I have 173 locomotives converted to DCC and 62 are Proto 2000....yet I have never encountered this geared axle. It is from a NIB Proto 2000 Blue Box Alco PA and has an offset small diameter 12-toothed gear (one is cracked, of course).
I thought I had every kind of part on hand. Some kind of karma. This was going to be my last purchase/conversion of Proto 2000 forever. Now I am stuck.
Does anyone know if there is an alternate from Athearn or someone else, or where a replacement might be had. None of my other E units or six axles use it.
Thanks. (hope you all can see this file.)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8slxguyrhlsirv/1-800.jpg?dl=0
Not exactly what you were looking for, but a rather interesting alternative to fix cracked gears:
http://kingstonemodelworks.com/Gearfix.html
NWSL has the replacement wheelsets, but for gears they only list one series of Athearn gears for both the inside and outside bearing wheels, which clearly isn't the case here.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
How many do you want?
Over the years, I've repowered quite a few Proto PAs and saved the spare parts. There were lots of dummy PA-B units out there and they had the geared axles in them.
Send me a PM with your address and I'll send you the wheel/axles you need.
Regards, Ed
Would that happen to be the same axle as used in the E6/7/8/9 proto models?
The latest Walthers Flyer I received lists geared driver assembly wheelsets for early proto 2000 models of the listed EMD units. A package of 3 is on sale for $5.98. It is item 920-584494.
https://www.walthers.com/replacement-geared-diesel-wheelsets-fits-early-proto-2000-r-e6-7-8-9-pkg-3
maxmanWould that happen to be the same axle as used in the E6/7/8/9 proto models?
Nope— different.
Thank You,
Ed
Mike
[quote user="Water Level Route"]... or is anyone aware of a different issue?[quote]
No, that is almost certainly a split gear. You may already know that this is very common on Proto 2000 locomotives, especially older models, even if new old stock. They can split merely over time. An factory engineer told me it was because an entire run of gears was made too small, and the entire production was sent out. However, I have had this happen on Kato as well.
I have had 4 axle locomotives arrive with all four axles split, and every number in between.
The test is very simple...hold the loco upside down and try to rotate the two wheels of each axle with your thumbs in opposite directions. If any wheel moves with light to moderate pressure, that is a bad one. The fix is very simple.
As Ed, above shows, there are three types of axles used (I just learned about that third one from him). You can buy entire new wheel sets (slightly expensive per axle) or just the gears. A replacement from Athearn for SD-2 locos which works on the older P2K (shown on the left of Ed's picture) comes six to a pack for the cost of one new wheel set. You can learn to install them relatively easily....but the whole axle replacement is fastest, of course.
If you have only a few locos, the whole wheelset is easiest for you.
I have 62 P2K locomotives so lately, also, I found three dozen of the old style gears for sale from China for a fraction of the price. So far they are holding up just fine.
I own 2 Proto 2000 e8s with offset 11 tooth gearsets. (I count from the notch so I don't lose my place and it really is 11 teeth, how oddball.) They haven't cracked yet. Also a third e8 with the 12 tooth centered gear.
By the way this loco came with one cracked gear which does not cause the loco to thump. I put in in the rearmost axle pocket furthest away from the driver gear hoping it will just roll quietly.
Pretty sure that story of the axles being made metric and the gears Imperial, or vice-versa, that they loved to tell is just so much bunk, because it's not just P2K and not just the Geeps and not just certain runs. NWSL explains it a bit on one of their catalog pages with gears - they crack because they are injection molded and the stresses are in highest where the stub axles press in. I'm no injection molding expert but I suspect it's along the mold parting line. I know the cracked gears I've had, the outer part of the crack at least went straight across parallel with the axle until it got closer to the gear.
Plastic shrinks for a period of time after its molded. So if the gear is drilled and mounted on the axle to soon, it shrinks around a metal shaft that is NOT going to shrink and you get the dreaded crack and yes its usually along one of the mold parting lines(weakest part of the casting. But by allowing the freshly molded gear to "age" for a period of time, then drilling your axle hole, you do not get the cracking. One would have thought we would have moved past this and zinc pest in model trains. Some of the brass imports of the 70's and 80's had the splitting gear issue, both Japanese and Korean imports did it. But then came the Proto issues and now zinc pest showing up on some diecast metal trains(and not cheap ones either!!). I would give Walthers a call, since they own that line of trains now. Hopefully they have some parts. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome