Some old Locomotives and Stock

[BestSnowman]

My dad recenlty found some of the locomotives and rolling stock that I played with as a kid (and some where my dad's before that).

The rolling stock only needs minor work and new couplers and should prove to be a fun task to keep me busy for a while.

There are a couple of locomotives that should prove to be a bit more tricky. If I had bought these at a garage sale or something I'd probably have moved on and not put a whole lot of effort into but these have quite a bit of sentimental value. If I can get them working my son will be a third generation operator of these locomotives.

None of them work, I think at least one (of three) the light turns on but doesn't move. We put it on the DC "Thomas" track and while the light would turn on it wouldn't move. While it was on the track Thomas wouldn't move either.

Does anyone have any ideas on what might be the trouble? Theoretically they all ran when boxed up 15+ years ago and I know I'll need to clean them up a lot but that one kind of stumped me.

[Jim Banner]

Often the copper on the commutators in the motors oxidizes after a long time in storage.  Short of taking the motor to pieces, here is a trick that often works: 
Remove the shell. 
Use a couple of jumper wires to connect from the rails directly to the motor.
Apply power.
Start the motor by hand (usually by spinning the shaft.)
Let it run for a few minutes.  This will often clean the copper enough to let it run.

Let us know how you make out.  There are other, more drastic solutions, but try this one first.

Jim

[BestSnowman]

I would have never thought of that. I wouldn't be able to get try it out till next week as I'll be at my parents all weekend.

[BestSnowman]

I had some time to pop off the shells off two of them and made a little progress.

The first one is a an EMD SD (not sure which model, it definitely has the EMD look and is a 6 axel). It has the motor in the middle with flywheels on either side and the goes to the trucks from there. My first observation was that it was very difficult to turn the flywheels by hand. I spun them by hand for a while and they started moving more freely. Now if I run full power on a small DC track with the cover off the flywheels will start turning slowly when they get a good pickup.

The pickup is by some ribbon metal of some sort that is fairly corroded and rusty. I'm going to try replacing the ribbon with some insulated wiring when I get a chance as the current setup is definitely causing pickup problems.

The second locomotive appears to be a NW2 switcher and was made in Yugoslovia. It has pickup on two axels and drive on the other two axels. It appears the problem is the pickup (when I can get pickup the motor takes off). I'll have to wait until I can get them home and clean up the pickups. I will be sure to post any updates.

[BestSnowman]

Got them home and both running under their own power (mostly) and I've run into something that concerns me on the the SD (still haven't figured out exact model or manufacturer). While running it throws sparks from the wheels. It has reduced from when I first got it running but still throws the occasional spark. Does anyone know why it would be throwing sparks?

[rogertra]

Got them home and both running under their own power (mostly) and I've run into something that concerns me on the the SD (still haven't figured out exact model or manufacturer). While running it throws sparks from the wheels. It has reduced from when I first got it running but still throws the occasional spark. Does anyone know why it would be throwing sparks?

Wheels are dirty.

You say the loco has a metal strip, that's rusty, that connects the motor to both trucks?   Sounds like an Athearn.   Cruise the Athearn website and see if you recognise your model.

[jward]

i don't know about the other locomotive, but the athearn's pickup can be drastically improved if you have the desire to do so.

the wheels and the metal contact bar are the weak spots. the metal wheels are half axles of sintered metal which tend to pick up dirt. they press fit into the axle gears. you can buy replacement half axles from nwsl that are nickle silver. i'd highly recommend replacing the original wheels. do this step first.

as for eliminating the contact bar, this is easy. you need to file or sand the rust away from the contact strips that rise above the gear towers on the tricks, and solder a flexible wire to each of these. solder the other end of those wires to the copper strip on top of the motor. you'll see the clip when you remove the metal contact strip. to be safe, carefully remove this copper strip from the top of the motor before you solder to it. underneath the strip is a motor brush spring that will fly across the room if you are not careful. once you solder the wires back on, put the copper clip back on the motor and see if things don't work a whole lot better.

these locomotives are also candidates for dcc conversion, but it's a complicated process which is better illustrated than described.

