Athearn RDC power

[Anonymous]

Can anyone tell me how to re-power an Athearn RDC-1 from rubber-band drive to gears? I am a beginning modeler on a budget and have a 1989-vintage model that I'm fond of but want to modernize. The motor I have runs fine, but the drive shafts are just straight steel pins with no gears at all. The rubber bands are in poor shape.
Any suggestions? Please email me at
[e-mail]
Thanks!

[rrinker]

Ernst used to make a gear kit for them, if they are still around.

edit: actually, they are. Walther's shows the regear kit for the RDC as being out of stock though, unknown availability. Horizon doesn't even carry any of Ernst's train parts, just their RC Plane and Boat parts.


--Randy

[Don Gibson]

Check with A Line for a new gear Drive unit. One of his Athearn replacement's may do it.

http://www.ppw-aline.com/LocoChassis.htm

The improvement will be so great you won't believe it

The only alternative I can see is buying a used engine of somebodies at half price, and gerry-mandering it to fit into the plastic body.

A PHONE CALL OR LETTER to the company may get you the head honcho, instead of an order filler. Remember head's of companies and engineer's cost $$$. 'Repairmen' charge $25 hr. A letter reply is free.

The 'cheapest' route is to replace the rubber band's and watch it scoot.

[Anonymous]

It's more trouble and cost to bother trying to repower or add gears to an older RDC. Check with Trainworld - http://www.trainworld.com/ they have the much better Life Like RDC-2 and -3 for $19.95 all the time. For some reason the RDC-1 is $29.95, but still a good deal.

Bob Boudreau

[BRVRR]

I think Bob has it right. The Life-Like RDC is a great buy. I have one that I put a TCS T1 decoder in that runs whisper quiet. I paid about $30.00 for it at a train show. Any good repowering kit with trucks etc. will cost much more than a new LL RDC.

[siberianmo]

[2c] On the subject:

Go with LifeLike's Proto 1000 RDC's. Prices vary greatly with roadnames - for example, I model Canadian passenger railroads and have spent over $75 (US) for one. I've seen US roadnames at model railroad shows going for under $25. They are much better power-wise than anything you can do with an Athearn.

I have 8 Athearns and 10 LifeLikes - the Athearns are all in my display case - that should tell you something. And I've tried the "kit" to convert from the rubberband configuration. It was quite a few years ago and I don't recall you made the "kit," but I had no luck with it.

Good luck!

[rrinker]

Good point, the Proto's are MUCH nicer models, and actual scale length, too, not shorties.

But if there is sentimental reasons for sticking with the Athearn, just the Ernst gear kit will be 100% improvement, and that's only about $10. I have a bunch of Athearn and I don't see the big deal over needing to replace the stock motors. Clean up the drive line, poli***he commutator, oil the motor bearings, and possibly add a dab of CA to fix the magnets in place, and they run FINE and not real noisily.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

At the risk of showing my ignorance, what is so terrible about rubber band drives? Have heard of them but I have no experience with them. Rubber bands are cheap - that's gotta count for something!

[doctorwayne]

I had one of those rubber band driven rockets. I remotored it with a SPUD truck from Tenshodo. It ran at more prototypical speeds and could still pull a dummy unit up my 3% grades. Eventually, the nylon gears on the axles split and after installing replacement gears from NWSL, I sold the pair. ( They still ran great, but I had back-dated my layout to the mid '30's.)

[rrinker]

QUOTE: Originally posted by baberuth73

At the risk of showing my ignorance, what is so terrible about rubber band drives? Have heard of them but I have no experience with them. Rubber bands are cheap - that's gotta count for something!

Besides 400 smph speeds, and neck-snapping stops and starts? Nothing really...

Really - if you run the thing down the track then shut off the power, it snaps back and forth on the rubber bands like a yo-yo. Any 'passengers' would have whiplash at best. Kind of funny to watch actually.

--Randy

[davekelly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker



Besides 400 smph speeds, and neck-snapping stops and starts? Nothing really...

