eBay Find - Broken Amtrak SDP40F - Can We Make It Run?
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- I purchased this broken Amtrak SDP40F off eBay, weeks ago in a massive lot of locomotives for roughy five dollars. After testing the lot, this one turned out be in non working order. Today I decided to have a go at getting it running again.
Fiberglass pencil: amzn.to/3tPeC8m (affiliate) Canada
Fiberglass pencil: amzn.to/2VeB6CU (affiliate) USA - Розваги
Awesome job Harrison! Serenity!! 😎
Thanks
You are a certified "Train Surgeon". no doubts about that.. You are really not afraid to open up these locomotives.
I like those SDP40F's and the paint on the Amtrak. I find the same problem with the trucks and wheels on the Athern's. There's a lot of parts and a little trouble to get back together, but they work well. Maybe replace that contact bar on the top and solder wires on for better contact.
I was going to suggest the same thing
Proudly to say i've had this identical engine you just repaired. I've had the SDP 40 since the 1990's! You did a good job repairing this blue box classic Athearn HO SCALE! 👋👋👋👋
With the bit of maintenance and care these things seem to last practically forever.
Like the penn central unit, wouldve been more realistic unfixed lol
Or derailed, these SDP40Fs were known for that too!
@@randallellison6421 Lol yup
Should be fine out on the main seeing as it was just an Amtrak painted FP45
@@garysprandel1817 yeah, I jumped the gun a little bit, forgot the locomotive is actually an F45.
Oh man...
That engine brings back memories a friend mine had it a dummy and passenger cars back in the 70s 👍
Blue box FP45 I was always a sucker for them in the Milwaukee Road Streamliners livery on my layouts
I have repaired Lionel and AF trains for years; however, the older HO is a real challenge. I have learned from you. Thanks.
Lionel is always a pain to repair do to the parts costing a ton of money
Glad to hear that. I personally find the older Lionels tricky to work on since some of them have rivets instead of bolts.
@@SMTMainline yeah Lionel is big on rivets for some reason
Super cool love the colour scheme
It's mint!
@@SMTMainline Haha 👌
I keep seeing you everywhere
It runs more reliable than the real SDP40F's ever did.
Also, fun fact 1 SDP40F still exists, but its in its Santa Fe Freight Configuration (SDF40-2) its currently at Boulder City, Nevada, owned by Dynamic Rail and sometimes runs on the Nevada Southern Railroad museum excursion trains.
The SDP40F was a superbly reliable runner, being an SD40-2 with a cowl over it and steam generators added. Its main problem was that it tended to derail at high speed on less-than-stellar track. The problem was hypothesized to occur due to water sloshing around in the steam generators, with some blame assigned to the HT-C truck, but the FRA later concluded that the issue was in fact the lightweight baggage cars that were being used at the time experiencing harmonic vibrations when coupled to this much heavier locomotive. It's worth noting that the SDP40F had no problems at high speed on ATSF track, just on the myriad of crappy eastern roads' equally crappy tracks.
Ultimately, Amtrak decided that the GP40 was a much better platform, cut its losses on the SDP40F, and ordered the F40PH instead. ATSF took a bunch of the SDP40Fs and used them liberally for many years, where they proved to be every bit the equal of the SD40-2.
Trivia: the SDP40Fs teething troubles were why Conrail ordered SD40-2s with SD trucks instead of HT-C trucks, which were a suspected possible culprit at the time, later disproven. Ultimately, all this did for them was give them a fleet of units with inferior adhesion to a standard SD40-2.
@@ErickC exactly! Once Santa Fe got ahold of these units and rebuilt them for freight service, they were superb units, many lasting well into the BNSF era! Another fun fact about these units they also had issues dealing with crew visibility so to rectify the problem, Santa Fe cut "notches" in each side of the nose which improved visibility out of the windshield. Made them really stand out from the crowd as well!
Also two others in storage at a testing track
The notch was for a walkway on the front of the unit. Amtrak didn't see the need for a walkway on the front as they only used the SDP-40F's on trains where no switching theoretically was not needed.
Technically, the One Surviving SDP40F may not be the Only One. There were two that became EMD Test Units, and their whereabouts are Unknown.
