Hello All,
LastspikemikeA length of suitably sized silicone hose could perform the universal joint function. Not sure why these plastic Hooke's joints are ubiquitous but they are.
Thank you for your input.
On the HO scale Box Cab locomotives I have restored they indeed use a piece of silicone tubing as the linkage from the motor to the drive mechanism.
The I.D. of this tubing seems to be an uncommon size.
When I went to the service department of the original Caboose Hobbies in Denver, the spry old gentleman- -with a slight German accent- -produced a spool of the sought-after item.
Written on the side of the spool was, "DO NOT SELL!".
He mumbled to himself, "Vell, OK."
He asked me how much I needed. Then snipped off about a 6-inch segment from the spool.
When I asked him, "How much do I owe?" With a wink he replied, "It saz "DO NOT SELL!" zo I give it to you."
In these Box Cabs there is only about 1/16 of an inch distance between the motor and the drive mechanism.
They also run at an extremely slow speed so the torque applied to the tube linkage is minimal compared to the Bachmann GPs I'm dealing with.
Another aspect of replacing the O.E.M. linkage with a piece of tubing is the driveshaft (dogbone) has horned ball ends.
Between the horned ball and the main section of the shaft there is a 1/8-inch reduced section.
This section would need to be removed, thus adding to the length of tubing needed and increasing the twisting of the tube under load.
If I only remove the horns on the ball and push the tubing over it I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough contact area of the ball for a secure connection.
As Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, "When you open a can of worms the only way to get all the worms back in the can is to use a bigger can."
Because this problem has occurred on all eight of the Bachmann GPs in my fleet I would rather find a solution to replace the cracked worm gear coupling over finding a "bigger" can.
Again, thank you for your insight and suggestion.
I will update you with the progress of this "solution".
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
"As Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, 'When you open a can of worms the only way to get all the worms back in the can is to use a bigger can.' "
Thats because the vegematic wasnt invented yet. But what i cant figure is, as smart as he was, why would he open a can of warms in the first place?
Going here...
Einsteins' theory of relativity (E=MC2) was the biggest can of worms he ever opened.
So much so that it took until 1919, almost a decade later, to put all the worms back in this can.