A lot of you have been following the Lil Guy saga, the SW1 I paid way to much for on eBay. Well, over the months, I’ve not only gotten him running, but he now has Hogwarts colors and Kaydee Couplers. The only problem left, besides the obvious problem of being a 40 year-old piece of—well I wont go there. He’s sensitive. Anyway, he has a high performance slot car engine. If he’s going to work the yards, and no Hogwarts Freight and Ferry engine gets a free ride. He’s got to run slow.
So I was thinking. I need to re-motor him. The engine from the Bachman Hogwarts ran pretty good, and it is availible. But there is the problem of the drive train. Lil Guy has a pulley drive. So now I need some way of getting mechanical power to the trucks…
Chip
I missed the orgin of L.G. Is he an early Athearn with a Hi-Fi drive? I wonder if a Ernst Manufacturing truck gearing kit ( Walthers #259-2) for Hustler conversion drive would work. Will the shell fit on a Athearn SW1500 chassis? I know the Ernst gear conversion makes the loco too slow for road engines but perfect for switchers.
Chip–that cute lil’ feller is an old Lindbergh, right? I wonder if you took it to your LHS, if they could find a NWSL can motor with the same size drive shaft (probably a 3.0, if I’m guessing right) and it could be mounted to your frame. Those NWSL motors are REALLY great–I’ve re-motored a couple of my old brass steamers with them, and they have super slow-speed control. If I’m correct, the pulley mechanism is a press-fit on the motor shaft extension, and it should pull off and fit the NWSL shaft. And no, DON’T replace it with a thirty dollar Proto! That’s your first engine, and you’ll want to keep it, believe me. I’ve got MY first engine (a little PFM Santa Fe 2-8-0, remotored with an NWSL, by the way) and it’s still wobbling around hauling local freight, and looking important as all Heck. But check and see if there’s a Northwest Short Line can that can be adapted to Lil’ Guy. I’ll just bet that there is.
Tom [:D][:D]
It is a Lindberg. I got it the first week I decide to make this a hobby on eBay. I bid $35 for it and another engine. The other engine was a dummy and Lil Guy was a “mint” vintage engine. Well it didn’t run and I got the seller to split the difference with me. I keep it as a testiment to my ignornace. I got it running and now I want to make it work better.
Hey I got my 4th star. Who says you have to know something to flap your lips…er…fingers.
Yes, the drive assembely comes right out. I figure I can drop just about any engine in there with a little fitting, which is why I’m thinking about the can from the original Hogwarts. But I do worry about the pulley. It’s 40 years old and they were known to break when they were new.
maybe you should look for a replacement pulley before you attempt the remotor project , after all , how hard to find could it be , and how much could it cost ?
Just find an athearn switcher on ebay. Tra***he shell and put your lil guy shell on top. Should fit with only minimal modification. I can see how you could have an attachment to your first engine, I still have mine, but no sense having it not run well. You should enjoy it not just let it sit on a shelf somewhere.
Replacement belts should be available from any non-awful hobby shop, the Walthers catalog, or NWSL. They do break a lot, but any sort of rubber band of suitable circumference will do to replace it.
Sometimes I feel so deprived. I’ve yet to go inside a non-awful hobby shop. I keep saying I should get a Pittsburgh phone book and see what is an hour and a half away, but that is such a time commitment.
Your’e post got me thinking. i’ve got Lil Guy’s offspring! Varney ? Linghburg? Penn Line? anyhow, mine is a cast metal NW2 with orginal driveline and extra thick puke green lead house paint.
Purchased it over 25 years ago at a rummage sale, along with some solid cast metal coaches of unknown protoype that I effectionly call Penn Line two-pound-a-pieces for their tremendous weight.
I was thinking about how to slow the original motor down, if you intend to run it on DC for a while. You could solder a dropping resistor in series with one of the wires to the motor. Probably should be at least 1/2 watt, not sure what rating, but you could start with 500 ohms or so. Can’t beat the price, as resistor packs are about 49 cents at Radio Shack. Position the resistor away from the shell, as it may get plenty hot. You could get the engine in service soon, as opposed to waiting for a few weeks, and investing $$$, getting the correct replacement motor. Experiment with different resistors to get the response you want. Good Luck.
Unlerss you is a 'card carrying ‘MOSOCHIST, buy a primo STEWART Baldwin switcher, or a bagain basement ("good but…’) Proto 2000 switcher. These are geared down to realistic switcher speeds. Paint it ‘Hogwarts’ red if you wish… and retire Lil Guy.
Maybe someone will perfom a Eulogy : “Alas poor Lil’ Guy… We knew him NOT”…
I think you deserve better.Put your talent’s into things that will reward your effor’ts more.The old sage ’ Sow’s ear’ and ‘Silk purse’ comes to mind…
But what will I learn from painting a Stewart. Lil Guy is a POS. The most I’ll be out if I screw up is a 40-year-old shelf monkey. By the way, I don’t plan on screwing it up.