nice presentation. well narrated and photographed. zamack is an alloy which, like any mix of metals, can be contaminated. bad zamack will crumble to dust. it's the impurities that cause the problem, not zinc. a lack of quality control in the smelter is the culprit. Chinese "steel" of the 1950s also suffered a similar fate. backyard steelmakers pooled their production and that "steel" found it's way into many skyscrapers. eventually those buildings were no longer skyscrapers.
That Pittman DC-91 is a legendary motor. Combining that with the heavy metal body and 8-wheel drive made this one of the most powerful HO scale diesels of all time, and Model Railroader had nothing but good things to say in their review back in the early 50's. I added an extra lead weight to my E7 just for the fun of it, and I think it could pull the track off the layout if I'm not careful!
Im a lifelong tinkerer mechanic and model railroader, and you never cease to amaze me as you never seem to fail to resurrect the seemingly impossible. My friends always asked me over the years why do I keep all the bits and pieces and your video show exactly why -- you never know when or why you may need something but some parts are near impossible to get new and this is why building a stock of used parts and pieces is key in fixing things --- even faced with zinc pest and a hopeless frame you saw the obvious solution in the B unit not only fixing the powered unit but the B unit as well. There are many who would have given up before they started.
My grandfather grew up on a farm in the 30s. They never threw anything out in order to keep the place running. I try to salvage as much as I can before recycling a locomotive and it's saved my bacon on these projects countless times.
Wow SMT. I thought this one was a goner after the chasis literally split in two. I'm always so scared about zink pest or mazac rot I have a lot of trains that date back to the 50s and 60s, but I take care of them every 3 months and so far nothing has developed yet. Your idea of using the dummy's chassis was something I didn't think of and even when the old chassis broke again, you glued it back together like it was nothing. Hat's off to your skill. Seriously, you're truly the train doctor. I watch all your vids and you help me understand how to do basic electrical work on a non running loco and now I already got 10 engines going again.
I use a 3d printer if the chassis has succumbed from zinc pest. There are PLA filaments that are 95% metal and actually have some weight to them. I think 3d printers are absolute game-changers in the model hobby, if you do not have one you should get one.
Good call on swapping the frames. That has the large DC91 motor. Built for O scale of the era, and has loads of power! If nothing else, the crumbling frame caught on camera makes good entertainment value!
I would have said make a mold of the dummy chassis first, then you can cast new ones in Diecast, pewter whatever soft metals you like. That dummy unit was pristine and is a prime candidate for making the mold. Great video!
You must always feel a sense of accomplishment when you tear an engine apart and are able to put it back together I'd be totally lost I like watching your videos and overcoming the detriments of these engines
These locos get worse and worse but your work and videos only get better. I laughed out loud when the chassis broke, then laughed again when it broke again. Am I bad person? Great job as always.
Great repair! Good thing you were able to get both running, it sure makes quite the pair to have going around on your layout :) Excellent video as usual!
Nice i like it! Yeah i had a zinc pest problem too with my 1978 life like p&le gp38-2 the original chassis shell was so bad i had a spare one and it worked pretty good pretty much a runner. I'm Glad you got these restored here man!
Without a doubt, Harrison comes thru with a miracle again. Zinc Pest, gotta love it -- Not. Diaphragms between passenger cars are still available if you need some. You do need a real wheel cleaner though. Thanks for sharing. 👍🐾👍
@@SMTMainline good thing you had donor parts, buddy. It's always smart to have a Locomotive Graveyard. Plus there's never a doubt you can get anything back in working order and riding the rails.
Wow! What a fabulous restoration. So nice to see these beautiful E units back up and running again. I'm sure they will look beautiful next to your Dreyfus Hudson as well!
On my modern HobbyTown loco the shaft is supposed to slip back and forth between the front/rear truck 16:16 as the trucks swivel around curves, the rear truck depends on the shaft from the front truck (all wheel drive) and there needs to be a little back and forth play with that shaft between trucks
There is a splined second in the middle (the 1inch brass bit) which does this. They might have just used the hoses on older models but I imagine that would have caused issues.
