I recently was given/found a few Athearn BB HO engines. While some were beat-up, I have managed to get them all in running order. Amazingly enough I have all the hand rails and stanchions. OK I had to make some of the hand railing. I also seem to have all of the lenses for the lights too!!![:)] My biggest problem though is locating the side frames for the trucks. I have not had much luck in locating the side frames and was wondering if anyone had any ideas on where to look. I am also wondering if anyone has tried casting molds for them. I have at least 1 pair for the above units and might give that a try. Any tips on how to cast these small parts would be greatly appreciated as well.
I know most of you would say forget about the BB stuff and go with the newer stuff. I like the BB engines and want to do some detailing on them. Again thanks for any and all input from all of you,
Personally, I like the BB stuff. I have some more modern better, quieter Atlas/Kato and P2Ks, but I enjoy the ol’ growlers just the same. I’m even running a steelie flywheel-gray magnet motor GP 35. I credit one of those with keeping me in the hobby in the '70s, when all else (that I knew then) failed. Dan
Since I am a DC user for many,many years,nothing at all wrong with BB engines and if you think about it,they were the first,to come with sound,before DCC with sound…Nothing like a highly detailed BB growler…
As far as side frames,Wayne is correct,they still have them in stock…Hope yours were not broken off,with the pins in the truck frame holes,then you’ll have to drill them out first…Have Fun…
My friend,yes that is so,in some case’s,but surely you recall that the pins are tapered??? I for one don’t want to take the truck’s apart,So HAH!! LOL…
A drill does come in handy if the side frames was Goo’d on…I bought a used BB GP7 that had the side frames Goo’d on and one side frame was broke off…
I’ve bought several use Athearn engines over the years and the first thing I do is take 'em apart and inspect and clean the gear and clean the commutator with lighter fluid on a Q-tip–yes old school that still works.
Thanks for the welcome. What I am working on are 2 SD45-2’s, an SD45, 3 SD40T-2’s, 2 GP-38’s, a GP-9, 2 F7A’s and 2 F7B’s. The T-2’s are the best looking of all the engines. I have one Rio Grande, one SP and one undecorated. I decided to paint the undecorated in SP Black Widow scheme.
You can see the SP in the back ground and in between are the two are the side frames. I will be adding a roof top bell, A/C and horn shortly. Railing is all painted but not added yet. I will also add an antenna platform as well. I haven’t decided on adding the see through grill in the back yet.
It’s my first paint and detailing job in ten years. This is going to have DCC as it will be my main engine I will use on a club layout. I will try to post more pics as I move along on these various projects.
There’s nothing to tearing the trucks down and pushing the broken pins out. I can tear down a pair of trucks, do what’s required and have them reassembled and back on the loco in less than thirty minutes, an hour if I’m doing a thorough inspection and cleaning as well.
I totally agree,but if there is no reason,to mess with the gears,I just don’t do it…Aside from that,if you are careful,they won’t be broken off,to begin with…I think I’ve had one,with a broken pin and just glued that one on…I believe it was 1955…
Thanks for all the info and help here. After looking at all the trucks, only one side frame was broken off on one of the F7A’s. I hope the pin can be popped out. I will be taking apart the trucks to check the gears out. I just hope I don’t need to replace any of them. As far as the side frames go, all the F7’s and the GP’s have the same type. What I found puzzling is grouped with all the side frames there was one lone Blomberg side frame…
One new question to ask. Have any of you tried to quite down the “growlers” any. I read some where that using toothpaste worked. It also lubed the gears as well, I think. Which leads me to ask, “Does it help to prevent tooth decay on the gears?” [:P]
The Pearl Drops toothpaste hat was recommended for this is somewhat gritty, therefore it wears down any roughness on the gears. It must then all be cleaned out. This requires taking the trucks apart, cleaning and reassembling them and lubing them with a proper lube. For the gears and bearings I use Dexron/Mercon III automatic transmission fluid. It doesn’t take much and one bottle will last a LONG time. It’s plastic compatible and is cheap when compared to a comparable amount of something like Labelle. Imagine what a quart of that would cost! I’ve been using the same bottle of ATF for over five years and my locos run just fine.
SORRY, about the link,I posted,earlier,didn’t realize until now,JOE POSTED,the one I meant,excellent for working on Athearn and includes,setting them up for DCC…
If you can find these “Diesel Dress-up” kits from Walthers, they have a bunch of metal grabs plus all the “glass” parts for headlights, windshields and portholes for a blue-box AB pair: