I have just started a restoration project and need some help. My wife and I recently discovered my brother-in-law's childhood HO trains while cleaning the basement of their mother's house. The trains had been tucked away in a damp box for about sixty years.
Included were the Revell 0-6-0 saddle tank "Omaha" engine and the cars which went with the set. The loco was missing all the electrical components, but otherwise was complete. Also found was an Athearn "F" diesel with the old rubber band drive.
Replacing the electrical gear on the Revell 0-6-0 is the biggest problem. Internet photos show that the motor was an open frame style mounted on a piece which I can't figure out. The left side pick up looks like the usual phosphor bronze wipers. No problem to fabricate.
I have Pittman DC60s and DC70s as well as a number of Revell slot car motors. None look to be what is in the pictures on the internet. Anyone know what motor was used in the Revell 0-6-0?
The Athearn is less of a problem (I hope!) The sixty years of corrosion was horrible. All parts have been cleaned and are ready for reassembly.
The next step is to replace the rubber band drives. I can do a series of trial and error fittings of rubberbands and sliced bicycle inner tubes to get something that works. My fear is that the repeated assembly and reassembly of the power trucks would strip out their threads. Any tips would be welcome.
I look forward to getting back to model railroading. It was great to find that old box in the basement.
I have restored/rebuilt dozens of HiF drives Athearns over the last 8 years or so. Motor may or may not be salvageable, depending on if you removed the magnet or not.
Bands...I use those small coloured hair bands. They seem to hold up much better than originals. Make sure you lightly oil the axle stubs and motor bearings.
Use a voltmeter, determine right rail positive to move forward, before you finalize band direction.
Couplers are a big issue, as HiF F units had odd length shanked X2F's. I have redrilled the rear hole in the pad to get whatever is available to work with a box.
There is a trick I developed (and somebody else HAD to have done it years ago), where you add a ground wire of SuperFlex with an eyelet to the bolster (top) of the trucks with a 2-56 into a hole drilled and tapped, and back to the motor (the screw that holds the brushplate on works).
This eliminates the low speed Athearn "stutter", where the body rolls a bit, headlight flickers, and motor "stutters". It's the pot metal connection from bolster to frame, no amount of polishing will keep it clean.
I do it on the early gear drives, too, and on Geeps...probably work on Budd RDC's.
Athearn used to sell bands. Might look and see.
TOC
Athearn seems to still sell the rubber bands for the old Hi-F drive.
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH90101
Back in the day the rubber bands that were part of getting braces (on your teeth) were a fairly common substitute. I don't even know if today's braces still involve rubber bands due to the choking hazard. I know my sister had all sorts of problems with hers (circa 1963).
Some guys would put rubber or plastic tubing on the steel shafts of the Hi-F drive for better adhesion, less slipping. It did not necessarily make the engines run smoother, as I learned when I tried it.
Yes the Revell motor and innards for their interesting 0-6-0T were entirely proprietary as one can see from the HO Seeker instruction sheet
http://hoseeker.net/revellinformation/revell060switcher.jpg
I'd be tempted to seek out one of the AHM 0-6-0Ts that they sold (cheaply) in the 1980s at a swap meet, deep flanges and all, or an old Mantua 0-6-0T, and try retro fitting the Revell shell, unless you want this to be original as an interesting artifact.
Dave Nelson
dknelsonBack in the day the rubber bands that were part of getting braces (on your teeth) were a fairly common substitute.
They didn't even suggest taking asprin or tylenol and that was before motrin. I suppose somewhere someone is prescribing Oxycontin for braces these days and everyone gets a ribbon
HOSeeker links are only a guideline as to how to find the link on HO Seeker. The link itself will not work.
The model has far more sentimental value than actual value. Details are so much better on current productions, plus if you get into DCC and sound, there is usually not enough space without weight surgery. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but it's not in the same category a restoring a severely rusted musket from Gettysburg.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
What I did on my RDCs was to run the drive rods through two short sections of coffee stirrer straws.These are CA glued to the support towers.The shiny plastic surface of the straws reduces the drag on the drive shafts and the RDCs run a lot smoother and slower.A side benefit is the motor runs cooler.
I bought my drive bands at my favorite LHS and they are from Athearn.
The title reminds me of following a tresaure map to the basement.
Thanks to all for the helpful comments. As you may have figured out, the goal of these rebuilds is to let my brother-in-law, David, see his trains from sixty years ago run again. It's been twenty years since I was active, so this is all a new adventure.
Curmudgeon, my wife and I found the colored hair rubber bands last night. That's a great help. As to couplers, we will leave the original NMRA units and let Dave's train run as it did in the 1950s. No worry about Kadees, DCC or sound. The tip about a ground wire to the trucks is well taken. Most of my motive power is still Athearn, so that will help on more than one loco.
DK, the tip about hoseeker is also greatly helpful. Twenty years ago, most of my research involved going through great stacks of Model Railroader, Model Trains, and Railrod Model Craftsman magazines (am I allowed to mention the last two on this forum?) Most of the online resources is new.
As to the Revell 0-6-0 motor, it looks unlikely that one can be found. Remotoring looks to be the way to go. I had hoped to find a photo of the motor assembly to guide in remotoring.
Henry, you are right that this is not worthy of the effort of a full restoration. Because of the short amount of time these were in production, and the great age of the engine, I wondered if it deserved special attention. Based on what you say, it makes sense to presserve what is there with litle or no modification.
There are several Revell RP66 motors around from my slot car racing days. If one will fit, it might make a somewaht period correct conversion. The Revell 0-6-0s motors found in internet photos seem to be mounted on some sort of steel (white metal?) box. I can fabricate a mount, but would like to figure out what the original mount was. Anyone have a photo or a link?
Catt, the stir/straw sleeve idea for the Athearn drive shaft is superb. The hole for the shaft is quite loose on David's engine. I had considered making a brass sleeve to cut down on slop, wear, and chatter. I know where to find coffee stirs, but where do I find a local hobby shop?
This indeed was an unintentional treasure hunt. David's train set was the very last thing we found while cleaning the last cabinet in the house. Not only did we find a great old train set, it looks as though I might have found my way back into the hobby.
Thanks to all,
Terry