Kind of new to this

[tbettles]

I hope this is the correct place to ask this. I have been purchasing trains as I can and now I am wanting to start to repair the locomotives that I have and do some maintenance on them. As I have been looking though some of the things on line, it references them by GP numbers and such. I was wondering if I was to take off the cab if I will find these type of numbers or any kind of numbers somewhere inside of the engine. Also was wondering if there is somewhere to purchase a repair manual to have on hand for when I do start repairing my engines.

[jonathan]

tbettles,

Welcome to the World's Greatest Hobby!

Some broad topics covered in you questions, but let's see what we can do...

Try the website "hoseeker.net" to start.  This will help you to figure out what brand of locomotives you own.  There are some diagrams and folks have posted some tips on repairs and maintenance.

We Model Railroaders are a tinkering bunch.  Indeed, I have some equipment that is older than me.  I have spent many happy hours dissassembling and reassembling these locos, trying to figure out how stuff works. 

Technology in trains, like the real world, has grown exponentially.  You will find it is more efficient/economical to invest in newer locomotives and rolling stock, than to repair older equipment. Still, some of us still enjoy fixing up the 'vintage' equipment.  Alot of this work is trial and error.

There is no general "Repair Manual" that covers all the equipment out there.  However, Atlas/Kambaugh as put out some pretty good books to give you a general working knowledge, along with some of the tools you'd need to tinker with your models.

Try an internet search.  For instance, search for 'repair upgrade of Athearn locomotives'. 

You can also search this forum.  Many of us have posted threads, with pictures, on tweaking our models.

If you have questions on a specific locomotive, you are better off posting a picture of what you are trying to fix.  You can use a photo sharing site like photobucket to post pix here.  This will help us figure out what you have and what you need.

OK, I've rambled enough.  Hope this helps get your juices flowing.

Regards,

Jonathan

[tbettles]

Jonathan,

The juices have been flowing for a long time. Thanks so much for the information. I have been doing alot of research on the internet, and trying to get things set up for me to start tinkering.

[jward]

the gp numbers you refer to are the model numbers of the real ones. just like you'd buy a model of a chevy camaro, or a vw beetle. in model railroading you buy a model of an emd gp40 or a ge u23b.

if you are mail ordering and want to see what the real ones look like, try this link for photos of just about any trains in north america:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/