Thank you for these rebuild videos. It has inspired me to slow down on buying new RtR at $$$ and finding the old & compromised units for ¢¢ on the $ and bring them back to life. I find it so rewarding to get something old running again, and I don't think I would have gotten their without you providing the inspiration and detailed 'how to'. Thanks again for helping me up my modeling game and bring life to old units before I pass them on down to the next generation of hobbyist some years from now.
WOW!! Great video Harrison. I do not have the patience or expertise that you have to repair these locos, but I do enjoy watching you perform your magic. Once again congratulations on another fine effort, and I look forward to watching more of your videos.
I can’t believe smt is about to hit 100k on UA-cam I remember I been watching him before 10 and seeing every single video that he has posted on his UA-cam.Awesome video smt
Again a remarkable resurrection. I agree it is fun to watch yur layout details show up. But do you have any video or pix of yur layout befor starting scenery
Excellent video as always. The piece you took of the dummy engine fits into the body shell. It holds the frame and body together, it's on the dummy body. I have a extra frame if wanted.
I love the F And E units too I got those two in n scale in broadway limited which is a good brand for n scale high detail runs quite good but instead of the dummy E unit I got a b unit for it it runs good but the coupler broke on the powered E unit sadly but I’m going to fix it 😮good restoration Harrison.
Nice work recovering that old loco Harrison. Might I suggest instead of applying CA to the broken ends of the frame maybe use a popsicle stick or similar and fasten it with epoxy along the length of the inside of the frame. This will give it a lot more support. I think it's time you got a 3D printer!
Way to go Harrison, you brought another one back to life. I did the exact same thing you did with the broken chassis. I have 2 N scale Atlas SD24 locomotives. They were both powered. But unfortunately one of the chassis broke. I was only able to salvage it and make a dummy by gluing the parts that hold the trucks on into the shell and I glued the fuel tank on as well. I'm amazed at your ability to make something run that is on its last leg.
The one thig that I don't like about some of those cast zamac locos of that era was the lake of provision for mounting a coupler on the pilots, not just steam, but also some diesels.
Am I seeing the color correct ?? That paint should be two shades of gray with the lighter shade of gray for the lighting stripe instead of green and yellow. Those units would look great in New York Central " Century " green which was jade green and with the cigar band herald. Or even solid black with the cigar band herald.
That was a rough one Harrison, But I didn't doubt for a minute that you would come up with a solution even if it meant turning the dummy engine into a runner and tossing the dummy unit. but glad you salvaged both. Very well done...
I like the creative solution on switching frames to make an operational locomotive along with the solution for the dummy locomotive. It's great to see a pair of old HobbyTown's ride the rails again.
Great job! That almost looks like a drill motor in there. It might be possible to 3D print a chassis for that. I did it for a Bachmann one time. Impressive restoration.
Very nice repair. I think its neat that they have helical gears . I wonder why they stopped doing that because to me its really cool and seems to be more efficient vs gears you see in modern locos. I noticed the lighting in the video is actually alot different then the iphone camera. It actually looks really good. Added benefit too you can take pictures without having notifications etc messing with the camera being its not a phone. Very nice man very nice
@@SMTMainline yeah I know maybe. Just I think was a great idea. But probably made manufacturing slower because of having to make sure the wheels are going the right way
Eh mazak rot, not new to me, fixed two hornby 31 chassis with this Issue and they run as well as the day they were made, they even still look the part. Shows that even some new locos are more robust than the old ones :D
You should fish plate those fractures. Place some really thin plates across the fracture then screw them on either side. Put the plate on which ever side causes the least interference.
Fine looking units! Again, the scars and wear of its lifetime give it a personality. Looks great. Could the chassis that carried the motor originally, because of lubricants, slight warming and cooling, and other materials possibly created the environment for the pest?
That sounds about right. Who knows what kind of place it was sitting, if it was an attic it might have been exposed to a lot of heat during the summer.
I've got a single HT E7...but all axles are driven... but there's a short somewhere. You've "Got A Runner! Serenity! "IT'S ALIVE!!!" shouted Frankenstein to his moving monster... Ever seen the Mel Brooks version of that movie? Pure classic! Good job, Harrison. Um, have you ever taken inventory of your locomotives and rollingstock? John British Columbia
I see that your phone is between your face and the workbench - this set-up is awesome. We can see exactly what you see. I wonder what kind of phone mount do you use? Thank you.
