Clementine 0-4-0 tank engine

[Mike]

I have an old Bachman large scale tank engine that came in the Clementine mining set. It appears that the rear axle has broken. The rear drivers are free of each other. Service says no parts available. Does anyone out there have a similar engine with a stripped drive gear or a burned up motor?  I trying to piece it back together. It was always a good runner and the kids miss it. Thanks

[Joe Zullo]

Mike,
That is a VERY common problem with the old 1:22.5 scale Porters. The joint between the rear wheels is a 2mm square tenon the slides into a square socket on the opposing axle half. Being made of pot metal it always breaks. Unfortunately there are no parts available anywhere. I have had several of these locos in the past break like this. I used to be able to get the parts from Barry Olson (Barry's Big Trains) but he ran out and built one of his famous drives for me. Now even Barry is no longer in business due to health problems. My best advice is put this Porter out to pasture and get one of the newer 1:20.3 Porters. It's a little bigger but a lot improved!

[Mike]

Joe thanks for the reply. I had a front axle break on another one, but this is the first for the rear axle I see the 2 mm square hole in the drive gear,  but the axles to the wheels appear to be round are you saying the axle is square? If it is one continuous square rod, how is it insulated between wheels. Is the center of the wheel plastic? If so, could I just use a square shaft replacement?

[Joe Zullo]

Mike,
Only the tenon is square. It fits into a plastic/nylon cup in the square hole in the other axle half. That insulates the axles. The gear does have a square hole larger than the tenon that fits onto a corresponding square surface on the axle half with the 2mm tenon. It's a lousy weak system. I don't know what they were thinking!
The real early Porters used an entirely different axle arrangement, equally bad. they had a solid axle that was pressed into plastic wheel centers. It did that just fine but the wheels would get loose in the wheel center and fall off. Again another bad design. Hope this helps you decide to retire the old Porter and get a newer one in 1:20.3 scale. I have and converted to battery/RC. It's a solid design. Finally!

[Mike]

Joe- Thanks for the info about the design. I pulled apart the old axle joint, grooved the smaller insert, and reattached the pieces with epoxy. The engine runs just fine now. In my experience even the old style mechanism is quite heavy duty. I have had a toddler actually hop onto the engine for a short ride. (That's how the front axle was eventually broken. It was much easier to repair!). Happily railroading , again....