I have this loco from my childhood. It still runs quite well! But Iam planning to convert to DCC and wonder if anyone has done this conversion to this loco before. Also, can I change the plastic driver wheels to steel by using wheels from other manufacturers? Any advice will be appreciated! John
I’m afraid I don’t have an actual answer, but I did have a couple of thoughts. (Good thing the wood stove is going, so no one knows I’m actually thinking.)
For the conversion, contact someone like Tony’s Train Exchange to see what they recommend for decoders and set up. If it’s not possible or very difficult, I’d think they would tell you.
I have seen mention of companies that make replacement wheels. I don’t know what Walthers lists, it’s not something I have ever tried. However, if the parts are listed, you could contact the company and see if they have something to fit. Even if your loco is no longer listed, they could tell you what to measure and what to look for to see if you could find a match.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Good luck,
Richard
Athearn’s 4-6-2(B&M prototype) from the 60’s came in two versions:
- Hi-F Drive(rubber band from the motor to the wheels). I have never seen one, but I heard they were very poor performers and Athearn re-engineered the model to use a…
- Gear Drive - Better performer. I have seen a few of these. The performance is rather poor compared to what is available currently.
If you are planning to make a DCC conversion, the first item you need to address will be the poor electrical pick-up. Most steam engine models from the 60’s typically picked up current on the RH drivers, and returned it via the LH tender wheels. Not a very reliable system. I saw a guy install a Tsunami sound decoder in an old Mantua 4-6-2 - The poor electrical pick-up caused the sound to cut out all the time and operation was very jerky as the decoder constantly reset due to the loss of DCC signal. My take is that if the decoder costs more than the engine - It’s time to take a hard look at the project. I have several detailed/painted diesels that run OK on DC, but I am not going to invest in DCC for them - They will remain ‘Hanger Queens’ on the display shelf.
NWSL may have replacement gears, but finding drivers may be an issue. Most drivers have nickel-silver tires, not ‘steel’.
Jim
Thanks Richard, I have contacted Athearn and they don’t have anything on 50 year old products. The guy I talked to acted like I was interupting his sex hour. I am going to measure the wheels and axles and see what’s “out there”. Also check with Tony’s. John
Thanks Jim. I have already mated it with a Bachman DCC ready tender and it seems to run great. It has the worm gear mounted directly on the motor shaft. When my dad gave me the set he said we would build a nice layout; that never came to pass, so now, some 50 years later, I am building the layout and will try to incorporate the loco in it. I have decided on the 40’s with Southern Pacific in Arizona/ New Mexico, and when driving down, I marvel at the beauty of the desert/mountain vistas. Thanks again for your input. John
Check with Greenway Products. They sell replacement drivers for a lot of different models.
Hi John,
I am a collector of these old 1960’s Athearn steamers, mainly because this engine was a half way decent replica of the B&M P4 pacific. Athearn went thru 4 or five revisions of this model before they got one that would run OK for the 1960’s. It was a far cry from what we know today. On the other hand if you don’t mind putting in a lot of work, they can be made to run nicely. Athearn made quite a few blunders on this model, for example, they used the wrong drivers on it. The prototype had spoked drivers but Athearn used drivers with holes instead of spokes. An article was writen in the B&M Modellers Notes a few years back about how to re-work this engine using Bowser spoked drivers and I have followed this artile on two of the six modeles I have of it. The article was very well written and goes on to describe how to detail this engine like the real one. By the way, the best model that Athearn made was the last revision that had metal drivers.The one prior to the last one had plastic drivers and this one can be made to run OK but it is getting power from the tender wheels only. Don’t bother with the production berfore that because they won’t give you much enjoyment. To make this engine run well, it needs a NWSL gear box and a can motor.
Richard in Vermont
I picked up one off E bay a few years ago. This is what it looked like when it came to me. Some previous owner had let it hit the floor and the entire pilot was missing.
Stripped down to just the chassis we have this. The new brass front end has been cut to size, fitted, and screwed to the chassis.
A bit of soldering, and we have this front end. I made up the ladders from sheet brass.
All together we get a nice shiny partly brass locomotive.
A few detail parts added to the boiler, like the generator, paint, decals and she doesn’t look too bad. The speed lettering decal on the tender was old and crumbling when I put it on.
I never did get her to run well. Several days of tinkering got her to circle my layout a couple of times between stalls and derailments. The drivers are plastic and don’t pick up juice, the drive mechanism is unusual. I don’t exactly remember just how it worked, it wasn’t rubber band.So, I put her in my display case, where she rests to this day.
Would not “keep alive” capacitors largely solve the “poor electrical pickup” problem you discussed above? [angel]
Replacing drive wheels can be a big job, but it can usually be done. If you can get the mechanism to run smoothly with the plastic wheels, you may just want to replace all the other wheels with all metal freight car wheels such as Intermountain’s or NWSL’s and use wipers for electrical pickup from all of those. 12 wheel pickup from the tender alone will give you reliable power, and also doing the pilot and trailing truck wheels will make it even better.