I like them for cleaning commutators. They are theoretically better for cleaning track since they don't contain rubber like the track brights although I use them sparingly since I hate glass fibres.
Zinc pest and marcasite: I used to collect rocks. Once I got a nice piece of marcasite- with facets in an unusual spherical form, quite unique. Turns out marcasite crystals break down in air 🥲. At least zinc pest doesn't leave sulfuric acid for your other train stock!
I have had an issue like this on a varney where the zink chassis crumbles I have seen it happened on diesel's I have yet to see it happen on 1 of my steam locomotives
The company Dorfan, which made O and Standard Gauge trains in the prewar era, made a number of locomotives with bodies made entirely out of diecast metal- almost all of them have been ravaged by zinc pest. And yet, there's people who have managed to repair and restore some of them. Sometimes, diecast products manufactured in east asia suffer from poor quality control in the metal and it's possible for trains made in recent history to have zinc pest issues. Although a rare occurence, some postwar Lionel trains have come down with zinc pest- saw a pretty badly ruined 682 at a show one year that was missing something like half its parts, and the frame was totally destroyed by zinc pest. You always have to be very careful when buying stuff, zinc pest can be very unforgiving!
That's a very nice locomotive you have there Harrison. I recently just bought a athern blue box Santa Fe PA1 and it came with no drive shaft and I was wondering if heat shrink tubing will work?
It probably wouldn't be great on an Athearn. Try to find two stroke fuel line at the hardware store. It's made for lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers etc but also works quite well as drive shaft material.
Really impressive work 👍🏻 I think, everyone else (including myself 🤪) would have scrapped this nasty piece of s%#& at latest when the frame broke apart 🙈 But you saved this thing 🤩
all EMD E series locomotives were A1A - A1A, the "1" representing the empowered axle. No E unit was C - C. Diesel nomenclature was A, B, C, D. A meaning a powered axle, B meaning a pair of powered axles, C meaning 3 powered axles, & D meaning 4 powered axles per truck. There are no 5 axle powered trucks.
The HUGE motor is a Pittman DC-91 - considered to be an O-Scale motor at the time - that Hobbytown modified to fit. With that motor and its weight it could pull paint off the walls.
Why don't you set up a camera over your controller permanently so when you are doing you repair vids you can selectivity when editing the video show the draw, %throttle etc. better to have the footage and not use it most of the time than not have it. It would add a dynamic element to your videos. Great video as always! Could you do a video on track cleaning ?
I'm no physicist, but seems to me that it's plausible the torque and pull of the motor spinning, pulling on and driving things may have caused some extra stress on the original powered chassis helping the zinc pest to set in and ruin things
The chassis frame of the dummy can be swapped for the powered unit since it isn't broken. The lead horseshoe weight can be coaxed off and silicone glued to the dummy chassis. From there it is just a drivetrain swap. You will need the weight to pull a train. The brass wheels are the achilles heel of these engines. Oxidation will be a problem when it comes to smooth running with that nice and heavy motor. Runs good for now. Consider adding a LED headlight and paint touch up to make it great A A set Harrison.
nice presentation. well narrated and photographed.
zamack is an alloy which, like any mix of metals, can be contaminated.
bad zamack will crumble to dust. it's the impurities that cause the problem, not zinc. a lack of quality control in the smelter is the culprit.
Chinese "steel" of the 1950s also suffered a similar fate. backyard steelmakers pooled their production and that "steel" found it's way into many skyscrapers. eventually those buildings were no longer skyscrapers.
😮😮😮😮😅😅😅😅😊😊😊
That Pittman DC-91 is a legendary motor. Combining that with the heavy metal body and 8-wheel drive made this one of the most powerful HO scale diesels of all time, and Model Railroader had nothing but good things to say in their review back in the early 50's. I added an extra lead weight to my E7 just for the fun of it, and I think it could pull the track off the layout if I'm not careful!
Pittman motors are bulletproof!
I have no doubt, it seems way over engineered and I love it.
@@SMTMainline Are they 3 pole or 5 pole?
@@RJCormanRailfan 5
@@1471SirFrederickBanbury Sure, they're not skew wound, but they still have quite the torque!
Lot of work but you have a nice vintage train. Thanks for the video it all way good to watch.
