I decided a couple weeks ago that my next project would be to repower and redetail an old Athearn Hustler diesel. A couple days ago, I got all the parts from NWSL to get it repowered. So, let's get started!
The new mechanism is now finished! It now runs quietly and smoothly, has plenty of torque, and has a great speed range. The 12V speed is now 25 scale MPH instead of 400+, and the minimum speed at the moment is 1.5 scale MPH instead of 20. WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT!!
I don't have the detail parts yet, so that part will come later. Until then, you can watch a before and after video of the Hustler running. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-svMRLSiEs
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Looks good. I regeared one with an Earnst regearing kit and some NWSL wheels. The kit also came with a flywheel for the Athearn motor. While mine didn't slow down to 25smph, it did bring it down to around 60smph with great slow speed control. I did add some Tomar rail wipers to improve electrical pickup and stuffed lead in every nook and cranny to improve traction. That was about 15 plus years ago and that sucker still runs like a charm, as a mater of fact I'm getting ready to install a decoder in it so it can continue life in the 21st century.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
I've heard about this and always meant to try it. I think I'll step out on that limb and give it a go. My Hustler is nearly useless with two speeds - parked and warp 6.
Darth,
What a great improvement for the Hustler! I look forward to seeing your detail changes also.
I've always loved the Hustlers since the first one I saw many, many years ago. I've done a couple with the Ernst regearing sets but what you've done makes them look lame.I have copied a model of a Hustler cow & calf I saw in MR a long time ago. It always fascinated me to see them run. Now with DCC and sound I plan on reworking them but I think I'll copy your mechanism & get rid of the Ernst stuff.
I remember as a kid growing up in Baltimore the YMCA used to sponser train shows and a highlight for me was the Hustler races. They had about 12 feet of parallel straight track wired to an MRC transformer set on max connected to both tracks. Two Hustlers were placed on the starting line and then the pack was turned ON and though and took off sideways. I think the prize was a Varney boxcar.
Anyway, please keep us up-to-date on your Hustler.
Roger Huber
A Hustler without rubber-band drive with a speed range between 50 to 200 mph is not a Hustler. Would it be a Geezer? No, but surely you can come up with a better name.
Mark
markpierce A Hustler without rubber-brand drive with a speed range between 50 to 200 mph is not a Hustler. Would it be a Geezer? No, but surely you can come up with a better name. Mark
A Hustler without rubber-brand drive with a speed range between 50 to 200 mph is not a Hustler. Would it be a Geezer? No, but surely you can come up with a better name.
It's now so civilized and work-safe, it's not a Hustler it's a Maxim.
Dave Nelson
Good job! I also have one of these that I might do the same thing to. In the past, I have used 2 of the transfer boxes in a couple MDC shays. They work great for that, but they were still noisy!
Thanks for the tips on this; now I want to do mine!
modelmaker51, it sounds like that little Athearn has served you well. It's kind of funny how we end up putting far more money into these little switchers than they were ever worth to begin with.
GainesvilleMidland209, these Hustler are very simple engines to work on, so repowering can be a fun project. The way I did it with the transfer gearbox does add a little complexity, but it sure slows it down!
oldline1, the rubber-band drive has always made the Hustler a fun engine. I did something like that little race you mentioned, only it was more of a stunt than anything. I have a length of track on my bedroom dresser, so I moved it to the edge and put a pillow underneath a couple feet forward. Then I cranked the Hustler up to full speed and watched as it flew off the "cliff" and landed safely on the pillow after a 2 foot long and 3 foot deep jump.
markpierce, I know we've got "Slugs", so how about a Snail? Or a sloth? Or "The Little Engine That Sort Of Could"? Or "The Little Engine That Only Moves As Fast As That Awful Movie Called "The Blood Waters Of Dr.Z""? Or maybe "Debbie"? Or maybe not.
centercab, I've found that the transfer gearbox is much noisier when mounted directly to the frame. The same one is used in my Keystone Shay, and because it's screwed directly to the metal, it makes a lot more noise. That's why I mounted it to the noise and vibration dampening foam rubber. Either way, it's still quieter than MDC's gearbox!
And like I said in the video, for anyone else who might do this conversion, I would recommend using a motor with a length of 25mm or less. It will allow a full universal to be used and make enough room for a flywheel. Since the torque of the gearing is so high, even a very small N-scale motor will work very well.
Darth Santa FeShown here is the diesel and all the main drive parts to be used. Hard to believe that that's about $70 worth of gearboxes and wheels!
$70 worth of parts to tame what was a $5.00 locomotive when the rubber band drive was the Athearn standard!! DSF, you have done it again
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Darth - Because of you, I've been looking at the NWSL site. Out of curiosity, did you try the 'Flea'? I'm not sure if NWSL has any in stock or not...but that would eliminate the need to purchase one of the gear boxes and motor because it comes as one unit. The other gearbox would run of the output shaft of the flea.
I do have a PDT, but it is the wrong wheelbase!
centercabOut of curiosity, did you try the 'Flea'? I'm not sure if NWSL has any in stock or not...but that would eliminate the need to purchase one of the gear boxes and motor because it comes as one unit.