I bought the same exact engine when I was in middle school in 1977. It was my favorite engine. I kept it until 2004 when I sold it. Athearn Blue Box are incredible. I paid $27.00 back then that was alot.
Nice restoration on a cool Athearn blue box SDP40F Harrison! The real ones were lousy passenger locomotives, but at least they went on to have good careers on Santa Fe and BNSF! Glad Athearn eventually did make the the Santa Fe/BNSF versions, even if we had to wait 40 years to get them!
That Athearn locomotive is not an SDP40F, it is an Athearn FP45, I know, I used to have 3 of them.
The rear top has components for a steam generator. That makes it a FP45. Athearn never made the SDP40F before the RTR or Genesis line.
The SDP40F had steam generators - two of them. It was Amtrak's last locomotive so equipped, and one of the main hypotheses for its derailment problems was water sloshing around inside of the steam generators.
The easiest way that you can tell this is an FP45 is the trucks (this model has the SD type, not the correct HT-C), the end platforms (SDP40F should not have a platform at the front - which is why ATSF had to cut notches in the nose when they added them), and the presence of a third set of carbody doors near the rear (SDP40F lacks these).
@@ErickC The trucks before the DASH 2 line was introduced in 1972, January was called Flexicoil. The HT-C trucks are 1foot 6 inches longer which accounts for the SD40-2 series having the famous porches.
@@crsrdash-840b5 : Marketing terms aside, EMD's master parts catalog makes it plain that, as of 1961, it was internally referred to as simply the "SDxx" truck:
www.rr-fallenflags.org/manual/emd-mpc-toc.pdf
When the HT-C was introduced, they started referring to it as the "conventional three-axle truck" in publications, like this one that was published through ASME:
utahrails.net/loconotes/EMD_HTC-Truck_ASME_72-RT-3_March-1972.pdf
Before later MPCs started using the term "Flexicoil":
www.rr-fallenflags.org/manual/emd-mpc-1528.pdf
From where I stand, it's a retcon. The SD7 operator manual does refer to the trucks as "fully flexible," however. Take this in the context of the so called "Flexicoil B" truck, which EMD called a "Flexible Truck Assembly" in 1961. Nowhere will you find the term "Flexicoil" used in an EMD publication before the 1970s.
My best guess? The evidence points to the term "Flexicoil" having been created when the HT-C was introduced as an extension of the "Flexible Truck" language and as a way to distinguish the new truck from the old.
Nice restoration that loco will look great pulling some Amtrak passenger cars.
One of the best runners so far love the videos
Of course, she's a runner. Good old Athearn "blue box". My only tweak would be soldering a wire between the top of the motor clip and the tabs on the trucks. Maybe even a blob of solder on the bottom motor clip as well. But that's just me.
That's a great improvement for Athearn models before the Genesis Line. I know a lot of modelers that replace that power strip on top for better contract performance.
@@crsrdash-840b5 I have it on all my Athearn blue box locos, except the dummies.
Looks like the FP45 body and as someone noted painted like a different model. Love the early "broken arrow" AMTRAK paint scheme. Like your repair videos=keep up the good work.
It's interesting they would decide to do that instead of just called them FP45s.
Roof fan arrangement says which body you have as they are quite similar but not identical. I have the same #503 as a dummy and my box says FP45 for a measly $13.75 (long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away) when I bought it at that price. Wheel base and axle spacing about identical to E6 or E7 bodies which means almost any drive from one of those (Hobbytown is a good one) could easily be installed in the Athearn body.
Nice save! Good idea for cleaning the wheels too.
Thanks
Thank you. Bought 2 off of eBay. One was missing 2 spines and they got power but rubbed rough. This video CHANGED Everything. ❤
Glad to hear that
You killed it that’s an amazing runner!!!!
Amazing what a little love can do to a $5.00 neglected engine…kudos to you!!!
Another SMT manual chapter. I pick up an Athearn today. A unused SD45 Cotton Belt Bicentennial.Fannnnncy.
Great restoration, SMT! But I would use track power and alcohol swabs to clean the wheels.
I personally use a Dremel with a small wire to clean the treads on the old Athearn blue box wheel sets.
I wouldn't do that, the scratching it does on the wheels leave a place to collect carbon and the wheels never
get really clean. Plus removes the plating. For an old Blue box you may not care; but as an FYi
@@jcure on the older blue box engines there is no plating. I do agree with you on the newer Athearn engine wheels that you should not use a wire wheel on plated wheels.
