My first locomotive!! No instructions.

[Anonymous]

UPS finally delivered a Crest Elite Power Supply and my very first locomotive at 6:40 this evening. I thought it would NEVER come but it's worth the wait - a Warbonnet GP38-2. It's beautiful!! It's huge!! It has lots of pieces in plastic bags and no instructions!! ... What??

OK, no problem. USAT must have put the user manual on-line like Aristo does, right? Wrong. I can't find it anywhere. If this wasn't my first loco I might have the necessary experience in the care and feeding of a new locomotive but I don't know whether it needs lubing before it goes on the tracks, where to lube it if it does need it, how to break it in, etc. And where do all those pieces go? Or do I just put it on the tracks and let 'er rip?

Are USAT manuals on-line somewhere? Should I contact USAT directly to get a manual? How do I figure out where all the pieces go and how to welcome this beauty into a long and wonderful relationship? I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some guidance.

I now have all the components to run a railroad since I chose to forgo a starter set in favor of components that I'll keep using in the future. My benchwork isn't done yet but I want to see this baby running on the garage floor by tomorrow evening. I just have to get past this one hurdle.

Thanks.

Dan

[kimbrit]

Hi Dan,
Good choice mate, mine runs like a dream. My scanner isn't working so I've taken 6 pics, 2 per page, hope you can make them out. If you are using smoke you must put the metal exhausts in. Enjoy!
Kim

[piercedan]

This link will give you a good copy of the GP38 parts list

http://www.usatrains.com/r22200parts.html

[Anonymous]

Thanks, guys. I knew I could count on the members of the forum to come through.

Kim, the photos were a stroke of genius. I saved them individually and then used Adobe Photoshop to enlarge them so that they are easily readable. I printed off the assembly diagram in ful page mode and, voila, it's Christmas morning again!.

Thanks again.

Dan

[Anonymous]

This why I love the forums, People helping people[:)]

[kimbrit]

Exactly Matt, this is what it's all about. Happy Christmas Dan!![:)]

[Anonymous]

Dan,
Keep and eye our for wobbly wheels. USAT had prolems with axle housing splitting when it ented the gear box and allowed the wheels to wobble. I think they have fixed it in new production loco's but a lot of the old versions are still sitting as "new" on the shelf in some stores and they can have that problem. I bought a "new" GP38-2 loco and it had that problem. However, I contacted USAT and sent them a copy of my receipt along with the bad axels and they sent me replacements. I pulled the axles out myself rather than try to ship the whole loco in. You should be OK but should be alert in case you get some old "new" stock.
Welcome to the world of large scale! You will love it. Will keep any rust from collecting on your credit card[^]
Paul D