Im a lifelong tinkerer mechanic and model railroader, and you never cease to amaze me as you never seem to fail to resurrect the seemingly impossible. My friends always asked me over the years why do I keep all the bits and pieces and your video show exactly why -- you never know when or why you may need something but some parts are near impossible to get new and this is why building a stock of used parts and pieces is key in fixing things --- even faced with zinc pest and a hopeless frame you saw the obvious solution in the B unit not only fixing the powered unit but the B unit as well. There are many who would have given up before they started.
My grandfather grew up on a farm in the 30s. They never threw anything out in order to keep the place running. I try to salvage as much as I can before recycling a locomotive and it's saved my bacon on these projects countless times.
Always loved the f and e units. They are also almost always dirt cheap
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...is there any locomotive you CANNOT fix????? This one, sir - was extremely impressive!!!!
I've been defeated many times but this wasn't one of them
Wow SMT. I thought this one was a goner after the chasis literally split in two. I'm always so scared about zink pest or mazac rot I have a lot of trains that date back to the 50s and 60s, but I take care of them every 3 months and so far nothing has developed yet. Your idea of using the dummy's chassis was something I didn't think of and even when the old chassis broke again, you glued it back together like it was nothing. Hat's off to your skill. Seriously, you're truly the train doctor. I watch all your vids and you help me understand how to do basic electrical work on a non running loco and now I already got 10 engines going again.
I was pretty sure it was done for too. I wouldn't worry too much about your locomotives if they've gone 50 to 60 years without showing signs of it.
I use a 3d printer if the chassis has succumbed from zinc pest. There are PLA filaments that are 95% metal and actually have some weight to them.
I think 3d printers are absolute game-changers in the model hobby, if you do not have one you should get one.
That was quite a challenge, SMT!
Good call on swapping the frames. That has the large DC91 motor. Built for O scale of the era, and has loads of power! If nothing else, the crumbling frame caught on camera makes good entertainment value!
It's nicer to watch in retrospect then it was in the moment. I didn't know if the frames were actually the same or not lol
Hopeless Cases chapter of the SMT manual. Great effort Harrison 🚂🇨🇦🎨
Serenity! We have a runner! Cheers from eastern TN
I would have said make a mold of the dummy chassis first, then you can cast new ones in Diecast, pewter whatever soft metals you like. That dummy unit was pristine and is a prime candidate for making the mold. Great video!
Completamente de acuerdo, porque seguir pegando o usando cosas ya en mal estado, no sé.
You must always feel a sense of accomplishment when you tear an engine apart and are able to put it back together I'd be totally lost I like watching your videos and overcoming the detriments of these engines
These locos get worse and worse but your work and videos only get better. I laughed out loud when the chassis broke, then laughed again when it broke again. Am I bad person? Great job as always.
I got pretty worried when it broke the second time, It wasn't clear if the dummy had the correct replacement lol
Other than CraftyFoxe, you are my favorite HO scale youtuber, good job on the Locomotive!
Thanks 👍
I have never heard of zinc pest before. Thanks for the info, and the presentation
I learned about it years ago after my grandmother's 1951 Rivarossi Hiawatha became a victim of it. Luckily they still make replacement parts for them.
Great repair! Good thing you were able to get both running, it sure makes quite the pair to have going around on your layout :) Excellent video as usual!
I love to see how much you’re progressing with the layout and running longer trains on it!
Thanks, I've been trying my best to improve the layout, basement, trains and video quality lately so it means a lot to hear that.
@@SMTMainline If you keep it up you might have to expand your basement 😂
Another great rescue Harrison! Keep'em rolling partner!
Smt, I think this has been the best vid yet. Great camera work!!
Thank you!
Man, if theres a broken train out there it can be fixed only by the legendary SMT Mainline. Keep up the good work!!!
Thank you!
Mammoth job well done, can't get over the size of that motor 👍
Nice i like it! Yeah i had a zinc pest problem too with my 1978 life like p&le gp38-2 the original chassis shell was so bad i had a spare one and it worked pretty good pretty much a runner. I'm Glad you got these restored here man!
This was probably your biggest project since the Yellowstone Sir!
Another great repair, Harrison! Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to the next video!
Such a talented lad mate well done
Happy for you Harrison
Without a doubt, Harrison comes thru with a miracle again. Zinc Pest, gotta love it -- Not. Diaphragms between passenger cars are still available if you need some. You do need a real wheel cleaner though.
