Been a while since I posted or read the forums. Needed to make some space out in the shop and finally got around to finishing these 2 projects. There are some before and after images of this old 221. Color is a bit off - it’s actually YELLOW but looks orange in the images. I picked it up in pathetic condition at a train meet a couple years ago pretty cheap. You can see for yourself on the cosmetics and it ran about as good (or bad) as it looked. As you may know, the 221 is a VERY BASIC model. But I like Post War and I like western road names and that makes my selection rather limited.
The black marks on the body were a mystery. No amount of cleaning would take them off. They were perhaps more robust than the factory black stripes and lettering and appeared to almost be stains that slightly absorbed into the plastic. I had to basically polish them off very carefully using a plastic polish (while avoiding the factory marks). I rebuilt the motor and find a fault in the windings, new bushings, brushes. The single traction tire was replaced of course. The e-unit took a number of tries to get it ‘adjusted’ to work consistently. I ordered and installed several ‘upgrades’. If you can’t spot them they include a tool box, a plastic windshield, a lens for the headlight, a light bracket (internal), an LED bulb and finally an electronic horn/bell with speaker (internal).
It’s not much of a puller with a single driven axle and only a single traction tire at that. But with a small load it’s OK and ads some much need color and variety to my PW collection. Seems to run pretty good otherwise though it sparks a tad more than I’d like. The light is a bit harsh compared to the regular bulbs on my other PWs. And it shines a bit through the plastic around the nose area - may need to ‘mask’ it somehow. More radical options might have been to find a diecast chassis to fit the ALCO body to or upgrade the motor/rear truck to something better - 2 traction tires or something… But it’s don