[RAM]

I don't know if the athearn locomotive is old enough to have metal side frames.  If they are plastic than the replacement wheels will work.

[jward]

there are two styles of half axles available. one will work with the metal sideframes.

[BestSnowman]

I figured out what the road engine is, its an Athearn EMD SDP40 (which is interesting as CNW never ran SDP40s and #936 was a GE U30). After I figured this out I found a marking on the inside of the shell that said SDP40, but it was rather crude. Almost as if it was carved by hand into the mold.

I got the metal strip removed and replaced with a wire and it runs a little bit better (and no longer sparks) but its not great yet. I'm planning on replacing the wheels later this year when the budget is a little more "friendly" so it will give me time to shop for wheels, couplers, and decoders (for both engines).


The second engine I made some great progress on, but I still haven't figured out what the model is. It appears AHM made a CNW 476 but haven't found any pictures to confirm. It looks familiar to a EMD NW2 but I'm not sure (blurry cam picture here: http://cid-811d1df10b2b3e61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Train/IMG%7C_1104.jpg). All I know is it was made in Yugoslovia.

I have it running pretty well, it turns out the problem was fuzzies wound around the axels between the wheels and pickups. Since there was only pickups on two axels the right rail was at most getting picked up on one wheel (sometimes none) which was why it always stopped while going through my turnouts. I removed the fuzz and added pickups to the other two axels. Now its ready for couplers, decoder, and some detail repairs!

[jward]

that little switcher is an sw1 marketed by ahm. it will probably never be a good runner.

as for the athearn sdp40, that is going to require alot more surgery to install a decoder. the motor needs to be isolated from the frame for one. it is not that difficult of an install, but difficult to describe without photos.

from experience, DO NOT attempt a conversion until you have changed out the wheelsets. also, does the motor have a brassy colour, and flat sides? or is it more of an oval shape. the oval motors draw way more current than the flat ones, and if that is what you have you'd probably be better off using a 2.5-3 amp decoder.

[BestSnowman]

The SW1 is running as well as I might expect something that i played with as a kid and was made in yugoslovia. It definitely runs great in comparison to when I started with it.

The SDP40 needs some other work before I get to a decoder anyway, I was going to ask (but forgot) how to get the motor off as the frame is badly in need of cleaning and repainting.

The motor is a dark gray and looks rather ovalish but also has flat sides. I'll take some pictures tomorrow when I have better light.

[pdlethbridge]

There should be 2 rubberized pieces holding the motor in place . I usually start by removing the caps off the top of the truck that holds the worm gear then I gently pull up and rock the motor side to side to remove it.
  If you look at the bottom of the frame where the motor sites you should see the rubberized pieces sticking out. just push these if the motor won't come out the other way.
When the motor is out, you'll notice 2 brass clips. These hold the motor together and also hold the brush springs in place. Remove them carefully to keep the springs from going into orbit. The bottom clip has 2 pieces that touch the frame. you can either cut them off or switch it with the top one as that ones is smooth. When you put a decoder in, the gray and orange wires will attach to these pieces. I always put electrical tape under the motor to always prevent shorts. just don't block the holes where the rubberized pieces go. This should make the motor totally isolated. You have all ready removed the long piece of metal that clips to the motor and touches the wheel assembly, leave it off. The decoders red wire would attach to those pieces on the wheel assembly. The black wire goes to the frame, I usually drill and tap for a 2-56 screw and attach the black wire there. I use model power grain of rice 12-16 volt bulbs for lighting, The front light is the white wire and the rear is the yellow wire and the blue wire is common to both.

[BestSnowman]

I got the motor off, the frame repainted, and cleaned up the old wheels . It runs great now so all I have to do is buy new wheels and a decoder.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out!

[pdlethbridge]

If you need new wheels or trucks, bodies, worm gears, this is a great place to find what you need in Athearn. Great supply and prices
https://www.modelrailcraft.com/SearchResults.asp