Thanks for sharing. 👍🐾👍
Thanks David, this I felt in over my head on this one.
@@SMTMainline good thing you had donor parts, buddy. It's always smart to have a Locomotive Graveyard. Plus there's never a doubt you can get anything back in working order and riding the rails.
I am impressed Harrison, you live up to the name I call you. THE WIZARD . 👌👍😇
A very intricate repair. The only hobbytown I have is an Alco RS3. It runs good. I always enjoy your repair videos, thanks😎😏👌👍!
Wow! What a fabulous restoration. So nice to see these beautiful E units back up and running again. I'm sure they will look beautiful next to your Dreyfus Hudson as well!
The nyc paint scheme is one of my favorites. Glad to see it working
Harrison MacGyver does it again. Using any available parts on hand. Well done, from Texas.
On my modern HobbyTown loco the shaft is supposed to slip back and forth between the front/rear truck 16:16 as the trucks swivel around curves, the rear truck depends on the shaft from the front truck (all wheel drive) and there needs to be a little back and forth play with that shaft between trucks
There is a splined second in the middle (the 1inch brass bit) which does this. They might have just used the hoses on older models but I imagine that would have caused issues.
Oh okay, so long as it works and there's no binding, then you're in business. Really crafty repair, SMT. Well done.
Great save! Thank goodness you had that dummy train frame! Someone should invent zinc pest bug spray! 😜🤣🤣🤣
Zinc pest-b-gone
Nice work! After I watched this video, I had to take my (much newer) Bachmann NYC E7 for a run. It ran good!
Thank you for these rebuild videos. It has inspired me to slow down on buying new RtR at $$$ and finding the old & compromised units for ¢¢ on the $ and bring them back to life. I find it so rewarding to get something old running again, and I don't think I would have gotten their without you providing the inspiration and detailed 'how to'. Thanks again for helping me up my modeling game and bring life to old units before I pass them on down to the next generation of hobbyist some years from now.
I'm glad you found them helpful.
Great job getting it running again to enjoy for more years to come. A great conversation piece to boot.
WOW!! Great video Harrison. I do not have the patience or expertise that you have to repair these locos, but I do enjoy watching you perform your magic. Once again congratulations on another fine effort, and I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks, this one was a little more tricky than I'm used to.
Always, great work. There is a certain "Feel Good" feeling when you get the old ones restored and running. Nice job.
I enjoyed and learned something new again on your well edited video! Thanks!!!
Thank you so much!
I can’t believe smt is about to hit 100k on UA-cam I remember I been watching him before 10 and seeing every single video that he has posted on his UA-cam.Awesome video smt
I'm amazed it's got this far.
@@SMTMainline It has been a journey you are just my favorite you tuber
I always love your videos and learn something every time, thank you
Really nice job improvising. Can't wait to see it in a live stream
Great work nice to see a classic loco run again
Love it how you fix it all and get it working good on you SMT
Thanks!
Again a remarkable resurrection. I agree it is fun to watch yur layout details show up. But do you have any video or pix of yur layout befor starting scenery
Excellent video as always. The piece you took of the dummy engine fits into the body shell. It holds the frame and body together, it's on the dummy body. I have a extra frame if wanted.
I think I'll just roll with what I have but thanks for the offer
I love the F And E units too I got those two in n scale in broadway limited which is a good brand for n scale high detail runs quite good but instead of the dummy E unit I got a b unit for it it runs good but the coupler broke on the powered E unit sadly but I’m going to fix it 😮good restoration Harrison.
I always love watching you do repair videos in f units
The king of tinkering and repair
I like watching your videos, some of the locoomotives you get and work on are good stuff
Amazing video love all types of trains either bad or good love f and e these are pretty cool models I have an f7 and I love it!😁
This video was made on my birthday, what dumb luck!!
E8 in any scale is an impressive loco. NYC Lighting stripes are well suited to this engine. This is a beautiful consist.👍👍
Nice work recovering that old loco Harrison. Might I suggest instead of applying CA to the broken ends of the frame maybe use a popsicle stick or similar and fasten it with epoxy along the length of the inside of the frame. This will give it a lot more support. I think it's time you got a 3D printer!
