224 Prarie steam engine locked up

[Anonymous]

Took loco in for cleaning, general tune-up to reputable dealer; ran fine for a short while then headlight started blinking off and on and then mostly off; next day drive rod screw (not sure if part name right) came out and disassembled itself, put back together and ran fine a few hours more then locked up, wheels will turn less than one full rotation each way. I have called the shop and they are willing "to look at it", but sounded not too encouraging. any advice.

Harold, Dade City, FL

[ben10ben]

It sounds to me as though you may have a problem with the way the siderods are assembled.

Loosen the screw on one of the center drivers, pick up the black post, and turn it half a turn, making sure that it seats properly(you might have to wiggle or turn it a little bit). Tighten the screw back down, and then try turning the wheels by hand. If this doesn't work, change that side back to how it was, and repeat again on the other side. This should clear up your problems.

[Chris F]

Expanding on Ben's advice, here's a link to service information on the 224:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=44

The black piece is the eccentric crank, which is keyed to fit into a slot in the plain center wheel. Improper installation of the eccentric crank will cause binding of the eccentric rod (BTDT!).

The headlight problem is a separate issue, and is most likely due to corrosion of conducting surfaces. Cleaning with an emery cloth should help here. Sometimes the blob of solder in the middle of the disk of the "wire and washer" assembly isn't making good contact with the center of the lamp. If you're handy with a soldering gun, you can build up the solder.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to both of you ... partial success so far. Using Ben's advice I got the wheels unbound, but it only ran a few laps locked up again and bent the outermost rod outward a bit. Closer inspection (I'm a real rookie at this! I've had this train for about 60 years since I was a young child ... father and uncles always took care of fixing everything.) found that the 90 degree angled connector was bent out to a wider angles and if I held it in slightly the wheels turned freely ... if they bound then a wiggle of this assembly freed it up again. I'm going to go look at the service info that Chris suggested next and see if anything seems apparent to this rookie. I'm not very mechanically inclined (except inside a computer and a database), but am willing to learn as have a lot of my old set left and in rather good shape so need to learn to maintain it all properly. Questions: is it safe to try to straighten these pieces with a needle-nose plier and should both sides of the train have the drive rods in the same position?

This forum, which I joined this morning, is a wealth of information and guidance ... you folks are the best. Thanks for being here to all of you. Now if I can just get this old engine running smoothly by Friday (neighborhood party) you'll make my wife happy too! <g> Chris, what is BTDT? Ya'stumped me on that one!

[Anonymous]

To clarify: the bent pieces are the eccentric rod and the angled piece which connects it to the valve rod. Both on right side.

[1688torpedo]

Hello hhdelk ! Never use needle nose pliers to staighten side rods as they will get even more distorted and marred from the pliers. To do this lay the rods on a flat surface and use finger pressure to straighten them out. Oh and one other thing! The long Black screw that holds the eccentric rod to the Middle Drive wheel may be stripped and comes loose after a little running time. Check this screw and make sure it does not come loose on you again. This may also be part of the problem. Good Luck.

[Chris F]

You can bend the angled piece with pliers, but I would straighten out the eccentric rod with a wooden or rubber mallet on a wood block. However, don't perform this service until you know how to position the eccentric crank correctly or they'll just get bent again.

If you have the drive rod at its lowest point on one side, the drive rod on the other side will be offset by about a quarter turn. This is determined by how the drive wheels are set on their shafts; I think it's called "quartering". Drive wheel removal/reassembly requires special tools and is way beyond my abilities.

I'm not sure if eccentric crank positioning is important as long as the nub on the crank fits in the slot in the center wheel. On the six-wheel steamer I'm looking at as I write this, the right crank is at the 12 o'clock position, while the left crank is at about 4:30.

BTDT - Been There Done That, on the first of two 2056 Hudsons I restored. If you see another acronym that's new to you, try www.acronymfinder.com .

(Edit) Nice call on the potential for a stripped screw by 1688torpedo!

[Anonymous]

Thanks to both of you. Screw appears ok. Will try to straighten as you said, but looks like this may take a repair guy. Offset is about 1/4 and all fits well in slot properly. Suspect something is causing this apparent problem somewhere deeper down. It just seems that whatever I do it only runs a few minutes and same problem crops up again ... assembly on right side seems sort of loosy-goosy compared to left. Not quite aligned same so is pushing at a slight angle. (Sort of like if Microsoft had designed it!) I'll keep at it, but if no progress will return 65 miles to shop tomorrow.

[lionelsoni]

I don't have any information here about that locomotive; but, if it is a typical spur-gear drive with a transverse motor shaft, it is possible that the gears are slipping after a little running and upsetting the quartering.