Great idea running the trucks off the chassis to check for gear synchronization.
Good job! It is amazing what a little TLC can do .
Fine runner you have there……after you’re restore of course…….have a great weekend Harrison
Lol, I just found one of these at my hobby shop when I was there. I fixed it up too. What a coincidence.
Great job Harrison, nice video
Thanks.
That was a great job Nice Trick,, Cleaning those wheels🌟
When you use its own power to clean the wheels, doesn't that risk getting grit into the gears?
As to motor noise, I've been in the hobby since 1985. We spent years trying to quiet down DC models, then invested hundreds of dollars to add prime mover sounds to them with sound chips and then DCC. BUT, as you just showed, we always had motors that reflected load and speed, we just never appreciated it! 😉
Hahahaha, that's my sentiment on DCC sound exactly. Especially because not a single DCC sound unit sounds good because of the speaker size. It's just white noise with vague locomotive sounds buried under it.
There is a small risk of grit getting into the gears but since it's mostly enclosed the majority of it will just fall to the sides.
Good Fixing SMT Mainline! You're very good job 👍❤️
Thanks
I've always loved the Athearn Blue Box locomotives. So smooth and reliable. I've got a bunch of them.
beautiful locomotive
Great run!! fast&slow for only $5 !!!. Congrats!!
Thanks
The Athearn BB model is an FP45 painted like Amtrak’s SDP40F since they shared a somewhat similar carbody style. Great to see the old large Athearn drive and steel flywheels in that puppy 😄
Very interesting
@@SMTMainlinethe yellow mount for the motor on my sd f45 just broke what should I do
Great job on the repair. Almost all the locomotives that I can find that are under $50 have a noisy pankake engine. The fact you didn't and for $5 means you got a great buy.
I can find you some good eBay engine deals
It's rare to get one for this cheap, usually they go for around $30.
If it was a real SDP40F you would probably have to remove the water heater feature and replace it with HEP and probably some other modding to it so that way it does not crash and probably have to waste more millions to fix it again so that it can crash again (sorry for that long paragraph)
E
Oh hello there
A
There is some piece of railroad history here which I know nothing about.
@@SMTMainline hey SMT how do you find your lots of locomotives
You have to demonstrate sometime,putting on some Katie couplers on These engines,,, They are metal couplers they're awesome,,,
great video
The real ones were probably the most powerful passenger engines made at that time, at 3000hp.
Seems their derailment problems stemmed from steam heating equipment mounted too high inside the car body- high weight distribution - and the combination of a light baggage car being coupled to a trailing SDP40F on curved trackage. The SDP40F is basically, a decendent of the SD40-2 freight locomotive.
The FRA later concluded that a combination of the baggage cars and poor track was the sole culprit (the locomotive never had a problem on ATSF rails - just on crappy eastern rails).
@@ErickC Thanks for the info! It was always puzzling to me. I know C&O and Burlington Northern banned them for a while, at least. Burlington Northern personnel called the locomotives, "track breakers," lol.
That's very interesting, thanks for sharing :)
@@tommythomason6187 : yep - the lateral oscillation tended to bend rails out of gauge.
HEY! I have this same exact model, unfortunately she was completely gutted when I got her, even the gearing in the bogies are gone.. Shes just an empty shell that rolls, a bogus mount is broken, and for some reason i gotnthe engine with a different shell on the chassis and had to switch it out (I got it in an eBay box lot). Mine will most likely never run but it's good to see what it wouldve looked like in better condition, love the content!
Best thing to do with an old BB Athearn is get rid of the factory motor mounts and install after market screw type mounts and then get rif of the electrical wiper and solder in a piece of wire to replace it.
That's an older athearn because the flywheels are gray. most likely it will have metal wormgear's as well. very similar to my up gp38 might even be the same drivetrain. You can tell when they are newer because if you take one apart newer ones will have nylon wormgear's and brass flywheels.
They also have the older style of truck design where the bearing are located in the side frames instead of beside the gears. All the ones I've worked on have brass worm gears.