That probably would have helped. I'll keep an eye on the current frame to make sure history doesn't repeat its self.
Way to go Harrison, you brought another one back to life. I did the exact same thing you did with the broken chassis. I have 2 N scale Atlas SD24 locomotives. They were both powered. But unfortunately one of the chassis broke. I was only able to salvage it and make a dummy by gluing the parts that hold the trucks on into the shell and I glued the fuel tank on as well. I'm amazed at your ability to make something run that is on its last leg.
I'm glad they choose to use identical parts or this probably never would have worked.
@@SMTMainline that's true.
looks sweet love any type of old ho scale locomotives love to fix them nice job keep them coming 👍
The one thig that I don't like about some of those cast zamac locos of that era was the lake of provision for mounting a coupler on the pilots, not just steam, but also some diesels.
Am I seeing the color correct ?? That paint should be two shades of gray with the lighter shade of gray for the lighting stripe instead of green and yellow. Those units would look great in New York Central " Century " green which was jade green and with the cigar band herald. Or even solid black with the cigar band herald.
Beautiful train. Great job figuring something out. That dummy engine is basically a Marx train now. Never heard of a frame coming apart like that.
That is an awesome job and great looking 🎉
That was a rough one Harrison, But I didn't doubt for a minute that you would come up with a solution even if it meant turning the dummy engine into a runner and tossing the dummy unit. but glad you salvaged both. Very well done...
Thanks, I tried not to let anything go to waste.
I love the NYC f units paint scheme
Wow that was a tough one. Nice job. BTW, I believe Nick at Hobbytown of Boston still sells parts for some of those old locos.
That's good to know.
I like the creative solution on switching frames to make an operational locomotive along with the solution for the dummy locomotive. It's great to see a pair of old HobbyTown's ride the rails again.
Thanks, I try not to let anything go to waste.
Silicon Rubber Tubing might be a suitable replacement for the drive shafts - it comes in various sizes
Very cool!!! Nice work on that restoration.
Thanks for the video. Love to see effort rewarded.
Appreciate that.
Great job! That almost looks like a drill motor in there. It might be possible to 3D print a chassis for that. I did it for a Bachmann one time. Impressive restoration.
I'm gonna have to buy one. There are just too many choices
Try some silicone vacuum line at your local auto store. They have a very small hole in the center.
Really enjoyed this episode with aloha
Very nice repair. I think its neat that they have helical gears . I wonder why they stopped doing that because to me its really cool and seems to be more efficient vs gears you see in modern locos. I noticed the lighting in the video is actually alot different then the iphone camera. It actually looks really good. Added benefit too you can take pictures without having notifications etc messing with the camera being its not a phone. Very nice man very nice
I'm guessing it's a cost thing but who knows.
@@SMTMainline yeah I know maybe. Just I think was a great idea. But probably made manufacturing slower because of having to make sure the wheels are going the right way
You said be proud 🎉
Eh mazak rot, not new to me, fixed two hornby 31 chassis with this Issue and they run as well as the day they were made, they even still look the part. Shows that even some new locos are more robust than the old ones :D
These videos actually can help my own locomotives that I’m restoring. Other than that, love seeing these otherwise junk locomotives run once again.
I'm happy to hear that!
if i could do what you do i would be one happy soul! you work magic on those old trains.
im always glad to see old trains revived and saved from the scrap pile, to me they are pieces of history and worthy of being saved.
You should fish plate those fractures. Place some really thin plates across the fracture then screw them on either side. Put the plate on which ever side causes the least interference.
Well done
Fine looking units! Again, the scars and wear of its lifetime give it a personality. Looks great.
Could the chassis that carried the motor originally, because of lubricants, slight warming and cooling, and other materials possibly created the environment for the pest?
That sounds about right. Who knows what kind of place it was sitting, if it was an attic it might have been exposed to a lot of heat during the summer.
I've got a single HT E7...but all axles are driven... but there's a short somewhere. You've "Got A Runner! Serenity! "IT'S ALIVE!!!" shouted Frankenstein to his moving monster... Ever seen the Mel Brooks version of that movie? Pure classic! Good job, Harrison. Um, have you ever taken inventory of your locomotives and rollingstock? John British Columbia
I watched the Mel Brooks version before the original, it's well done.
