Finding geared wheels for Atlas powered(Austria)desiels

[pita48]

Does anyone know where you can get geared wheels for old Atlas(yellow box) desiels. Are Athearn or P2K wheels a good substitute. Was running some of the ones that I have,(closet queens) for years and some of sounded like they have a cracked gear. Was thinking about just cleaning and relubing them?

 

[Tinplate Toddler]

Cleaning and lubing them is the first option. If the gears are not cracked, there is no need to replace them. Old Atlas engines were made by Roco in Austria, but I doubt they still stock spare parts.

[mlehman]

The standard fix for this is to take apart the wheelset and install a new plastic gear in the center. You want Athearn Part #60024 or its equivalent for the P2K ones, not absolutely sure about the Atlas ones.. The description says Loco Drive Axle Gear SD 40-2, but it the one that works for the P2K gears.

[mbinsewi]

The Atlas axle gear has 10 teeth, the Athearn has 13.  Not a match, plus the Atlas gear is not the same size as the Athearn.  I doubt the newer Atlas/Kato axles will work either.

I have my doubts that it is a cracked gear.  This wasn't a thing with Atlas/Roco locos.  I have a few, and have not run into that yet. 

Symptoms of a cracked gear include a slight hop, along with a slight clunck sound, along with jerky movement.

Since these have been "closet queens", start with a cleaning of the gear towers, and fresh lub., and while you have it apart, chech the axle gears by trying to turn the wheels on each side.  If one side turns fairly easy, and the other doesn't, it's probably a cracked gear.

The Atlas axles on the Yellow Box were usually red.  You might be able to see if they are cracked, with a magnifying glass.

If you need to replace something, keep a watch on Ebay for Atlas parts.  You might have to buy a complete truck assembly.

Mike.

PS.  Here's a listing on Ebay I just found.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Atlas-Roco-Geared-Power-Truck-Parts-Lot/223914464095?hash=item342257935f:g:Fm4AAOSwKS9eSZkS

And another.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Roco-Atlas-HO-part-113459-113460-Blomberg-Type-Complete-Trucks-GP38-GP40/372933919245?hash=item56d498020d:g:rYsAAOSwxW9eMZG5:sc:USPSFirstClass!53120!US!-1

Once in Ebay HO scale, i searched for Atlas HO parts.

[mlehman]

mbinsewi

The Atlas axle gear has 10 teeth, the Athearn has 13. Not a match, plus the Atlas gear is not the same size as the Athearn.

Mike,

Thanks for clearing that up.

[mbinsewi]

I have quite a few of the Atlas YB locos, so I just HAD to go check, and count. 

As I mentioned, I've never had a cracked gear issue.

Mike.

[Wolf359]

I have an Atlas yellow box EMD SD24, and I've never had any problems with cracked gears either. It sounds to me like they have old, gummed up grease that needs to be cleaned out. What make and model of diesel do your models represent? We'd be happy to offer tips for servicing them if you need it.

[pita48]

Thanks

[pita48]

Thanks great help

[mvlandsw]

   I had never seen a cracked gear on the Atlas Roco diesels until last week. In an SD35 I found two gears cracked across the entire gear and another one with a crack starting on one end.

I repaired them by putting a piece of brass tubing on both sides of the gear. The Atlas part number for a geared wheelset is 700148. The website says call for availability.

Mark Vinski

[mbinsewi]

Interesting Mark, I didn't find that on the Atlas site.  I guess I missed it.

Do you have a link?

I'd be interested as well.

Mike.

[BigDaddy]

Mark's no is for the SD24 and SD35

http://download.atlasrr.com/pdf/HO%20SD24%20&%20SD35%20TRUCK%20A.pdf

[mbinsewi]

Thanks Henry, I've seen that.  I understood Mark as to say he found the part on the Atlas web site.

I haven't noticed any difference between the SD and the GP Atlas axles, as I have both.  Like Athearn's axles will fit SD's and GP's,  they are interchangable.

