I have this nice walthers proto 0-6-0 switcher that has about 4 hours on it. Yesterday the pin that holds the drive rods to the wheel came out leaving both rods hanging.
I don’t see any way to reconnect it. It’s not a screw. Is it just pressure fit? I cant find an exploded parts diagram either.
This little loco runs great. I would like to fix it if posable. Any assistance is appreciated.
I emailed Walthers but from what I’m seeing they don’t support out of production products. We’ll see.
Usually, it’s a tiny rivit if it’s not a screw. Hopefully Walthers can help either way.
Hi, are you talking about the essentric crank pin on the driver farthest back?(square pin) That one is pressure fit, and you can easily just push it back in, use some light glue if it likes to come out.
If its one of those hexagonal head screws for the front and middle wheel, then that would require a screwdriver of sorts. Or you can twist it back in with some tweezers.
A picture would be nice!
Charles
If the pin that came out does not have visible threads, it’s a pressure fit. Presumably it has been ‘abused’ somewhat to the point either the hole has ovaled out or the pin has been worked out: in either case there is no particularly complex adjustment involved in putting it back in (other than making sure the rods are put back in the right order, the mirror image of what’s on the other side).
What I’d do is to carefully drill a hole slightly less than the diameter of the pin in a couple of pieces of paper. Put one over the pin, then put on the rods in proper order, then the other piece of paper like a ‘washer’ to hold them. Use a tiny dab of adhesive on a toothpick wiped around in the hole in the driver, and if contact like Goo let it set up until tacky, then insert the pin to tight contact and let it dry thoroughly (24 to 48 hours, or accelerate with GENTLE heat blowing). Put a little light oil on the joint after the glue has thoroughly set, then pull the pieces of paper carefully out, tearing them carefully and then cleaning any stray flinders out with something like the tip of a #1 X-Acto blade. (The paper ensures good running clearance even if you clamp a bit aggressively driving the pin in all the way).
I don’t have the 0-6-0 but I can provide the print for the 0-8-0. I would presume* many of the parts are common?
L-L_0-8-0 by Edmund, on Flickr
and a cropped view:
L-L_0-8-0_crop1 by Edmund, on Flickr
I’ll post a photo soon.
L-L_0-8-0 by Edmund, on Flickr
L-L_0-8-0r by Edmund, on Flickr
In my case, the main crank pin has a hex and I would say it is threaded into the driver but I did not attempt to turn it. In all the cases where I’ve messed with crank pins and side rods I don’t recall encountering a press-fit pin at least on the Broadway, Life-Like, brass or other steam on my roster. In most cases, as I recall, the eccentric crank is keyed as well.
Hope that helps,
Good Luck, Ed
* no guarantee, of course
The only press-fit ones I’ve seen are on the MDC locos.
Simon
I took him at his word that his pin had no threads; we’ll see what he says.
I am tempted to note someone might have butchered his example, or stripped out the threads and tried to gin up a press fit. It might be worth using my general method, with a tiny amount of JB Weld or equivalent as a gap-filling alternative, if that is the situation he finds himself in…
Worst case, if it’s supposed to be threaded, would be to fill the hole CAREFULLY with JB Weld, making sure it is flush with the top surface, let it cure thoroughly, then drill and tap a new hole. Unless someone actually makes helicoils that small.
If truly a press fit part, the little extra of the paper should work, along with the TINY drop of glue - don’t want to get any glue on the part that needs to turn on the rods - should do the tricka nd keep it from backing out again, at least for quite a while.
Yes, these are tedious tiny operations, magnifiers almost certainly required unless you have Steve Austin (6 million dollar man, not the wrestler) eyes.
–Randy
Can you actually tap threads that fine in JBWeld and not have them ‘gall out’ sufficiently to lose mechanical strength? And how do you mark the center and drill the hole accurately enough while remaining normal to the plane of the driver face?
I’ll bet there is some way to make a drill guide fixture out of easy materials using another driver to measure the hole position accurately relative to points on the rim, and hold it bolt upright for drilling – then you can either use one of those drill and heavy tube guide sets carefully plumbed to get the hole in straight and then a tap-and-guide set for the threads.
