The loco is otherwise in great shape and the motor works perfectly. The only thing wrong with it is that the driven gear on the axle simply spins and does not move the locomotive. Does anyone know where I could get a replacement or could I get by with peening the axle, then force the old gear over the peened area? Thanks in advance for any help.
Ha! I had one of those once…about 30 years ago. IIRC, it had 2 speeds…dead and mach 1.
To answer your question, you may consider contacting NWSL for your replacement gear…they have done it all.
David B
Thaks for your quick reply, David! I’ll look into that for sure.
A replacement gear from NWSL is going to cost 10 times more that what I would consider a Life-Like Dockside to be worth. I have had a couple of them myself over the years.
They now sit in a locomotive graveyard scene or at the head end of some coal hoppers being switched at a mine on an HO scale club layout. As David said, they had only two speeds – dead stop and full blast. The wheel flanges were so big that they couldn’t go through an Atlas turnout’s frog without stalling.
IIRC, the gear is nylon. No glue will stick to nylon. Trying to peen the shaft as you suggested might work, but don’t overdo it. Too much stress on the gear could cause it to crack.
In addition to peening, you might also try a small amount of Permatex Threadlocker and let it cure for a couple of days before running the loco again.
I had one like that many years ago. It ran well enough, when it worked. When I had a chance to get a better loco I ran to the nearest trash can and slam dunked the little 0-4-0.
If you really want to fix it, I think the cheapest thing to do would be to get another one off eBay or at a train show. You can find them pretty easily for less than $10.
If you want a better one, keep an eye out for the deluxe model from AHM (Rivarossi). It’s nicely detailed, has a full working valve gear, and runs pretty smooth. You can also find the Varney Dockside pretty cheaply, and those should be more bullet-proof and reliable than any of the other choices.