How to install a tender shoe in a pacemaker that is getting very stuck halfway in
This ought to be moved from Classic Trains to Classic Toy Trains.
For a quicker response, PM EL_Fixes_Things.
Thanks
If you’re talking about the truck shoe on the center axle, those are a bit tricky, but if you take some CRC 2-26 (a conductive lubricant and cleaner which I swear by), or similar, you can take some needle nose pliers to squeeze and wiggle the shoe into place. The tricky part is applying enough pressure to get it in but not bend it out of shape too much.
How to install a tender shoe in a pacemaker that is gettigetting stuck halfway in
Tender shoe
Yup that’s the one I told you about. 
Thanks
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It worked without the lube. Double thanks 
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For sure. I would still recommend a contact lube because it will help with the sliding and the conductivity of the shoe long term.
I’m frankly kinda clueless how anyone knows what this thread is about. No brand name to go on. The first, closest think that comes to mind is an American Flyer 326 Hudson. Afaik Gilbert never called it a “pacemaker”, but that does sound like a set name. I assume that’s what AVTrainz assumes it is.
I’ve never worked on a 326, but it appears to use the same slide shoes that were used on the PAs and GP7s. It’s been a while since I’ve messed with one of these shoes, glad someone was able to make sense of the thread title and offer advice.
-El
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Now, if they’d asked about inserting a thingamajig into a whatchmacallit, I’d have been all over that answer, 2-1/2 pound sledgeamahammer and all!
There is! Fantasy!
Yeah, the set may have been referred to as “Pacemaker Freight” in the promotional copy, but if you look, the locomotive itself is a 326 Hudson. The ‘Pacemaker’ threw me off, wasn’t sure what it could be talking about until AVTrainz figured it out, and then it all made sense.
-El
That’s what my engine has stamped on it right on🙂
I’ve never seen an American Flyer Hudson that said “pacemaker” anywhere on it. Afaik, all 326 Hudsons should have the number on the cab, and “American Flyer Lines” on the tender, with a small New York Central System logo near the top front corner on each side.|
New York Central did paint a number of boxcars with a Pacemaker livery, as well as a few wood cabooses. Lionel and Marx both made Pacemaker livery boxcars, and Marx did cabooses too- though they did not match the actual caboose type used. I do not think American Flyer replicated the livery on anything under the original AC Gilbert company.
Of course, there was the 5550W, the set which was dubbed ‘The (New) Pacemaker Freight’ in the catalog, but the pacemaker name was never on any of the equipment itself.
-El
Yup, the reason I figured I was hearing about a 326 or similar was the tender shoe getting stuck. Only Flyer did a sliding shoe on the center axle of the Hudson and Northern tender trucks, and having worked on my 499’s shoes I knew exactly what op was talking about. Those little buggers are not super troublesome unless you bend them and then they are a pain, especially while working with the spring. One tip, of you ever need a new spring, I used a soft one from a ball-point pen! They are the perfect size and the right ones are not too strong.
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