What I’d do if new threads are desirable is implant a piece of fairly thickwall brass tubing, ‘roughed up’ as if grooved in a lathe to make 'tooth’for the bond, then cut the threads in that using the tools and methods mentioned above. (This also has the possibility of giving a square and defined surface if a threaded pin has a shoulder.)
I had a similar issue with the 0-6-0 earlier this year and wrote to Walthers. Here’s the response I received from them:
The Heritage 0-6-0 locomotives have not been produced or Last Rec’vd 01-18-2011
Eccentric cranks #121 (R) or #147 (L) are not held in by a nut or screw but press fit their square shanks in to square holes in the drive wheels. (See attached exploded view). The orientation of the crank should appear about 10-deg off alignment to the drivers axis. The “Nut” is a decorative relief on the head of the crankpin.
Hope this helps.
Tom
You see here the magnificent power of ASSumptions.
When the OP says he had a pin that ‘did not have threads’ I assumed he meant a cylindrical pin. The discussion that followed got turned into drilling circular holes or re-gluing pins, even though the third post in the thread mentioned a square shank, until Tom’s post about the pin not being cylindrical where it went into the driver brought the message home.
Then Ed publishes drawings … at a scale that doesn’t show either the physical shape of the recesses in the drivers or the square edges on a pin. But accompanied by some (typically!) very clear pictures that do show an exaggerated hex head just like that commonly found on models not using slotted heads on screws … who puts an unprototypical hex head on a pin in a square hole? SURPRISE to anyone whose locomotive has developed loose rods who sees that hex and ASSumes that what to do with those hex heads to fix it, on almost any other locomotive in the world that has such, is what they do on this one …
Slightly more complicated fix if the hole in the driver has been, say, torqued until ‘round’… the OP would have to assess how the square recess in the driver originally ‘pointed’, and how much play there is with the eccentric crank (which is probably a stamping; is it fixed to the shaft?) Then make a little batch of JB Weld as suggested by Ed and others, butter it gently to get good contact against the edges of the hole in the driver without getting any on the face, use squareish holes in the paper rather than round, and as the pin is worked into the hole with the rods on, clamp it with the crank facing in the correct direction for ‘lead’ (i.e. with the crank pointed at the 10 degrees… uh oh, Walthers didn’t say the critical thing about whether the crank leads or trails at the 10-deg off alignment, but we’ll presume it leads on whatever side it is … so that the pin’s axis is square re
I have no clue what all this confusion is. I will tell you, I’ve had four of these USRA 0-6-0s made by walthers/lifelike. (along with 2 0-8-0s, 3 2-8-4s, and 2 2-10-2s)
I can tell you definitively that the essentric crank(rearmost wheel)'s pin is pressure fit and is a square shaped pin. Trust me, I tried to twist it when disassembling it and it snapped.
Ed- this square design is also used by proto 2000 for their 0-8-0s, 2-8-4s, and (possibly) their 2-10-2s.
I would not recommend drilling anything, that will just further complicate things and damage your engine.
Someone mentioned putting some paper or some of sorts in between the gap, creating a more snug fit. That might work. I just used some light glue(in case you might want to take it apart later when disassembling).
Im away from home right now, otherwise I’d take a photo. 
Here’s an imagine I found online. Note the square hole. (you cant see the square pin, its behind the decorative crankpin)
Charles
You were the ‘third poster’ that we ignored to our present sorrow.
There! You see! Just like I said!
The only thing drilling will ‘help’ is fitting a plug with a proper square hole broached in it … leading to the fun involved in first ensuring the new hole is correctly located in the driver, and then ensuring it is properly angled for eccentric-crank lead.
That wasn’t for a ‘more snug’ fit; in fact, really the opposite: it ensures that no matter how hard you clamp the pin there will be adequate lateral for the rods to run free after the paper is removed.
There is probably a ‘some glues are better than others’ discussion about what glues are best here, especially if the hole in the driver, or the shaft of the pin, have been messed up.
