Do any of my fellow ModelRailroader know of any other literature besides Maintaining and Repairing Trains, especially steam loco’s, definitely assembly of Steam loco, Any advice.
Thanks for your Help!
I don’t remember ever seeing a book, or even an MR article on model locomotive repair and rebuilding. I picked up the art by taking locomotives apart and putting them back together starting with a Lionel Alco cab unit.
The most important part of taking locomotives apart, is getting them back together and they run. Most important, don’t loose parts. Start with a clean workbench. Vacuum the shop floor before you start, makes it easier to find a dropped part. Take photos and notes as you go to guide the reassembly part. Put removed parts into containers.
Old locomotives, train show finds for example, often suffer from no more than dried and sticky lubricant. A simple disassembly, a cleaning, a relubrication may be all it takes to get her running good.
Use the right size screwdrivers and wrenches. If you don’t have them, go shopping. Never use pliers to turn a fastener. The wrong size tool, or worse pliers, will lunch the screwheads and make it impossible to re install them. Go easy torqueing fasteners, they are small, and often brass and will break if you force them. If you have a stuck screw, give it some penetrating oil, wait overnight and try it again.
With the motor removed, the works of a steamer should roll freely. Any binding or just general stickiness needs attention. Be aware that to work without binding, all the crankpins of all the drivers must be at 90 degrees (quartered it’s called) to its opposite crankpin. I seldom remove drivers from axles lest I fail to get them back together in quarter. And, one driver is electrically insulated, where as the other driver conducts electricity to the frame. Get one driver pair reinstalled backwards and you have a dead short across the rails. Take notes. Binding may happen in the rods and valve gear, or in the axles bearings. Removing the rods lets
There are lots of youtube videos out there that will show the disassembly of the locomotive. Depends on the model. These resources may not be perfect but would be a good starting point if nothing else is available.
A little tip if you want to take anything apart is to get an egg carton (or several) and number the spots 1 to 12. As you take things apart put them in the carton in order starting at #1 of course. Putting it back together will be a breeze. Just go backwards. I have taken some very “parts intensive” things apart in my time and they have always gone back together easily because I kept the parts in order.
All very good ideas. I can’t think of anything the fellows left out. Good advice, thake heed and save a lot of frustration. I have been there!!!
Brent, very good idea w/ the egg carton. I assume the paper vs the plastic. I could use this along w/ my version (especially for larger parts/ assy) A shallow box (shoe box lid etc) lined w/ towel or soft cloth. I would lay the pieces out as a semi exploded diagram. The numbered egg carton would be great in marking the 1-12 phases of the dissassembly.
Thanks Bob
The only thing I could never get back together was my kids Nerf Dart Gun. I got all the screws out and when I pulled the two sides apart, about 10000 springs and bits flew all over the kitchen. A trip to Walmart and $40.00 fixed that problem. I still hear about it though.[|(][(-D]
Clever, and the kids still think “your the man”