Hi There; I purchased an Ernst regear set for the Hustler but the frame I have is not the same as in the instructions. My frame has a screw holding the motor in place not a dropin as shown. I need the newer frame with 4 brackets to hold the gear tower in place. Does anyone have a frame or complete loco they would like to sell? I have tried Athearn & many Hobby shops -no luck.
Thanx: Tom
I regeared mine and it still doesn’t run good.
The Ernst worm gear is loose on the motor shaft which makes the gear stop the motor.Tom,even if you find another frame the Hustler still might not run. Joe
Don’t dispare fellas. Joe, remove the worm gear, clean the shaft with alcohol, drop a dab of Loctite Thread Lock (avalible at any auto parts store)on the shaft and reinstall the worm gear. Wait a day before running the loco.
Tom, try eBay. What did Athearn tell you? Not in stock? I’ve ordered parts from them before without problems.
Thanx guys. I phoned Athearn -they don’t have any.
So far the ones om ebay are all the same as mine. Too bad I spent a lot of time on the shell- painting, weathering, adding handrails, grabirons , new stack & bell
I checked out Internet Trains, who is an authorized dealer, and they didn’t have ANY Athearn locomotive kits listed. Thanks to Horizon, Athearn is all chewed up. I tried other web sites with no luck. I’ll check my LHS to see what they have.
Try calling R.J. Rennie @ 440-234-7186 or write to him @ 197 Best Street, Berea, Ohio 44017. He advertizes Atheran parts for sale in Model Railroader in the Modelers Market Place section.
To gsetter; Thanx for your help. I phoned R.J.Rennie but he is out of them.
Early unit’s had rubber band drives. A ‘Scooter’. They derailed a lot (rigid wheel base) and stalled on plastic or insulated frogs (short wheel base) and Ernst gears wont solve this problem.
BEST SOLUTIONS: ‘Helix Humper’ make’s a drop-in replacement can motor w. flywheel drive ($40)
‘Spectrum’ 40 ton switcher. $$ ?
Tommyr,
You are the proud owner of a FIRST generation Athearn Hustler. The Ernst gear sets fit the SECOND generation Athearn Hustler. How do I know? I did the same thing with two of the little buggers about 10 years ago. Fortunately, I had a machinist friend who built two aluminum horseshoes, one for each engine, that support the gear towers in place of the four posts that are in the SECOND generation Hustler but not in the FIRST! My Hustler has the original motor, front and rear lights, and an N-scale decoder in the top of the cab. It got a lot of attention at a recent train show where I operated it on the layout for a while. I tell folks it is my most expensive engine, since it has about $1000.00 worth of machinist’s time in getting everything inside and to fit. The Ernst gears work great and it runs well, but Ernst ads don’t tell you that their gears only fit SECOND generation and later engines.
Mark C.
Tom. I checked with my LHS and came up with nothing. I’ll keep an eye out for one (2nd generation). E-mail me so I can contact you if I find one.
I know I have a few of them but I haven’t found them yet. They’re probably first generation anyway because I collect out of production Athearn products.
I have a bunch of locomotives stashed away. Since Athearn stopped making the RDC, I snatched up about a dozen of them. I also have at least one model of each steam locomotive Athearn made in the fifties. I even found a Walthers Trainline engine I didn’t remember I had! I really need to take a vacation day and do an inventory.
In the mean time, if you haven’t done so, you can have automatic notification from eBay whenever a new item in you favorite searches is listed. Do a basic search for “Athearn Hustler”. In the “Items Found” box, click on the "“Add to Favorites” and it will take you to “Add to My Favorite Searches” page. Check the box for “Email me daily whenever there are new items for” and pick a time limit. You will get a e-mail whenever a Athearn Hustler is newly listed.
By the way, Athearn may still the snow plow for them. Appearently , a couple years ago, they discovered some new old stock.
Tom
I got your e-mail message and address but when I replied it came back as failed.
IF someone is willing to spend $1000 ? on a $5 -$20 engine, my hat is off to them.
Now the question IS, is Tommyr (a newbie) willing to spend $40 ?
(Any bet’s?)
Anewbie? Maybe to this forum. I have been in the hobby for 52 years. Spend 40.00 on a loco no problem. But being a Canadian it is a lot more than 40.00. I think I will look for the frame that will do the job first.
I didn’t actually spend $1000 on a $15.00 engine. The machinist’s recharge rate was such that if I had paid him for the time he invested, it would have easily been $1000. He and I both like the challenge of fixing something that “can’t be fixed”. We usually do get our projects fixed. Sometimes they are a little more challenging than we initially believed.
Mark C.
My question was not willingness to spend the $40, but spending “$40 on a $10 - $20 engine.” Anyway, welcome to the forum.
I admire your spirit - taking on such a challenge - and wish you well.
Forget the hustler, get the Roundhouse Critter that just came out.
Northwest Shortline makes a good replacement. requires cutting off part of
existing frame. I did this to a rubberband drive unit.[:D]