Cracked gears on LL P2K GP30

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I bought a P2K GP30 several months ago. As far as I could tell, it was brand new. I assembled it according to the instructions, but when I put it on my layout and put power to it, it ran very roughly kaming a screeching, banging sound and vibrating so badly, it jumped the track at low speed! I took the loco apart, checking the motor, flywheels and drive shafts. Came to find out that the gears on the wheel axles were cracked. ALL 4 OF THEM! I was going to take it back when I thought that the trucks were nearly identical to those used in Athearn BB f units. I took the wheelsets from and old f unit, transplanted them into the P2K GP30 and tried it. It runs great! Not a sound and no vibration at all. A quick fix, as they say. Has anyone else had this problem?

[soapbox]

2

A lot of people have had that problem. You don’t have to swap out the trucks, though. You can buy new axle gears. I got mine from Horizon Hobby. I think it was somethink like $2 for about 8 of them.

george

3

The only trouble with switching the entire axle is now you have the Athearn sintered wheels. Repace the gear on the P2K axles or add Nothwest shortline wheelsets. Just don’t like those Athearn wheels.
Bob K.

4

I didn’t changed out the trucks, just the axle gears. I’m extremely satisfied with the result.

5

Bob;

As far as I could tell, the Athearn axle gears were identical to the ones from the P2K GP30. I compared them very closely. I think I know where you’re coming from though. I’ve seen gears from older Athearn units I have and you’re right, there are differences. I was just lucky to have one of the newer ones.

6

The actual Athearn wheel is sintered steel not nickle silver. The Northwest Shortline wheelsets are even better than the plated P2Ks. These type of wheelsets stay cleaner longer and have better electrical PU. Just don’t want you to drop quality of your wheels for a simple fix. But if your happy with the result just keep them clean. Milions of Athearn are running on these wheelsets.
Bob K.

7

This was a common problem for a lot of P2K engines. Walthers has bought LifeLike, and they will send you new axles for the asking. Go to their web site and find the “Contact Us” section. Tell them how many axles you need, and provide your name and mailing address. I just got some a few weeks ago, and the new ones work fine.