Replacing Complete Drive Wheel and Gear on Spectrum 2-8-0

[russ daley]

Need advice on this. I need to replace the driver gear on a Spectrum 2-8-0 and recently proved to myself that replacing just the gear is over my head...However...I have a complete driver wheel assembly with gear intact that I can use as a total switch out. I'm thinking that if I secure and maintain the current rod positions on both sides of the engine during the changeout and don't damage the rods I should be ok and not need any Quarterer, etc. What does anyone think? What am I missing?