I see that your phone is between your face and the workbench - this set-up is awesome. We can see exactly what you see. I wonder what kind of phone mount do you use? Thank you.
It works well, it was some generic stand from Amazon.
Great tip on using fiberglass pencils; bought a 3 pack from Amazon and they work great for cleaning inside and outside of rails.
I like them for cleaning commutators. They are theoretically better for cleaning track since they don't contain rubber like the track brights although I use them sparingly since I hate glass fibres.
Zinc pest and marcasite: I used to collect rocks. Once I got a nice piece of marcasite- with facets in an unusual spherical form, quite unique.
Turns out marcasite crystals break down in air 🥲. At least zinc pest doesn't leave sulfuric acid for your other train stock!
I have had an issue like this on a varney where the zink chassis crumbles I have seen it happened on diesel's I have yet to see it happen on 1 of my steam locomotives
The company Dorfan, which made O and Standard Gauge trains in the prewar era, made a number of locomotives with bodies made entirely out of diecast metal- almost all of them have been ravaged by zinc pest. And yet, there's people who have managed to repair and restore some of them.
Sometimes, diecast products manufactured in east asia suffer from poor quality control in the metal and it's possible for trains made in recent history to have zinc pest issues.
Although a rare occurence, some postwar Lionel trains have come down with zinc pest- saw a pretty badly ruined 682 at a show one year that was missing something like half its parts, and the frame was totally destroyed by zinc pest.
You always have to be very careful when buying stuff, zinc pest can be very unforgiving!
REALLY enjoyed this vid, very satisfying!😊
Glad you enjoyed!
That's a very nice locomotive you have there Harrison. I recently just bought a athern blue box Santa Fe PA1 and it came with no drive shaft and I was wondering if heat shrink tubing will work?
It probably wouldn't be great on an Athearn. Try to find two stroke fuel line at the hardware store. It's made for lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers etc but also works quite well as drive shaft material.
Oh ok thank you very much I'll try it
Really impressive work 👍🏻
I think, everyone else (including myself 🤪) would have scrapped this nasty piece of s%#& at latest when the frame broke apart 🙈
But you saved this thing 🤩
Paint chipped on the locomotives and small consist of cars, you can do Penn Central era.
Persistence gets it done once again. Way to go Harrison.
That E7 is like an E7C4, with the 4 powered wheels just like an ES44C4 from BNSF
all EMD E series locomotives were A1A - A1A, the "1" representing the empowered axle. No E unit was C - C. Diesel nomenclature was A, B, C, D. A meaning a powered axle, B meaning a pair of powered axles, C meaning 3 powered axles, & D meaning 4 powered axles per truck.
There are no 5 axle powered trucks.
Thanks for the great video ! (NZ).
The HUGE motor is a Pittman DC-91 - considered to be an O-Scale motor at the time - that Hobbytown modified to fit. With that motor and its weight it could pull paint off the walls.
Could it be the torque of the motor over the years that caused the drive chasis to crack?
It certainly didn't help but it wouldn't have caused the metal to swell and warp like it did.
Why don't you set up a camera over your controller permanently so when you are doing you repair vids you can selectivity when editing the video show the draw, %throttle etc. better to have the footage and not use it most of the time than not have it. It would add a dynamic element to your videos. Great video as always! Could you do a video on track cleaning ?
It would kinda be in the way, it might work on an adjustable arm though.
@@SMTMainline Thanks for reading and replying to comments it really makes it feel like a community.
@@callmebigpapa The community is great, there are always people willing to give advice and a hand 👍
Cool video
I'm no physicist, but seems to me that it's plausible the torque and pull of the motor spinning, pulling on and driving things may have caused some extra stress on the original powered chassis helping the zinc pest to set in and ruin things
It probably didn't help once the zinc pest started. I've never seen a motor strip out a gear so badly.
The chassis frame of the dummy can be swapped for the powered unit since it isn't broken. The lead horseshoe weight
can be coaxed off and silicone glued to the dummy chassis. From there it is just a drivetrain swap. You will need the
weight to pull a train. The brass wheels are the achilles heel of these engines. Oxidation will be a problem when it comes
to smooth running with that nice and heavy motor. Runs good for now. Consider adding a LED headlight and paint touch up
to make it great A A set Harrison.