Spectrum Plymouth switcher

[rich1998]

i just picked up this loco. a little old. it has the horn hook couplers.
fairly good runner with some fine tuning.. pancake motor draws 290 ma at 11.3 volts dc.
one weak link is the driver pickup method.
below are some photos.



Bottom view



wipers



I found out with the john bull that corrosion can develop between the inside of the drivers, thin metal pickup strip and metal motor halves. cleaned all surfaces with q tips and alcohol. used a scratch brush to clean the surfaces. small drops of corrosion preventative between all pickup surfaces.
i put a drop or two of labelle 102 gear oil on the gears with a puff of labelle 134 and a small drop of labelle 108 oil on motor bearings.  runs quite well. Not as good as a can motor but I like the results for a cheap loco.
considering putting in a dz125 decoder.
lex

[RAM]

I don't know. but from what I can see from the pictures.  I would think that the traction tries would be the center wheel.  traction tries are not good for current pickup.

[rich1998]

the wheels work just fine. the rims still touch the rail just fine. all wheels pickup. I am going to add tomar wipers on each end since the plastic frame is so low.
center wheels not gear driven. only front and rear wheels driven.
only a yard switcher, not a mainline diesel.
actually you could call it a toy train.
this might give people an idea on how to do some tinkering with this style motor drive to improve pickup.
I think the 0-6-0 steamers have a similar drive and pickup and can be bothersome.

just trying to share some ideas.

lex