I’ve used CA on one of my engines. It worked, but I don’t run that engine very often and I’ve been on a lookout for a donor engine for a more permanent solution. A press-fit part can be easily made with a piece of plastic. I’ve also done that on another engine. I used a low-heat iron to make a cap once it was in place. That one has been working on a weekly basis for over a year…
Simon
That’s an interesting thought. If you made a ‘replacement’ with a slightly longer thermoplastic square shaft (rebuilding enough of the square in the driver to give consistent lead on the ‘new’ crank) even a little mushrooming would hold it in virtually forever. I wonder if a small dot of hot glue on the back side of the driver after a metal pin is inserted would have the same locking effect?
Sorry for the delayed response, had cataract surgery.
yes it’s the rear drive wheel. I’ll give it a try.
Thanks trainman440! That’ exactly hat i have.
Here’s walthers response;
Greetings Gary;
The Proto 2000 Heritage 0-6-0 Locomotives were first produced in 2002, run again in 2006 and Last Rec’vd 01-27-2011 all from the original Life-Like tooling. Repair parts have not been made separately since the 2006 production run. If purchased in 2017 it was already at least 5 years old. Repair parts are scarce now but we do still have some pieces still available. What we don’t have are the assembly jigs used to put the rod assemblies together or the rivet pins.
What looks to be a hex head on the eccentric crank pin is decorative only as the part has a square shank and is meant to be pressed in. For the 1st and 2nd axles those are hex head bolts. If the 3rd axle drive wheels are still good the eccentric crank should be able to be pressed back in with a tough of LokTite to hold it.
We do not have the jigs or ability to do repairs on these any more. I have attached an exploded view of the parts. If there are any specific parts you need we can at least look to see if any are still available.
I would not use any type of blows, regardless of how lightly you feel convinced you can manage to do them. Seriously.
I would dip the very tip of the rod/pin into something like contact cement or an epoxy, perhaps the LokTite is the right choice here, so that a very tiny adhesion of the material is visible. From there, a controlled force fit and insertion, square pin carefully aligned in both roll and yaw, using strong direct lighting and a good visor with magnification. Press the item home as deeply as you can, keeping in mind that there needs to be some space so that parts move freely and do not bind.
I would use smooth needle nosed pliers, maybe, and use them very carefully to press the item to it’s permissible and reasonable extent…with that important ‘freeboard’ to keep parts from contact when in motion.
Do not try to put any glue on the pin; it will be displaced up the shaft and get in the bearings, perhaps even if the ‘inside’ paper washer is tight on the shaft. Put adhesive only in the hole, and take care to leave room at the ‘back’ for any excess to escape as the pin bottoms, watching periodically for it to do so – I assume the hole goes through to the back. If it does not, consider drilling a very fine relief hole for excess cement, as you want as much pin contact area ‘glued’ as you can…
The paper handles any pressure issues so you don’t worry about ‘is it in far enough yet?’ In fact clearance is its primary purpose, not keeping glue out of the rod joints.
Assembly requires PARALLEL action, the sort of thing you’d get from a small C clamp with the screw directly above the pin and the anvil behind. The immediate tool that came to mind was the device used to press pins out of wristwatch band links when adjusting length; cheap ones are peddled on eBay from “US sellers” that should get to you quick. I would NOT use anything but smooth pressure for the last mm or so that finishes seating the rods, even with paper ‘backstopping’ you, as it may become difficult to get the last pieces of paper out without stuff like the .19mm wire used to fix cell phones…
Likewise, as you start to set the pin, you’ll want to keep the shank parallel to the hole as it goes in; you would want the longest jaw possible, and what I’d at least consider is getting a relatively cheap pair of needlenose, clamping the jaws shut and cross-drilling a hole near the tips so you have a semicircular recess in each jaw, polish and deburr these, and make up jaw pads the can pivot in each. You will notice some ‘furniture’ clamps have jaws made this way so they align to mortise-and-tenon joints or whatever on work that isn’t perfectly square yet but needs to be; this approach for clamping should keep small ja