LION is using a motor much older than that, it does have Bakelite in it, and it still runs perfectly.
I do not really think that Bakelite deteriorates all that much, but it does get brittle and can shatter.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I have seen Bakelite used in early motors. Usually a tan color and they were disc shaped with small slots placed on each end of the commutator. (the copper or brass segments that the motor brushes contacted.) Of course the motor shaft ran through it too.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
ndbprrBakelite was always dark brown....
While that's the "classic" color of Bakelite, I believe it came/comes in a wide variety of colors.
Ed
Might be the first OOO electric locomotive - prior to making electric models, the Lone Star line was basically push traisn, although they had track. All metal track, which didn;t lend itself to electrification. Only after a few years of that did they make actual electric traisn like the ones in other scales. Not sure what's witht he seemign obsesion the Brits have for the AMerican West - comedy troupes like Benny Hill and Monty Python were always doing bits involving cowboys, or at least it seemed that way, and here you have a company calling itself Lone Star, like Texas. Although I can't help but hear it in Dark Helmet's Darth Vader soundalike voice from Spaceballs: Looooone Staaaar.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I believe 2mm scale works out to 1:152 scale, which would mean the models are slightly larger than 1:160 N scale, not smaller...the same way that OO trains are slightly oversized for HO track. In the UK, "OOO" scale is I think normally 1:148 proportions.
ndbprrBakelite was always dark brown sorta like masonite and had a very unique odor that for lack of a better description was part oil and part ozone and part plastic.
That's exactly what it looks like. So maybe it is. I should have taken a photo before I packed it away.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I think I'll just let it rest in pieces for now. I 'd rather spend my time on the new stuff.
I was surprised by the # of Treble O websites. I read on one of them that this was the first electric train made. I am not sure I believe that. There must be a caveat to the story.
Last time we set it up it filled a 5' x 10' sheet of plywood and after putting Orthodontic rubber bands in the loco's, my son and I put a lot of hours on it. This was after being in storage for 30 plus years. I had a collector offer me $500.00 for the works but in the end couldn't part with it.
I have several sets of Meccano from the early 60's including an electric motor, still in the original boxes I am going to try and sell. I built a lot of things with it, but unlike the trains I can give the Meccano up.
You could probably make what ever you need out of Evergreen white sheet styrene. Pick something about the necessary thickness. If anything is riveted you will need to drill them out and put threads in place, usually 2-56, into the metal below and bolt the styrene down.
If you have a motor that ran one shaft through the Bakelite you will need to put a bushing in place as styrene cannot be lubricated for such use.
For small slots and such drill a hole of the correct diameter at each end of the slot and then remove material between with a sharp new Xacto blade.
see ya
Bob
I dunno about in the motor, but it was common to have a Bakelite or Micarta gear in the days before more modern plastics like nylon and delrin (althouhg calling nylon more 'modern' is kind of funny).
Id'd be somewhat surprised by a disintigrating motor since the powered Lonestar OOO didn't come out until 1960 or 1961. Way ahead of its time - for anyoen else following along, OOO is 2mm scale, track a bit under 9mm - ie, these are slightly smaller than what became N scale in the US! Of course, if it's made in England, and involves electricity... There are a few sites around coverign the Lonestar products, it might be possible to find some replacement parts if you'd like to make them run again without trying to figure out how to install a different motor.
I hauled out my "Lone Star Treble O" train stuff from my youth/childhood and discovered the motor in my steamer in pieces. Fifty years on I guess things like this are to be expected. I think it's a good candidate for the "Life After People" show. Upon further examination it looks like it may have used Bakelite in the motor and that's what disintegrated. Did they use Bakelite in train motors back then, or am I looking at something else?