Athearn GE U30-C not running

[Michigan Railfan]

Today, I went to the Redford Model Railroad club show at the Costick Center in Livonia Michigan. I bought a Union Pacific GE U30-C for $33. When running this train, it is about 3X as loud as a normal engine. It also barely runs. When I cradle the engine in my hands, I can move 2 of the wheels with my hands, and I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen. Besides, all the other wheels I can't move with my hand. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Tylerf]

Your right about the wheels not supposed to be free rolling, athearns are all wheel drives. It might be something with the gears. You should be able to pop the underside of the trucks or at least one off to view the gears. Stripped gears is the only thing I can think of fitting your description

[Jim Banner]

If the two wheels you can move are on the same axle, you may have a stripped gear on that axle.  If the wheels are on different axles, you more likely have split gears.  Even if the movable wheels are on the same axle, you still may have a split gear.

Again, popping the bottom off one or both trucks will help you determine what is happening.  Using a good magnifying glass will also help.

[jward]

a more likely cause of the athearn wheels turning by hand, assuming both wheels are on the same axle, is a cracked axle gear. this was a huge problem in proto2000 units which used parts comapable with athearn. athearn's axle gears are usually more durable. what happens is the gear is force fit on the wheel and axle halves. sometimes they split when this is done, or after they've been run for a while. replacement gears were readily available though i haven't bought any in years.....

when you say the locomotive barely runs at all, what exactly do you mean? is the motor sluggish? does your unit run jerky, stopping for no apparent reason?

[Michigan Railfan]

Well, I guess I have a pretty bad problem. You are all saying that the wheels that are free rolling are on the same axle, but their not. So, how do I pop off the botttom of the axle without breaking the engine? Also, I took off the cover, and I can put my finger on both flywheels, and move them very easily, but, the engine moves when I do this, so I don't think it has anything to do with that. I also forgot to mention this an older Athearn model, and is no longer on their website.

a more likely cause of the athearn wheels turning by hand, assuming both wheels are on the same axle, is a cracked axle gear. this was a huge problem in proto2000 units which used parts comapable with athearn. athearn's axle gears are usually more durable. what happens is the gear is force fit on the wheel and axle halves. sometimes they split when this is done, or after they've been run for a while. replacement gears were readily available though i haven't bought any in years.....

when you say the locomotive barely runs at all, what exactly do you mean? is the motor sluggish? does your unit run jerky, stopping for no apparent reason?

It runs sluggish, runs jerky, and stops halfway around my layout. Funny you mention Proto 2000 using some of the same parts as Athearn. I have a Proto 2000 GP40 Phase 1, and it too runs, well, not so good.

Just got an e-mail from Athearn. As I said above, I knew it was an older model, but I was suprised when they said it had been discontinued for 10 years!

[Tylerf]

The truck bottoms should have a clip on either end so just carefully pop itoff at the clips. If it was an athearn blue box that I'm not suprised it's 10 years old because athearn has been around for years and most of the blue box locomotives are just floating around even though not in production.

[jward]

since i once had a fleet of probably 40 older athearns i can help here....

first, when you move the flywheels you are also turning the motor, and the worm gear that powers the trucks. you should notice the locomotive slowly move as you turn the flywheels. if not the flywheels are loose. but you'd have been able to hear them rattle after you stopped the engine if they were.....

the biggest flaw in the athearn design is/was the electrical contact between the wheels and motor. one side of the circuit consists of the metal bar above the worm gear on the trucks, and a spring steel contact bar that clips to the top of the motor and should rub the metal bar on the trucks. the other side of the circuit comes through a metal tab on the trucks that serves as a bolsteror pivot point, the weight of the metal frame is supposed to be enough to provide good electrical contwact but doesn't always live up to its promise. the bottom clip on the motor has tabs which also contact the locomotive frame.

you will want to be sure all of the above are in contact with the parts they are supposed to contact, and clean.....

to disassemble an athearn truck you must first remove the truck from the frame.....start by prying loose, with a small screwdriver, the plactic clip covering the worm gear on the top of the truck. remove this, and the worm gear adn set them aside. be careful of the metal bearing and thin washer on the worm gear, these can get lost easily.....

next, you should be able to lift the locomotive frame clear of the truck. once clear, examine the truck closely. there should be one or two small plastic clips on top that hold the truck together, along with a much larger one on the bottom whichruns the length of the truck between the wheels....remove those and set aside.

at this point your should be able to tell if you have inside or outside bearings in the truck. if it is the later inside bearing truck, you will be able to see two vertical metal plates on the truck. the wheelsets ride in slots in these plates, with square metal bearings similar to the ones on the worm gear. if you have this type of truck, the wheels should come right out.
if you have the outside bearing type, the truck sideframes will be metal. you will have to carefully seperate the truck halves to remove the wheels.

once the wheelsets are removed, check each one to be sure they are snug in the axle gear. if they are not that's where your problem lies. replace that gear......

the jerkiness you describe sounds to me like your locomotive has dirty contacts as well. polish them with a very fine sandpaper or emery board, being sure to keep any dust out of the gears. at this point, i usually make some modifications like hard wiring the motor. if interested in this let me know and i'll tell you how i do this. also, the athearn wheels are made of sintered metal, and tend to get dirty quickly. replacements are available from jaybee and nwsl, both types are nickel silver or nickle plated and drasticly improve wheel contact with the rails.

you will also want to take the time to lube your locomotive while it is apart....

reassembly is the reverse of disassembly....

