Anybody know where I can buy online new geared drives sets for my Proto 2000 GP20. Purchased a CB&Q GP20 new from Ebay and when I finally got round to getting it out and fitting a decoder I discovered two cracked gear drivers in one of the trucks. An old problem I understand, but as I live in Cape Town, South Africa a bit difficult to fix!
Get in touch with Walthers (the new owners of P2K), they should have them. All you need are the “axle gears”. If they are out try Athearn, they’re the same (P2K cloned Athearn’s).
To replace them, turn the loco upside down and with a flat-head screw driver pry the cover plate off and remove the wheels. Just twist off the half-axles and replace the old gear with the new and twist the axles back on. Use an NMRA gauge to adjust. Add a little lube while you have access. Snap the covers back on and you’re done.
You can use Athern trucks or weelsets as replacements. Ive used them on a couple of GP9s I have. You can also contact Walthers for waranty on them. They should replace them for free since LL has that lifetime waranty.
Been there
Pete[B)]
As a fellow Cape Towner I can assure you that I have had excellent reponse from Walthers regarding damaged or broken parts now that they have taken over the Lifelike range, after a year of no replies from Lifelike Walthers airmailed the replacement parts, free of charge, within a week of my referring my compliant to them. If you want to try the Athearn replacement gears Thom’s Hobby Haven in N1 City still has some Athearn spares which might fit.
Meanwhile your waiting for a new geared wheel set to arrive. I removed a cracked gear/wheel set from the engine and with an Xacto knife trimmed off the gear leaving only a plastic shaft on the wheel set. The engine will run fine with three powered wheels until the new wheel set arrives.