I got one of 5e roundhouse boxcabs. In kit form. Still unassembled. What is a good motor to replace the stock one? Coreless perhaps? I would be wiring it for dcc and esu loksound v5 would be used. Any other recommendations for improvements?
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
NVSRRI got one of 5e roundhouse boxcabs. In kit form. Still unassembled. Any other recommendations for improvements?
The stock Roundhouse gearing is quite noisy, and the stock flywheel is unbalanced, adding to the noise. The flywheel needs balancing, replacement, or elimination. Replacing the first set of spur gears and fixing the flywheel will help the noise problem considerably. If you can get a decently low RPM motor, a belt drive reduction instead of spur gears along with decent bearings should make a pretty decent running model.
If you choose the Climax (uses the same chassis), cutting down the body will make the model less bulky and more realistic.
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon in HO and HOn3, where it's always 1900....
Hello All,
I have several of these: two (2) powered and one (1) dummy.
One (1) of the powered units and the dummy are fitted with the optional track-cleaning pistons.
The two (2) powered units are DCC with their original motors.
Both run EXTREMELY slow!
The culprit on these units is the gearing- -not the motors.
Years back, an article published on the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) members-only website described Removing & Replacing (R&R) the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) motor and gearing with Stanton drives; trucks with self-contained motors and upgrading to DCC.
I hardwired the non-sound DCC decoders; Digitrax DH126 series, keeping the OEM gearing.
The single Alnico magnets in the OEM motors were replaced with stacks of "Super Magnets" from Micro-Mark.
One challenge was replacing the degraded rubber tubing between the motor and flywheel. I did find a source but they are now out of business.
Tubing used for RC airplane fuel lines might be a viable substitute.
Upgrading the motors to "Super Magnets" didn't make them run faster, but rather more reliably with DCC.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Yes, the drive is noisy, the flywheel is crude, the trucks are bulky... But the model is unique in non-brass. I removed the frame and dropped in a frame+mechanism from a donor engine, a Bachmann 45 tonner. A bit of dremel work is required to make it fit. Choose the later single-engine model of the 45 tonner if you want to go forward with this. I have no credit, it's been done by others before me. The model runs fairly well - better than the original anyway.
IMG_20230526_195756 on Flickr
Simon
Mine rides on an Athearn SW-7 chassis. It is a little longer than the original, but that just gives you end platforms and steps.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
It is worth noting that a boxcab similar to the Roundhouse model was still in everyday revenue service into the 1970s in Milwaukee, at the Grand Trunk Railroad's carferry dock. It was a 1927 Brill if memory serves and had its own little enginehouse. This was such a remote outpost for the Grand Trunk that I suspect nobody at HQ had a clear notion of it being there. I am not aware that it was preserved. A carferry dock with accompanying yard would actually be the basis for a pretty neat little layout in a compact space. The interchange with the outside world in Milwaukee would have been the Milwaukee Road's line to the Jones Island industrial area, recently the subject of Model Railroader's articles and projects on the MR&T.
Dave Nelson
dknelsonIt is worth noting that a boxcab similar to the Roundhouse model was still in everyday revenue service into the 1970s in Milwaukee, at the Grand Trunk Railroad's carferry dock.
That is good to know.
Mine is still running in imaginary 1954, and will even have its own little enginehouse, the Fine Scale Miniatures Logging Repair Shed.