I did consider the FLEA, but there were a few problems I would've had to work around (as well as the higher total cost, since I already had a motor). The main unit probably would've had to have been mounted in the cab for the needed clearance, and it's only available with 33" wheels. All the necessary parts (main unit, two 42" wheelsets, additional gearbox, and universal) would've added up to $87.50 (unless you get the faster $50 unit) before shipping, which is $20 more than I spent. It may have been an easier installation, but then the cab wouldn't be open for something like an interior. I may try a FLEA for some other project in the future though. It would work well for a tender powered steam switcher!
That is what I was afraid of...I am also hoping to do some cab detailing and perhaps opening a hood door or two.
I have thought about using the PDT that I have and just build a new frame to fit both it and the shell. What you have done might be easier though.
Either way, it's time to get busy!
I got most of my detail parts on Friday, and have been doing some work with them over the weekend.
That's all for tonight!
Hello very nice Darth. I would like to know how you bent your hand rails? I use some kadee trip pliers for soft bends and a pair a flat nose pliers for sharp bends but they don't look as sharp as your. Have a nice day Frank
0-6-0Hello very nice Darth. I would like to know how you bent your hand rails? I use some kadee trip pliers for soft bends and a pair a flat nose pliers for sharp bends but they don't look as sharp as your. Have a nice day Frank
For the sharp bends, I hold the wire with serrated jaw pliers and bend it as sharp as I can with my thumb against the side of the pliers. If there isn't much wire to work with, I use the table instead of my thumb. For the larger bends, I bend the wire around a screwdriver or whatever round object I can find. The thin 0.015" wire I'm using also allows tighter and cleaner bends than my usual 0.02" wire.
I'm back from vacation, and Hobbyland had the final detail in for me!
The last thing I wanted to replace was the molded plastic radiator grill, which has gotten a Cannon dynamic brake fan in its place.Cannon only makes them in sets of two. Oh well, maybe I'll find a use for the other one.The new fan next to the old one for comparison. What a difference!To mount the new fan, I used a cone drill bit to make a 9/16" mounting hole. The old fan was slightly larger, so I had to trim the edges off and smooth out the area. The Hustler looks pretty good with that new Cannon fan! I left the grill and fan unglued so I could paint it more easily.
All that's left now is painting and lettering!
I've finally gotten to the painting! It's hot here in central IL, so everything's sitting in a spare room at work where I did the actual painting. I'll be bringing it home tomorrow for lettering, so I'll post some pictures then. But, it's finally almost done!! Colors are black with a silver frame, and the interior is light green.
It's very interesting what you have done there, do you realize that your entire driveline is an exact double of the old Overland Models "tank drive" assembly?
I'm not saying this to "rain on your parade" but as info for any future Hustlers you may wish to do and for all of the other fellows who would like to try this but are put off by the NWSL prices.
As most brass diesel modelers aren't to excited about the tank drives from Overland and converted them to tower drives some time ago I'm sure there are lots of "spare" tank drive parts to be had 2nd hand.
I converted several of my own and although I have no particular interest in the Hustler I have hung onto mine for the MDC shays and other future projects. (Rule #1 Never throw anythnig away that you "think" you might need someday!!)
I don't know if Overland still has any of these parts but I seriously doubt it, but as I said the 2nd hand market shoud be full of them.
As for the motor, one of the Kato switcher motors would seem to be an excellent choice or possibly one of the old GSB "Tan Can" motors. There are lots of can motors on the market now but of course the quality of some of them is always questionable.
Darth Santa FeCannon only makes them in sets of two. Oh well, maybe I'll find a use for the other one.
Maybe another Hustler conversion? Ending up with spare project parts can be a bit like eating peanuts.
Excellent work as always, Darth. The .015" wire handrails look great. Good move mounting the transfer box on foam, but they can be quiet if they're made well, especially if the gear teeth are skewed. Your project reminds me of a someone I know from another forum who retooled his own Hustler and made a slug for it. http://misterbobsmodelworksemporium.blogspot.com/2008/04/athearn-hustler.html
I bought the Ernst kit for my newer generation Hustler, which turned out to be a mistake. The holes in the worms and flywheels were machined too small, and pressing them on actually warped them. I managed to true the flywheels, but the original Athearn armature is unbalanced enough that it vibrates badly, and the worms are on so tight that I can't get off to balance it without destroying them. I should have gone with the Accurate Lighting kit.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
I also had the Ernst Gears on my Hustler also. Didnt like how sloppy it was. So we gutted it. Got a can motor from NWSL and had a old powered 4 wheel truck from Athearn. Found a worm gear that would mesh with the geared Athearn wheelset. Now in the process of putting it back together. So my Hustler will not have any gearbox to transfer the power to the drive axel. It will be a streight shot. Trying to find the New Digitrax N scale Decoder with sound to put it in also. I would like to detail it out with hand rails, I have got 3 mm LEDs for the headlights and also a Yellow 3 mm Led for the rotating becon for the roof. I dont think that I could cram an interior in to it thou. :-( Kevin
Forty Niner, my drive is pretty much like the old OMI "tank drive", except that the transfer gearbox I used has a 3.125:1 ratio, so the speed is much lower than the OMI diesels would have by about 1/3rd. This idea has been used countless times by many manufacturers in the past in one form or another, from the Rivarossi U25C to the standard Hobbytown drive, as well as many older brass diesels.
