Repair help needed - old Lionel HO belt driven diesel

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Hi All,

I am a newbie to the group so please have a bit of patience.

I received a bonus engine in an ebay purchase - Lionel HO engine. Tested - power is transmitted, found items stopping the armature movement (corrected those), found the next problem: neoprene belt driven.

I remember these drives from when I was a kid - all were easy to replace. The Lionel unit transfers power from the motor via a pair of pulley wheels at the ends of nylon shafts via the neoprene belts. The belts connect to similar pulley wheels on the wheel trucks. The wheel trucks are driven via a worm gear that is turned by the belt pulley… …and here is the problem: the wheel truck pulley wheel & worm gear assembly is kept in-place by some kind of fitting has no screws, no clamps…seems to be a tight fitting U-shaped holder but…I cannot get the worm gear/pulley out to get the belt in place.

Anyone know of this power drive/transfer concept and does anyone know how to get the worm gear and pulley out without breaking parts? (and, yes, I tried to insert an image to clearly show the problem but cannot).

Thanks in advance

2

You might want to post this on the Model Railroader side of the forum - someone might be more familiar with the drive system.

3

Try here. The name is Tyco but they deal with all old HO

https://tycodepot.com/

4

I just bought a bunch on ebay under HO

5

They use drive belts Years ago it was metal springs that could connect

I do not know who makes these anymore you can try HO forums or e bay

6

A friend of mine gave me some 1950’s vintage Athearn F’s with the Hi-F drive. Rubber band from the motor shaft to the axle. Had a lot of fun messing around with those! 4 unit A-B-B-A can pull a lot of cars, but vintage Motors will trip the breaker on the transformer before too long. Interesting chapter in model train history…Hope you can find the parts you need!

Paul