Thanks,

Mike.

[trwroute]

I have a Walthers / Roco H10-44 that had a cracked axle gear.  NWSL makes replacement axles with gears and wheels, but the cost is close to $50 for four.  I found a new set on eBay for $24 a few years ago.  These same axles fit the Atlas / Roco locomotives. 

The cracked gear was a red one.

NWSL is the only company that I'm aware of that offers what you need.

[Spalato68]

Pita48,

 

If gears in your locomotive are really cracked, can you provide info on cracked gears as follows: teeth number, info if teeth are inclined or straight and hole/bore diameter (axle diameter (in milimeters if possible))? I can try to identify Roco locomotive that uses the same gears. Then, I can try to look if this gear is available thru spare part lists of different Roco locomotives. I have many Roco locomotives, and during decades, Roco used many different gears, so maybe some of them fit to your locomotive.

 

Most Roco gears have module 0,4 (I think, in the US you call it a „pitch“). In older locomotives, all gears were inclined, now Roco uses also straight.

 

In some cases, on spare part list for two different locomotives, the same gear has different spare part number. That is because Roco during time changed item numbers. Also, on Roco web page, for some locomotive one gear can be declared as not available, but is available for other locomotive. So, in some case a little extra effort is required.

 

Below are two photos of some of gears I have, all of them can be provided by web stores in Europe, like this one: APC.

 

If I will be unable to identify appropriate gear, you can try to write to APC, together with good picture(s) of cracked gear (pulled from the axle), with above mentioned data – maybe they can identify gear for you.

 

In most cases gears cost just few Euros per piece. When the exact item number of gear is identified, the price can be seen (and gear availability) on Roco web page. 

Spare parts (like gears) can be also ordered from Roco directly, but I think this is more expensive.

 

Just one note: in just one out of more than 50 Roco locomotives, I experienced cracked gear. Roco used always high quality plastic, so cracked gears were almost not a possibility. On this particular locomotive gear cracked because the design was poor – gear was simply too thin.

 

Hrvoje

[mbinsewi]

They is great information!  Do they have complete axle sets as well? 

Mike.

[mvlandsw]

Here's a link to the Atlas parts diagram page. You can find it in the "information" drop down box.

https://shop.atlasrr.com/t-partsdiagrams.aspx

 

Mark

[Spalato68]

Mike,

I do not know. I am afraid that parts for Atlas locomotives (manufacured by Roco) are not in the inventory under Atlas locomotives. But there is a chance that gears that were used for these locomotives were used for some other Roco locomotives of European prototype. In many cases it is still possible to find gears that were used for locomotives manufactured in 1980's.

For example, I bought Roco steam locomotive DB BR 01 in 1981. Many parts for that locomotive are still available. In 1981, this locomotive had item number 4119B, then was renumbered to 43243. If you type "4119" into link I provided above, you can see which parts are still available, and also you can see a list of part diagrams (PDF). For my locomotive, this is the one. 

Therefore my proposal above. Provide exact info on gear in question, maybe it can be compared with gear in another locomotive. 

Hrvoje

[mbinsewi]

Thank you Hrvoje!  

One thing that Mark's link to the parts diagrams confirms, is the GP's and SD's used the same axle.  #700148.

We are not sure just what loco the OP has, he didn't mention.  I'm guessing it's a GP38, 40, etc., or an SD24 or 35?  Well have to see if he tells us.

I would think it would be worth a call, but, I also watch Ebay for this stuff, as well.  So far, I've done OK, but I've never had to look for axles.

Hopefully he can confirm if it's a cracked gear, or other problems.

Mike.

[Spalato68]

I get it - it is good to know that at least two different locomotives use the same gear. But, for comparison, Atlas part number cannot help. Therefore to compare with Roco gears, all data I listed is required. And a nice photo too, of course...

Hrvoje