It got me thinking, I still have a couple old RDC's that have that drive. Athearn did stock them for the longest time!
I feel another project looming. Good luck TXSilverEagle!
Mike.
My You Tube
TXSilverEagle Here we are in 2018. I have been working on a pair of these Athearn Hi-F rubber band drives that I picked up somewhere. They appear to be in pretty good shape, other than missing rubber bands. Athearn now lists the bands as "Out of stock," and "Discontinued." What can I use instead?
Here we are in 2018. I have been working on a pair of these Athearn Hi-F rubber band drives that I picked up somewhere. They appear to be in pretty good shape, other than missing rubber bands. Athearn now lists the bands as "Out of stock," and "Discontinued."
What can I use instead?
These........:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Athearn-ATH90101-HO-Drive-Belt-Rubber-Band-24/1900623055?iid=332534155783&opts=opick
I did it too....Mike......but the Op's new and needed help....
Take Care!
Frank
Wow, really, it has been "bumped" again.
So, welcome SilverEagle. Check on Ebay. There's a whole bunch. Click on Model trains, then HO scale, then Athearn, and in the search box at the top, type in rubber bands.
Yep, I just responded to this!
Wow, a post up from the grave a second time. Originally posted in 2009, came back in 2011, and now 2014. Perhaps we should put some more tidbits in as a time capsule when it comes up again in 2016.
For the record I actually now have a fleet of rubber band drives. I believe I have collected at least one of each variation mentioned in this thread.
In addition, my children used such drives for the great locomotive race hosted by Youth in Model railroading fun day. I discovered it was very easy to teach them about the algebra of gear ratios speed vs power when we could simply use the diameters of the drive shaft and wheel axles as the "gears". The epitomy of the evolution was a unit where a ball bearing was installed on the top of the drive shaft towers. The drive shaft itself was tapered so that the gear ratio changed as the rubber band shifted on the shaft.
Finally I discovered that O-rings from the pluming department of the hardware store proved to be more durable than the rubberbands obtained from other sources.
I have seen discussions of this before- I believe someone mentioned that the small vinyl hair bands that are available at WalMart in the beauty aisles or where the hair brushes and hair ties are in the health aisles (man up, guys!) are an excellent modern substitute for the old rubber bands.
Someone check me on this info, but I recall seeing it on one or another discussion boards within the past year.
Cedarwoodron
Ibflattop I recently got an old Athearn Hustler from a friend and I am totaly rebuilding the drive from rubberbands to gears. I found out that the Athearn 4 truck gear sets will fit into the Hustler with no problems. So out with the rubberbands and in with a new NWSL small can motor, gears from Athearn, a Digitrax Decoder and Leds for the headlights and a yellow becon. Was thinking about putting a sound decoder in to it later like West Port Terminal did for his small switcher that he did. Just trying to find an engine sound that would fit an Hustler type engine. Any Ideas? Kevin
I recently got an old Athearn Hustler from a friend and I am totaly rebuilding the drive from rubberbands to gears. I found out that the Athearn 4 truck gear sets will fit into the Hustler with no problems. So out with the rubberbands and in with a new NWSL small can motor, gears from Athearn, a Digitrax Decoder and Leds for the headlights and a yellow becon. Was thinking about putting a sound decoder in to it later like West Port Terminal did for his small switcher that he did. Just trying to find an engine sound that would fit an Hustler type engine. Any Ideas? Kevin
I would like to see how your conversion turns out. Keep us posted on it. I have a couple of Hustlers with the Lionel gear drive and one that has been converted with a can motor and gears (I added a DCC decoder) but they aren't very reliable. May start liquidating my fleet.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
rrinker Always with the negative waves, Moriarity!
Always with the negative waves, Moriarity!
Arf arf arf arf arf! That's my other dog imitation.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Mark R.Wow - this thread is four and a half years old !
A really slow DSL connection?
Yeah, Mark, but it's like watching a rerun of The Twilight Zone on TV.
Take a walk down memory lane, not only for the discussion of these old models, but also to look at the cast of characters. Why, Jeffrey doesn't look a day older today than he did back then....
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Wow - this thread is four and a half years old ! I would hope the OP has it figured out by now.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Disassembly of the trucks is necessary to slip the rubber band over each wheel axle. Doubling up may assist transferring torque but your best bet is to clean all parts that come in contact with the rubberbands to prevent slippoage. While this drive was quiet and somewhat smooth, it lacked strength and durability. I substitute old Athearn-Globe drives that use all metal components with screwdriver assembly. In place of the ancient open frame motor, I substitute a precision can motor with flywheel setting on a section of 3/4" Plastruct channel held to the frame with silicone sealant. One universal dogbone may have to be adjusted to match the new length or you coulkd try some of Athearns new dogbone universals that are available in different lengths. If you have 2 units and they are F-7 cab units, you can run Miniatroinics mini 2-pin connectors through the rear porthole windows and wire them to operate the motors tied electrically together thereby doubling up on the number of wheels conducting electricity. I do this and have no stalling issues.
