will take you to the NWSL catalog section with motors and drive-line parts.
Use dial calipers to measure your shaft sizes. You can contact them and ask for help. There are a lot of Alco Models locomotives out there that have needed drive upgrades.
Scroll to page 16 here and there is a section on Alco Model repowering kits:
I’ve had a few models with can motors that seemed to run fine but had absolutely no torque. Same with some open frame motors that were high current draw or only three pole and not very smooth.
This fellow has replacement motors at a reasonable cost:
At first i wondered if maybe you got it fromt he same guy I got my RS3 from - but mine had a different round can motor fitted, with the long hood fitted with some cobbled together Athearn parts, and the short hood just a total mess that someone has applied CA to a part that should have been able to slide on the drive shaft, which caused the truck to barely swivel. I temporarily replaced that mess with some model airplane fuel line. Eventually I’ll redo the whole thing and do it right.
Amanda Stop by Jeffery’s Trackside Diner, where we discuss all sorts of off topic things. I see other women online, in the box to the right of this thread, but I don’t recall any of them posting in a thread I was interested in.
I did not know that Alco Models used to use a chain drive.
It looks like the drive has been “improved”. I suspect originally it used rubber tubing to connect motor to gear tower.
The universal shafts look like old Athearn. If so, the holes are American size, maybe 3/32". The motor probably has a 2mm shaft. 3/32" is 2.38mm. Not exactly a press fit. Which might explain the glup “seeping” out. And the slippage.
You should surely replace the universal connections with something from NWSL. Your existing shafts are likely metric (checking with a micrometer is still good practice). As stated by others, NWSL has a quite complete selection of universal connectors.
The motor does look to be “glued” into it’s cradle mount. The misalignment doesn’t look to me to be that bad, but I’m not there looking at it. I see that only two screws out of four are holding the mount. I’d be tempted to add two more screws, if possible.
That is an odd drive for an Alco Models, of which I have reworked many for local modelers and for myself before going to O scale 2 rail trains. Chain drive is common in O scale, used in many brass and non brass locomotives very successfuly. Never seen it done in HO scale or is this a O scale engine? Mounting engines with RTV caulk is common when the modeler is unable to fabricate a bracket from sheet brass. Either works just fine. Yours needs to be removed and remounted straight, it probably shifted as the RTV cured. If the plastic parts that are slipping on the shafts are not split/cracked, some “knurling” can be added to the metal shafts with a pair of side cuts used to put some burrs on the shaft to help “lock” the plastic drive cups to the shafts. NWSL(Northwest Shortline) is an excellent source of drive line parts. I just redid an Alco Models Lima switcher for a member of a facebook group I belong to. Mike the Aspie
I’m interested in your project because I have a couple of Alco models of Alco switchers, and S-1 and an S-4. Mine appear to be original. They are unpainted. I got them for a fair price just to get some exposure to manufactured brass. The only other factory built brass I have is a small steamer that a friend gave me. I also have a couple of brass critters (one is shown in my avatar) that I built from scratch.
Like you say, the detail on the Alcos is a bit lacking. The paint will have to be pretty thin to avoid obscuring the stamped door lines etc.
The only thing I have done with them is test to see that they actually work, which they do, but I only ran them for a few inches because the grease has obviously hardened up.
They are not high up on my list of priorities but at least I can boast about owning some brass engines!![swg][(-D][(-D][:o)]
Or she travels for work or has other obligations. Airbrushing is the only way to paint HO scale or smaller brass. In O scale, the finer spray from proper modeling rattle cans(not the hardware store cans) does an ok job on older models. Most all early HO diesel drives in brass were coffee grinders till Samhongsa in Korea developed a truck that cut noise down to Athearn blue box level, followed by Ajin that got them really quieted down. The best running early HO brass diesels I had were Tenshodo SD9’s with a can motor in them, with only a single tower of noisey gears they were a bit quieter, the other truck was driven by a shaft thru the middle of the fuel tank area. Those SD’s were quite heavy and pulled really well. Mike the Aspie
The chassis in that RS-2 is definitely modified. The tower gears were replaced with Grandt Line chains and sprockets, and those will last forever, so I’d keep them if they’re working smoothly. The Sagami motor is as good as anything else you’ll find too, so I’d also keep that. Maybe just straighten it out if the angle is causing problems.