SteamFreak, I actually looked at regearing a Hobbytown with skewed, or helical, tower gears. The only problem is that it's hard to find appropriately sized gears for small projects like that. I've also found that the teeth would need a 45 degree angle to work really quietly (tested some Bachmann helical gears, and they still made the whining sound). It could make an interesting project though!
lbflattop, it sounds like you have quite a lot stuffed into that little engine! Who knows? If you can really do well with arranging it all, maybe you could still fit an interior in. Mine just barely fits the way I built mine, but the motor position isn't exactly low profile either.
It's done!!
Before:
After:
It's not one of my cleanest jobs, but I think it still turned out really well! It's lettered for my fictional "Central Illinois Logging" railroad. If I ever have a larger layout, I'll have a section dedicated to the CIL. The Shays can do the main work, and this can maybe go back and forth between the logging and the main line? I don't know.
After the painting, I added "glass" to all the windows, put in a simple directional lighting circuit (two diodes and a 1K potentiometer), and filled all additional space in the hood with solid lead. Not only is it well detailed now, but it's also like a little brick that can pull just about anything I put behind it! I'd call this big little project a success!
That did come out very nice. Excellent job.
I never thought I'd see a Hustler with a cab interior, unless it was a dummy. Nice work!
The NWSL gearing didn't look helical based on your photo, but Rivarossi did use some non-helical 1:1 offset gearboxes in some locos that were quiet, so it isn't a necessity as long as it's well designed.
I went back to my Ernst geared Hustler after reading this, and was able to improve the performance by turning the flywheels a bit at a time until the vibration is minimal -- I thought I'd already done this, but who knows, maybe I hit the sweet spot and they are now counterbalancing the motor. In retrospect, I should have enlarged the flywheel and worm ID's before attempting to assemble them, because they were more than a friction fit to begin with. It pays to do a careful assembly job, removing flash and slightly reaming gearbox components to eliminate friction, if there is any. The most important aspect of the job, aside from the flywheel installation, is leveling the motor and making sure that the gearboxes are centered, because it's easy to strip the worms if anything is off. The gear reduction is significant, in fact it has a similar speed range as yours
I didn't mean to hijack your thread, but maybe my notes will be helpful to someone out there with an Ernst kit. Maybe now I can install a crew doing their best not to bet mangled by the massive gearing between them.
davidmbedard, I looked at putting the lettering on the smooth parts of the doors, but something about it just didn't look quite right to me. The railroad is fictional, so maybe it's a super clean and cool running switcher that won't mess up the CIL.
SteamFreak, you're right. The transfer gearing isn't helical. But it is well engineered and works pretty quietly, unlike the old Rivarossi cab motor 0-8-0 or KMT tower gearing. My RR U25C also has a transfer gear system, but it works much more quietly.
I'm glad to know you got your Ernst gearing to work right! Sometimes, those little adjustments are all it takes to change something from noisy to quiet.
Darth.
I wasmessing around with the engine on Monday afternoon and the back of the can motor comes back up into the cab at a 45 degree slant. No way will I be able to fit an interior into it. I got it running with a decoder for a test run on the layout. Going to put some electical pickup wipers on the wheels for better contact. Ran pertty decent thou. Could you supply me with the numbers to what ya used for the hand rails? I thought of just getting an Athearn plastic handset railing and cobble them up to fit the Hustler.
thanks Kevin
IbflattopI wasmessing around with the engine on Monday afternoon and the back of the can motor comes back up into the cab at a 45 degree slant. No way will I be able to fit an interior into it. I got it running with a decoder for a test run on the layout. Going to put some electical pickup wipers on the wheels for better contact. Ran pertty decent thou. Could you supply me with the numbers to what ya used for the hand rails? I thought of just getting an Athearn plastic handset railing and cobble them up to fit the Hustler.
Ah, I see now. Well, it should still run much better than the rubber band drive, even if it's only a single axle setup. I sort of tried that once with an Athearn worm and bearings, and a rubber band going down to the worm. It didn't work, but it was worth a try.
For the handrails, I used Utah Pacific stanchions (they give you about 3 dozen per pack), and Detail Associates 0.015" round brass wire. The chain on each end is A Line's 40 link per inch brass chain (just one length of that stuff has lasted me for years!).
I like the project. Thanks for sharing it!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Darth Santa FeI'm glad to know you got your Ernst gearing to work right! Sometimes, those little adjustments are all it takes to change something from noisy to quiet.
Well, I would say it's quieter. It's a relative term here, because the original motor is never going to be as quiet as a coreless motor, even with a transfer gearbox. Then again, I spent all of $12.