Does anyone know where I can get a replacement rear truck for an old Blue box Athern SW1500. Athern lists the part (39022) as discontinued. Any new trucks fit this engine?
There are some on Ebay. Once your in HO scale, search for Athearn SW1500.
Other 2 axle trucks may work, you'd need to get the correct sideframes.
Mike.
PS. Actually, after looking around, I'm sure any Athearn 2 axle truck will work. Trucks from GP and F's have Blomberg side frames, so you'd have to find the right side frames, can also be bought off Ebay.
My You Tube
Any train shows near you? I needed sideframes for a F7 and for half the price of new, I found a F7 at Timonium.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
mbinsewiThere are some on Ebay. Once your in HO scale, search for Athearn SW1500.
I wonder if the O.P.'s loco is the actual SW1500, or the old mis-named SW7.
The loco shown below was the latter (I modified the hood to make it look more like an NW2), with cast metal sideframes, as shown...
The locos shown below were the same, also with cast metal sideframes, which I later removed, replacing them with cast metal Flexicoil sideframes from Juneco. When I decided to remotor all four of them, I replaced the original trucks with Athearn's more recent version, along with Athearn's Flexicoil sideframes in plastic...
While the detail is crisper than the Juneco's, the locos were lighter, and thus didn't pull as well. I added more weight in the body shells to get them back to their former abilities.
Wayne
I believe this is the same loco he had decoder problems with, in another thread. In that thread the OP also calls this a SW1500, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Evidently, the slow speed performance that he had problems with in the thread about the decoder, he has narrowed down to the rear truck.
I'm interested as to what is wrong with the excisting truck.
Yes it is the same loco that I thought had decoder problems. I believe I have narrowed it down to the rear truck where one of the wheels is not moving when under power. It is an SW1500 according to original Athern box that I still have. I plan to fully open the truck and see if there is a stripped gear or something else causing a problem.
It could be a cracked gear on the axle. There are some Athearns that developed this. I had a couple of SD45's that had the cracked gear problem.
You can take the bottom cover off the truck while it is attached to the frame. Once the bottom cover is off, the axles will come right out. There is a gear in the middle of each axle, check those very closely, and see if you can turn the little gear by hand, if you can, it's cracked.
You can replace just the gear, or you can get replacement axles, complete with the gear and brass blocks. Your choice.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I redo an Athearn, I replace the axles with the newer NS (nickel silver) wheels.
The trucks from the new RTR sw1500 line will fit the blue box, just need to buy the ones with same sideframes as yours.