A friend of mine picked up an N Scale Minitrix Santa Fe Pacific steam loco at the Pomona train show. He found that it didn't run when he got it home. Not having much experience fixing locos, he asked me (a hugely oversized modeler) to take a look at it. The item number on the box it came in is 51 2990 00. The model is in good cosmetic shape and shows no signs of abuse. However, I have not been able to get it to respond either.
The model has an interesting electrical layout where the right side drivers are insulated from the cast frame but pick up electricity through metal wipers. These also appear to be electrically connected to the right side wheels of the rear tender truck. The left side drivers are in direct electrical contact with the metal frame and the left side wheels of the front tender truck are electrically connnected to the loco frame through a metal trailing truck frame and metal tender drawbar.
I've cleaned the tender wheels and axle wipers and have confirmed good wiper contact, but still get no response from the motor. I guess I'll need to get inside the shell and try connecting the motor direct. However, I can't seem to figure out how to remove the loco shell from the frame. The tender shell slipped off easily once I eased the shell sides away from the mounting nibs on the sides of the tender frame. The loco shell looks like it might come off in a similar manner but so far no luck. I removed the pilot and trailing trucks hoping to find screws holding the shell and frame together but no luck there either. There does appear to be some sort of connection between the frame and the pilot underside but it is so small I can't tell whether it is a rivet or a plastic pin. Does anyone know how Minitrix steam loco shells are removed. Also, the owner wants to go DCC and I don't know if this loco is a good candidate for conversion.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Hornblower
You will find some information on this loco here: Minitrix 4-6-2
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Thanks Ulrich! That is exactly the loco I'm looking at. Too bad the author of the article didn't think too much of this model's running characteristics. I will try his suggested improvements before I try to perform the DCC conversion. I kind of thought the way Minitrix tried to improve the electrical pick-up was a little too complicated. And no wonder I couldn't figure out how to remove the shell. They hid a screw in the top of the throttle dome! If you didn't know it was a screw, it looks all the world like a hatch cover!
Once again, this forum comes to my rescue. Thank you!
You are most welcome!
The Minitrix Pacific is quite an old design, coming from the time when low speed characteristics didn´t seem important and the 3-pole armatures didn´t contribute to that, either. MAybe installing a more modern motor would help improve this.
Success! Just a quick update on this Minitrix loco. All it really needed was a thorough cleaning and lubrication. It seems to run quite well now although the open frame 3-pole motor is a little noisy. I think a modern can motor and the installation of Bachmann tender trucks (with electrical pick-up on all wheels) will go a long way toward improving this loco's performance. Would the Kato N scale can motor be a good choice or do any of you have a better suggestion?