Sounds like a great way to model rapid transit! [:D]

[rrinker]

We tried it at the club, I dunno which was faster, a stock Athearn RDC, or my AHM MDT switcher - the one with just 2 wheel drive. On a straight, I think the AHM won, but at full speed it would almost tip off the rails on curves and loose speed. A little too low to roll over like a Lionel die-cast steamer will, it would lift up the inside wheels, loose power, settle down on the track and pick up speed again, on and off power around the curve.

--Randy

[siberianmo]

My additional [2c] regarding Athearn's RDC's:

In my opinion, the LifeLike Proto 1000's are much more representative of what RDC's looked like and they are truly 85 ft to scale, whereas the Athearns are shorter (supposedly 11ft6in - 40mm - see http://espee.railfan.net/sprdc1.html ) and if one looks closely, not quite right when it comes to the overhead cooling and radiator placement.

[davekelly]

Randy,

Too bad you don't have a video of the drag race (or do you?). When I was a kid I used to race my N scale (mostlly the old Atlas) engines around the loop of my layout, start them on opposite sides and see which could catch up to the other. The winner? The little Aurora Postage Stamp 0-6-0 tank engine - that thing could move!

Dave

[AntonioFP45]

Marcmousse,

The replies from Siberianmo and Bob (FundyNorthern) are on the mark. BTW: I own a number of Athearns.

I bought a Proto 1000 RDC in the New Haven scheme. Smooth running drive, detailed interior, and a HEAVY chassis. I wouldn't want this thing falling onto my foot! A number of these units can be found at discount web hobby stores for the $20+ range. This would be a better value than repowering your Athearn unit. If you've never run a P2K RDC before, IMHO, you'll be impressed.

Interesting twist about the Athearn RDC is that for persons modeling Australian passenger railroading, it would fit better into their scene since the "Aussie" RDCs are actually shorter than their American counterparts.

[BRAKIE]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker

We tried it at the club, I dunno which was faster, a stock Athearn RDC, or my AHM MDT switcher - the one with just 2 wheel drive. On a straight, I think the AHM won, but at full speed it would almost tip off the rails on curves and loose speed. A little too low to roll over like a Lionel die-cast steamer will, it would lift up the inside wheels, loose power, settle down on the track and pick up speed again, on and off power around the curve.

--Randy

Randy,A Athearn "Hustler will out run that AHM switcher by a mile as well as that RDC.
I am gun shy of recommending any P1K/P2K drive..[V][:(!]

IMHO the Ernest re-powering is the only way to go.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, all of you, for the great replies and ton of information...
I thought about taking out the rubber bands on my Athearn RDC and making it a dummy (to go with the one I already have), but I really wanted it powered.
Looks like the Ernst gearing is the method of choice if I am to keep this 16-year-old RDC powered, and a Proto from Life-Like the way to go if I want to replace the whole thing.
I'll keep an eye out on prices for Protos at the next train show, San Antonio on October 1.
Thank again.
Marc.

[rrinker]

Forget train shows. At least around here, the best train show prices I've seen are in the $40 range. Trainworld's $19 is the way to go.

--Randy

[Darth Santa Fe]

You can go ahead and do what you want with the RDC. I'd personaly keep rubber-bands in it, but I don't think anyone will mind what you do with it, because it's your RDC.[:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by marcmousse
Looks like the Ernst gearing is the method of choice if I am to keep this 16-year-old RDC powered

Keep in mind the Ernst kit requires cutting/removing a part of the white metal frame of the RDC around one of the trucks, and other possibly tricky and involved mechanical work. I bought the kit a long time ago and it just looked like way too much work to get an Athearn RDC running better.

A better and easier solution was to remove the original motor and install a self powered truck from NWSL. The only problem is the power truck was more than $50.00 (I don't recall the exact price), and also requires some mechanical work to mount. The other truck also requires work to be able to mount it, as the rubber band drive that normally holds it on will no longer be there.

Go for the Trainworld $20 RDC as suggested and keep the Athearn one as a souvenir, or do whatever you want!

Bob Bodreau