Frisco1521what is the point of rubber band drives when you could have a regular drive shaft
Frisco1521 what is the point of rubber band drives when you could have a regular drive shaft
what is the point of rubber band drives when you could have a regular drive shaft
Back when they were making these, Athearn produced both gear-drive and belt-drive models of F7s and GP9s. I had both models of each engine. As I recall, the gear-drive engines cost more and were really noisy. I suspect that Athearn was really trying to produce models that teenagers on small allowances could afford.
Those gear-drive engines, by the way, have been retired and sit in boxes under my layout. They just don't run anymore, and the effort to rebuild them isn't worth it, considering how well today's models run and look. The belt-drives, however, were very easy to convert to dummy engines, and make excellent shells for adding a sound-only decoder.
As I remember, gum bands on the Athearn drives, broke on a regular basis. Gum band replacements were much easier to find once you got your teeth braces.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
It looks like the kit for the RDC is still available through Walthers, but the one for the Hustler has been discontinued. I don't know if Ernst is still in production.
7j43k modelmaker51: There are re-gearing kits available from Earnst Gearing to convert the old rubber band drives, I'd sure like to see one. Ed
modelmaker51: There are re-gearing kits available from Earnst Gearing to convert the old rubber band drives,
There are re-gearing kits available from Earnst Gearing to convert the old rubber band drives,
I'd sure like to see one.
Ed
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
modelmaker51 There are re-gearing kits available from Earnst Gearing to convert the old rubber band drives,
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
SteamFreak Mike, that B unit has an aftermarket motor with reduction gearing to give it more realistic performance, but I don't know who made the kit.
Mike, that B unit has an aftermarket motor with reduction gearing to give it more realistic performance, but I don't know who made the kit.
The reduction drive was made by Pittman. I had one back in about 1961. They actually did a decent job of taming the Hi-F units down to where they were useable. They hauled well and were not too much noisier than the original drive setup. You did have to add a bit of weight to the frame or the roof of the unit...
---
Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
===================================
"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
That's a good haul for the cars. What are you going to do with the locos?
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I have all those that Jeffrey shows the pictures of so I think it must be the Kemtron upgrade if you want to call it that I got 2 a units and the b unit in the box all the same moters in them just had never seen this one in the last 50 yrs of being in this there were two nos tyco engines and about 20 old yellow box Athearn cars Some old atlas brass switches the kit ones you have to put together
mikeGTW that's what I thought untill I opened it up I have a few of the old athearn ones some where in a box I cannot find info on this one anywhere [View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0] URL=http[/URL]:550:0]
that's what I thought untill I opened it up I have a few of the old athearn ones some where in a box I cannot find info on this one anywhere
[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
URL=http[/URL]:550:0]
To me, that looks like a product made by Pittman as a "drop in" replacement for the standard drive. Well, drop in after you cut off the shaft support towers and guarantee that you'll never go back to the standard drive (that's what slowed my purchase WAY down). The review in "Model Trains" mentioned a 4 to 1 gear reduction, but that the increased shaft diameter changed the overall correction compared to the standard drive in a 2 to 1 manner.
Back in the day, Athearn's F's and GP's cost around $6-$8. I imagine the Pittman replacement was that much or more--there went the train budget.
Glad to see there's some still around. Retrospectively, I wish I'd bought a couple.
As you look through this you'll see some things that are familiar. Hi-F drives were used from mid 1950s to the early 1960s. Found this on the Tyco forum.
The early F7A Hi-F had the truck frames insulated. There had to be a wire from each side to the motor for power. The shaft supports were held on to the chassis with the truck mounting screws.
This second Variation has a new style motor with redesigned trucks. The wiring is simplified to only one wire to the motor, using ground from the trucks to the chassis.
Third variation. Same as the second except the shafts had flex joints on the motor and the shaft could be lifted off the supports.
An early drive with flywheels added. The performance didn't improve much.
Drive with a Kemtron motor assembly. Note the gear box with much thicker shafts. It didn't need the shaft supports. It ran smooth with flat sided drive belts.
I believe it was Ernst that made the gear tower kit for the Hi-F locos. They're still out there here and there. Ebay is a good place to look.
MisterBeasley The ones I remember were from the late 1950s. It may be that Athearn changed the design a bit in later years.
The ones I remember were from the late 1950s. It may be that Athearn changed the design a bit in later years.
That doesn't look like the original motor and drive mechanism. I'd guess this one was re-motored. Notice the gear arrangement. The originals had a direct coupling from the motor to the horizontal shaft, using a piece of rubber tubing to hold them together. The drive shaft looks a lot thicker than I remember, too. The gear arrangement would greatly reduce the speed of the engine, although the thicker drive shaft would increase it a bit.
Yep. That's definitely an Athearn Hi-F loco. Type 'Athearn Hi-F F7' into your Google search bar and you'll get a lot of hits.
?action=view¤t=1000901.jpg[/URL]:550:0]
That my friend is an Athearn Hi-F drive F7B. Low speed = warp 6. High speed = see low speed. As pulling locos they're virtually worthless and forget about running them on any track smaller than code 100. If you can get hold of a modern Athearn F7 chassis the body will fit on it with only minor modifications. I did it with a HI-F F7B Southern Pacific Black Widow. If you don't want it let me know. We may be able to work something out.