1950's Athearn..

[Anonymous]

Someone offered me a 1950's Athearn Loco and a set of passenger cars. It's not modeled after the 50's, it actually is from the 50's. It is supposedly in operating condition. Will I have a problem running it on my current layout. I'm not running DCC or anything fancy yet. has the power supply or anything like that changed since the 50's?

thanks for any help...
James

[Anonymous]

As long as the locomotive is in operating condition, it should work fine with your layout since you dont have DCC. The biggest concern i can think of is couplers, which may or may not be compatable with what you are using. The locomotive probably has Athearn's early rubber band drive, so make sure the rubber bands are intact, as they work like drive belts.

Josh
Spokane, WA

[Anonymous]

Thanks Josh!
I'll let you know how I make out. I'll check the rubber bands too!

james

[Anonymous]

James,
I have about a dozen of the old Hi-F belt drive Athearn locos. Seems every time I want to run them I have to replace the belts. I have found that some of the motors get weak due to weak magnets.
A newer gear drive chassis can be installed with a little modification to the coupler hole in the pilot.