I had posted some questions but got moved to another forum because someone thought it was o scale or possibly g scale. This is indeed an ho scale loco made in toyoko japan for aristo craft. It comes in a red box and says economy series. The guy my dad bought it off of was the son of the guy that owned it. Said it had probably not run in 30 years. Not sure about that because it has kadee couplers on it. My questions are, does anyone know anything about this engine? I would like to get it running and possibly convert to dcc to run on my non existent layout. It has pickups in the tender and pickups on the loco itself. Tender one rail loco the other. Has an open frame motor that i am not sure it works or not yet. Brushes look good and almost new? Would maybe like to convert to a can motor for the dcc conversion unless the open motor draws low current. But am drawn to the can for a quieter drive. My plans are to also strip the metal shell with my air eraser and soda and repaint it. Looks to be a mixture of white metal or similar and brass. If i can get my laptop to cooperate and figure out the new photobucket i will post some pics of it for ya. Any help is appreciated Thanks Mike
Back in the late 50’s early 60’s Aristo did indeed make or import brass H.O models,believe they were made in Japan.
remember seeing them in one of the older model railroading books i had printed in the mid 60’s.
converting to DCC should be no more difficult than other early models.
We recently had one of those donated to our club. I think it must date from the 1950s or '60s, because I don’t recall Aristo Craft ever selling HO scale. They are still in business but now specialize in G scale.
Ours, too, is in a red box that says Made in Japan on it. The locomotive appears to be cast metal and not brass, though. The rear truck to the tender is smashed and the locomotive’s side rods, which appear to be very thin stamped metal, are all broken up.
No doubt it will be impossible to find parts for it.
Courtesy of HO Seeker, here’s a couple of Atlantics Aristo Craft showed in their 1962 catalog:
http://www.hoseeker.net/aristocraft/aristocraftcatalog1962pg11.jpg
http://www.hoseeker.net/aristocraft/aristocraftcatalog1962pg19.jpg
I remember about that time that the local drugstore had a whole assortment of Aristo Craft locos for sale at awfully low prices. They were cast metal models of frequently very interesting and unusual prototypes. I seriously thought of popping $8 or $10 for one of them, but didn’t.
Ed
First for all you youngsters out there, and the moderator who moved this poor guys other post, yes, Aristo Craft imported HO stuff in the 50’s and 60’s - that’s how they started.
They actually had a very full line of HO products.
These locos were made in two different versions, one all die cast, one partly brass and partly die cast.
Generally they are difficult to get running to modern standards and the quality of the white metal is often poor - expecially at this age. I have a several of them over the years, never got any of them to run great.
I wish I could offer some better advice, but unless you are simply lucky and have one that has sound castings, I would not invest much time or money in that loco.
If
Thanks for all the info everyone. I really don’t model steam but i do have a passenger set that i thought would look good as a tourist line with a small steam engine. Mom and dad bought it for my son and i to rebuild and get running again. I thought about selling it but they were so excited when i opened it up( we celebrated early as i have to work the week of christmas. They also got me a roundhouse 0-6-0 cast steam engine as well. Probably of the same vintage as the other one. Took it apart today and there is some wonky set up for the left rail pickup that i will do some more mods to make it better. Mike
Ok here is what has gone down so far. Got it all broken down to find out the metallic " armatures" around the windings were a little rusty. So i sanded them down and cleaned them up and put a light coat of oil on it to keep it from rusting further. Sprayed some penetrating oil around the bearing points to clean tham up a bit. Then after running it for a bit and wiping away the crud i oiled the bearings. Motor now runs quiet and smooth. I then went to work on the drivers and its gearing. Cleaned all the old grease out and re greased everything. Polished the wheel treads and lightly oiled all the little moving parts. Mated the two together and set out to test run it… First time in 30 years i guess. For the most part it ran great. Although i think it might lack in the torque area a bit. Any way to rectify this issue short of putting in a new motor? Hopefully i will post some pics of the start of the project tonight. Next will be to get the air eraser out and start sand blasting the body of the brushed on paint job. Mike
Mike
The most likely cause for weak torque is loss of magnetism in the motor magnets. Magnets made back in those days would lose much of their strength within a decade or two. And removing the armature definitely weakened the Alinco magnets. They are easy to replace with a small stack of rare earth magnets for $5 or less. I promise you will notice the difference. Now it won’t make an open frame motor as smooth as a can motor, but it will make up a lot of the difference.
Fred W
Thanks Fred I will see if i can find some this week. some pics of said project. 
Indeed is the Aristo-Craft of Newark NJ that Sheldon and I remember – they had a considerable line of steam locomotives – even the same outfit as the modern day Aristo Craft of garden railroad size rolling stock and wireless control systems? If it is the same outfit they were sure quiet and inactive for a long time there.
I can find no MR review of the Aristo-Craft 4-4-2; there is a review of their Baldwin 0-8-0 in March 1962 MR and it might provide some helpful hints about the Atlantic. Most dimensions were close to scale. The superstructure was zinc alloy “with none too sharp piping details cast on.” Some parts were brass turnings, and the number, builder’s plate and lettering were embossed on foil (!) and cemented on. The mechanism was described as “smooth running” – this was 1962 and recall the awe with which the first AHM engines were described for smooth and quiet drives, so judge accordingly. The drivers were said to be “fine quality.” The “excessively heavy tender” was blamed for the rather weak pulling power. The sides were hand lettered!
The cost was $14.95.
Dave Nelson
Thanks for the info Dave!
Aristo-Craft released many different old time cast metal locomotives. This is the B&O Royal Blue 4-6-0.
*Aristo-Craft HO diecast locomotives were produced in Japan by the New One Model Toy works Toyko Japan. Aristo-Craft sold HO locomotives made by New One in many wheel arangements. 0-4-0t, 0-4-0, 0-4-0c, 0-6-0t, 2-6-0, 0-8-0, 2-8-0, 2-8-2, 4-2-0, 4-4-2, 4-6-0, 4-6-0C, and 4-8-2. New one also made brass locomotives which I won’t speak of here.
Not to waste a post I’ll put a photo of one of my Reading Bicycle 4-2-2 #507 here. This loco now has its tender trucks replaced.
locomotives
Here is another Aristo-Craft 4-6-0. This one #157 should be a B&O locomotive with a different tender. This New Haven tender is from a 4-4-2.
At one point I had a book that had many of these Aristos in it. It was destroyed in Storage (water damage about 6 years ago) HO handbook or guide or something close to that. The cover on the actual book was yellow.
Time to see if I can insert another photo. This time the Aristo-Craft Mikado Frisco 4013. I also have it numbered 4005. I have a photo of one I had years ago that was numbered 4028.
Their largest and most modern Steam locomotive they made was the USRA light Mountain 4-8-2. The tender is lettered for the New Haven. Their are other road names that were made. One I know of is C&O.
We should not forget that another company imported 4-4-2 made by New One Japan. They were very much akin to the Aristo Craft ones.
frank
TopTrain, thank you fof sharing all this information.
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Your collection is impressive to be sure.
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-Kevin
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