[Michigan Railfan]

since i once had a fleet of probably 40 older athearns i can help here....

first, when you move the flywheels you are also turning the motor, and the worm gear that powers the trucks. you should notice the locomotive slowly move as you turn the flywheels. if not the flywheels are loose. but you'd have been able to hear them rattle after you stopped the engine if they were.....

the biggest flaw in the athearn design is/was the electrical contact between the wheels and motor. one side of the circuit consists of the metal bar above the worm gear on the trucks, and a spring steel contact bar that clips to the top of the motor and should rub the metal bar on the trucks. the other side of the circuit comes through a metal tab on the trucks that serves as a bolsteror pivot point, the weight of the metal frame is supposed to be enough to provide good electrical contwact but doesn't always live up to its promise. the bottom clip on the motor has tabs which also contact the locomotive frame.

you will want to be sure all of the above are in contact with the parts they are supposed to contact, and clean.....

to disassemble an athearn truck you must first remove the truck from the frame.....start by prying loose, with a small screwdriver, the plactic clip covering the worm gear on the top of the truck. remove this, and the worm gear adn set them aside. be careful of the metal bearing and thin washer on the worm gear, these can get lost easily.....

next, you should be able to lift the locomotive frame clear of the truck. once clear, examine the truck closely. there should be one or two small plastic clips on top that hold the truck together, along with a much larger one on the bottom whichruns the length of the truck between the wheels....remove those and set aside.

at this point your should be able to tell if you have inside or outside bearings in the truck. if it is the later inside bearing truck, you will be able to see two vertical metal plates on the truck. the wheelsets ride in slots in these plates, with square metal bearings similar to the ones on the worm gear. if you have this type of truck, the wheels should come right out.
if you have the outside bearing type, the truck sideframes will be metal. you will have to carefully seperate the truck halves to remove the wheels.

once the wheelsets are removed, check each one to be sure they are snug in the axle gear. if they are not that's where your problem lies. replace that gear......

the jerkiness you describe sounds to me like your locomotive has dirty contacts as well. polish them with a very fine sandpaper or emery board, being sure to keep any dust out of the gears. at this point, i usually make some modifications like hard wiring the motor. if interested in this let me know and i'll tell you how i do this. also, the athearn wheels are made of sintered metal, and tend to get dirty quickly. replacements are available from jaybee and nwsl, both types are nickel silver or nickle plated and drasticly improve wheel contact with the rails.

you will also want to take the time to lube your locomotive while it is apart....

reassembly is the reverse of disassembly....

I guess I should've ran the engine before I replied on the last one. Just came back up from running it. You know what, it ran! It is still running very noisy though. I just found out that the connector clip on top of the worm gear that goes from truck to truck plays one of the biggest roles in running the train. Even though it works, it is horribly corroded and bent. Does anyone know where I can find a replacement that's the right size? Also, does anyone have any ideas on making it quieter? One more thing, when I put the body shell on and run it, it's louder than it is without the shell. Any suggestions?

[jward]

that rusty contact bar is the weak link in the athearn drive. you can either sand the rust off it, or replace it. i usually soldered a wire from the contact on each truck to the motor clip. if you do this, be sure you remove the motor clip from the motor before soldering to it, and also be very careful when you remove this clip as there is a spring underneath it that likes to fly across the room. lose the spring, and the motor doesn't run until you find it.

[Rangerover]

OP if you need new gears for your Athearn, and it sure sounds like it to me, go here on eBay and scroll down to the bottom of the page, don't bid on them as offered on the top of the page. K4 supply is reliable!

http://toys.search.ebay.com/athearn-gears_HO-Scale_W0QQcatrefZC6QQdfspZ2QQfclZ3QQfposZ26241QQ

[Michigan Railfan]

Thanks for all the quick replies. I really don't need much help anymore, as I got the enginge running. It runs very good for as old as it is. Like I said in a previous post, Athearn said it was discontinued 10 years ago. It goes pretty fast and has great pulling power. Once again, thanks for all the replies!

[jward]

athearn locomotives were about the most reliable in their heyday, the 1970s and early 1980s. all locomotives back then had their issues, but only atlas came close to the overall performance of an athearn. they are simple to work on, durable, and seem to have 9 lives....ernst made a regear kit for them which slowed them down to about 40 scale mph. like i mentioned before, they were the backbone of my fleet at one time, most of the other makes i owned were parked i liked the athearns that much......

i think it says alot that:
1. athearn locomotives are still running after 30 or more years of service.
2. the quality of locomotives to-day is such that older athearns are no longer considered to be among the best.
3. to this day, if you write to athearn they will send you parts diagrams for locomotives that they stopped producing years ago.
4. they still have enough value that other companies still make after market parts for them.
5. the overall design was sound enough that walthers, stewart, lifelike and possibly others produced locomotives on athearn clone drives. the parts from these were interchangeable with athearn....

my dad and i ran the wheels off our respective fleets, and they sure earned their keep. i also worked for a time for a model railroad display and the athearns we had ran for about 10 hours a day 7 days a week when we were set up. we were constantly repairing other makes, while the athearns ruled the road.....