Gene, why do you say not to mix around the radii from how you put it? Will there be a sure derailment?

Well, now I have a question. I read on another topic that you could'nt just drop in a Bachmann E-Z mate coupler into the same coupler box as the Horn Hook couplers. I have many cars and loco's with Horn Hook couplers, and I want to replace them. Anyone know anything about this, and what type of coupler I should use?

Heres a link to one of my questions about DCC track and DC operation, just incase it would help.http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8579.0.html

Umm, I don't mean to sound rude, but he'll post pictures when he gets them. Just check the photo gallery every time you come on, and maybe one day it'll be there.

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!

Quote from: jward on March 23, 2009, 07:16:29 PM
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?

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.

Quote from: jward on March 23, 2009, 06:20:27 AM
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!

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.

Don't forget the food!

Well, I had the same problem as you with my first steam, but mine was in a set. It was a very nice set, the Overland Limited set. After a while of running, it just stopped. I (over) oiled it, but it still would'nt work. After a while, I figured out the problem. The third set of driving wheels from the front was stuck. I jiggled them, and after that it worked fine. Although I still have to do that every now and then. Try that, and if it does'nt work, I have no clue.

Well, I don't have an aswer to your first question, but I and many other people spell it gauge.

Quote from: C855B on March 16, 2009, 11:36:34 AM

The only "mistake" that Athearn made is not offering the Challenger in a soundless version. That adds roughly $100 to the sale price due to multiple technology licensing issues. Maybe your tack here should be to prevail on Athearn for exactly that - no sound, knock a Ben Franklin off the price.

Again - you want a Challenger, buy the Athearn. Let Bachmann add to the variety by offering other prototypes.

I have to agree with you on that one. Also in HO, many companys don't sell models with sound without sound. That's holding me back from buying many models.

Quote from: James in FL on March 14, 2009, 08:02:02 PM
Something appears to be amiss with the drawbar.

Have you modified it?
Perhaps it's broken off short?
Did you shorten it for more realistic close coupling?

It may well be my old tired eyes seeing something that isn't.

Just because the drawbar seems short, does'nt mean that he shortened it himself. There could've been part of the drawbar on the locomotive. Actually, you can almost completely tell that there was a drawbar on the loco. There would have to be a drawbar on it because there's a hook on the tender going down, so it would hook into a something else.

Quote from: PICKTRAIN on March 08, 2009, 03:11:53 PM

Quote from: 1218classa on February 05, 2009, 07:13:25 PM
     How about some C&O Steam like an Allegheny 2-6-6-6 or Greenbrier?

I think an Allegheny would be awesome. I went to the Henry Ford Museum not too long ago (I live in Michigan), and they have an actual Allegheny there, and right now, the drive wheels are still bigger than me! After all, I'm only 5 feet tall, and I'm only 12 years old.

So, if they're technically high priced manual switches for analog layouts, do you think you could make some of those track sections for analog too? I mean the ones you only made for DCC.