Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
40 years ago, when the line was still operated by the D&RGW, I rode the train from Durango to Silverton - the beginning of an everlasting love to 3 ft. narrow gauge trains. Upon my return to Germany, I ordered a WMC T-12, but what a disappointment when it finally arrived! It was nicely detailed, when compared to my standard fare of Marklin locos of those days, but the performance was, to say the best, lousy. It hardly pulled its weight and had a bad hitch in its git-along. I painted it, lettered it - and put it back in its box, where it remained, almost forgotten, for nearly 40 years. Not long ago, I found it in a moving box in my attic. I expected the worst, but it looked still quite OK. It wouldn´t move an inch, so I disassembled it, cleaned it thoroughly and gave it another test run. Now it ran, but still somewhat erratic, so I disassembled it again, checked the brushes on the motor, cleaned the wheels on and the truck bolsters on the tender, reamed all bearings, took off the side rods and the valve gear, de-burred the borings and polished the backside of the side rods and the valve gear. I re-assembled the loco, touched up the paint job and gave it another test run. The result was just amazing! This is not the loco I bought 40 years ago! Now it runs nearly like a Swiss watch, the noise it previously made is gone, the pulling power has improved by the square, and it creeps along at a minimum speed of less than 1 smph. It still has the old open frame Pittman motor and the original, rather troublesome gear box. The motor draws quite a few amps, but I will keep it until I decide to convert it to DCC. As it is a nice performer now, I may leave it the way it is. The loco will need some more work. The drivers are not quartered 100% perfect, but that´s noticeable only at unprototypical high speeds in excess of 60 smph. I have to check the gauge on all wheels, providing I can find a source selling an NMRA HON3 gauge here in Germany. I need to install a LED and a lens in the headlight, install a front coupler and, finally, renumber the loco, as I had picked a wrong number when lettering it. Little did I know then, but such information was hard to get in the days before the Internet! This is my one and only brass loco I have and, despite all the effort which had to go into teaching it to run properly, it is a gem. I can´t explain why, but I am really attached to it and running it is much more fun than running one of those modern, highly detailed, sleek performers, equipped with all bells and whistles modern electronics offer. Now I am looking for an affordable brass C-16 or C-18!
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community