The universals in there appear to be from Athearn, or they’re the Athearn clones from A Line. Replacing those with proper fitting universals from NWSL will be a big improvement. Beyond that, I think a good cleaning and some fresh oil and grease in the gears and bearings will get this thing running nice and smooth.
I don’t know that my comment will inspire her to begin to participate (participate: “to take part in or become involved in an activity”). Eleven days is quite awhile to not respond to people’s supportive advice.
I do suppose it’s possible, as Mike suggested, that she had to be off at work all this time. If so, it would have made sense to wait to ask the question until she got back and could give it proper attention.
What about just replacing the trucks with “modern” items from Athearn, etc? I’ve got some of their RS’s, and they run beautifully, even with whatever motor Athearn chose. Another source of Alco trucks would be the Atlas and P1K RS-11’s. With Rapido coming out with much improved versions, these should be going for pretty cheap. I’ve just delivered to my local shop 4 of them to sell for whatever they can get.
I’m not having a lot of confidence in the guy who built this thing. And I wonder about the installation of the lower chain sprockets. Are THEY glued on?
Ah… no, haven’t lost interest at all. Right now I have about 450 sections of track with 10 switches (and a wye), 5 crossings and a trestle set. I bypassed my current motive power problem with another (used) AHM RS-2 and a new Kato NW2.
I checked the NWSL site and found some hardware that should get the brass RS going. However, that has gone to the back burner, temporarily, with the acquisition of the NW2. (Thanks for the lead guys!!!)
My =small= layout is going to be confined to a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. I live in a 2br apartment and my roomie is “somewhat” opposed to train track all over the place.
I was going to call my outfit the Monon after the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville, but I don’t think a 4x8 spread could do the name justice. With the mish-mosh of road names on hand, I’ve decided on calling it the CM&MRR… Conglomerate, Merger and Monopoly Railroad!
Anyhow, I haven’t abandoned the obsess… er, I mean hobby.
New interests?? Hardly. Many interests? Well yeah… where do I begin?
Beyond my mini railroad:
There is astronomy and astrophotography. I have 70 and 102mm refractors plus 76, 127 and 203mm reflectors with b&w and color cameras.
Then electronics. My current project is building a Z80 microcomputer. About half complete.
Geology? Of course. Recent trips to Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen yielded some seriously cool rock and crystal samples.
Computers… I have a dozen or so Mac and Peecees running various flavors of OS X, Windows and Linux. Throw in a Silicon Graphics, Sun Micro, an Altair 8800 simulator and a Raspberry Pi.
Photography… I have 4 digital and eight 35mm film cameras and my own darkroom equipment
Robotics…Nothing major here. I’ve put together half a dozen kits and designed and built another 5.
Amatuer radio. I have my Tech. ticket and studying for my General. I work a couple low end solid state transceivers and have a ton of Hallicrafters “boat anchors”.
I’ve found a motor I “think” will work in the brass beastie. It’s a Proto 2000 motor, with flywheels, from the NW/SW series switchers. The RS frame and motor bracket have cleaned up nicely.
I’m pretty sure some rejiggering will be needed, but I have power tools I’m not attempting a mint restoration here… just an RS-2 that will run around pulling cars.
I’m not on a lot, cuz’ there’s a lot going on at the moment. I’n the process of starting a new job, building a 200 ton crane kit (Athearn #1699) and recovering from the affects of some stubborn stomach bug (Blech!)
Glad to see you back. Are you going to use DC or DCC to run your trains? If you are using DCC many people will suggest that you don’t need flywheels if you have a decent decoder and a keep alive. The flywheels won’t hurt anything but if space becomes an issue you can get by without one or both.
I’m not attempting a mint restoration here… just an RS-2 that will run around pulling cars.