When he mentions its Athearn Blue box I am always like "Of course we can make it run". You really need to go out of your way mishandling an Athearn for it not run or at least try. There's a reason most manufactures use the exact or very similar drive system of the Athearn design, it just works!
Nice job
Good job Harrison😊💕🇺🇸
Thanks
Wow great restoration serenity! . I like how simple athearn is and they all pretty much have the same design thour out years. I believe the date code on the frame if that what 36071 is im thinking 71 is 1971. The other 3 numbers im unsure of . I know my athearn says 42005 maybe it's different on this model.
71 sounds about right to me. This would have been a pretty fancy model in it's time.
Did you notice that the worm gear bearings are the same as the axle gear bearings?
Good plan on Athearn's part in case you need and have spare parts to harvest from.
John Kamloops, BC
p.s. After cleaning the wheels, ya ought to remove the specks of dirt from the trucks, as the loco rattles down the track, those specks will fall to the rails and mess up your cleaning job.
Just bought one for $25 USD at a local train show! A bit noisy but runs well otherwise! Very satasfied with my purchase!
Quick question, how do you find your eBay lots. I always try to find them but never end up finding them
He made a video on it last week lol it’s called buying shady model trains on ebay
As Nathan said, my video of buying "Shady" model trains on eBay pretty much reveals how I go about buying this stuff.
@@SMTMainline Thanks!
Do you think you will do another locomotive collection video soon ?
I do believe so.
Nice find...it would be hard to break an Athearn. The motor noise is better than any current sound system out there. I personally prefer to hard wire that top clip, soldering a lead to each truck contact, then to the motor brush cover.
NEW Subscriber: Interesting. I've had good luck on ebay. I did go crazy on a brand new Athearn HO BNSF dummy. It was never used. Try to buy new stuff, out of stock. 👍 Thanks for videos. "A", I grew up in Michigan and now live near Fort Worth, Texas. Eaglegards...
SDP40Fs are awesome and there the PRE40PH
Totally
Yes
Actually an FP45, there very similar. You should take the hand rails off the front and then it'll really look the part !
If we could ever get you to check the wheels for proper gauge with the NMRA standard before running I'd give you an A for the Day SMT !
Oh my God lol favorite video now lol
The question was never "can" you get an old Athearn to run again but what was it going to need.
I have one that had a bent frame as well; I took all the parts off and put it in a bench vise and gave it a few nudges to straighten it out.
Maybe you should do a video about the evolution of Amtrak’s locomotives in ho scale again but with the ho scale SDP40F
Looks like the train with the spider web in it
Athearn blue box and Proto engines have a practically identical drive system.
I have one of these and it runs fine but there no couplers on it and I don't know how to put them on. Can you make a video on it?
At least there’s not a spider in this one
Yeah, happy to see that.
Also, the Athearn FP45 was first made by Athearn about 1970 and there were only 12 copies ever made, 9 for the ATSF and 3 for the Milwaukie Road. The SDP40F wasnot made until the late 1970s, as the prototype FP45 was mase by EMD in about 1967.
The SDP40F was long out of production in the late 1970s, superseded by the F40PH in 1976. It was made from 1973 to 1974.
Others have said Athearn used their FP45s to mimic SDP40s
The Kay Dee coupler guide in my old Walther's catalog states #38 for the Athearn FP45 & #37 for the Athearn SDP40. There was a controversy concerning use of WD40 in a model locomotive; but most modelers would be okay with using WD40 to help remove the rust from that flywheel.
WD-40 is a poor lubricant but I don't see anything wrong with using a bit to clean up rust or to get stuff unseized.
Modern Athearn nickel silver wheelsets drop right in and will improve its performance!
👍 cool
What types of lubricants do you use? I noticed the Labelle 107 but what was that white paste on the worm gears?
Fun idea for a project an engine roundhouse and turntablele
What did you put on the gearboxes when you were reassembling it? I've never seen anything white like that for model trains
Need to replace the metal power strip with a 14g wire btw the truck pick up towers and the top brass motor clip.
No he doesn't, the metal strip works just fine if its aligned properly.
It would work slightly better but the parts seem to be in decent shape and soldering makes the engine harder to take apart in the future.
I have not seen that loco type in amtract
This is a FP-45 painted Amtrak. Athearn blue box locks are
super easy to work on and diagnose problems. The worst I've seen is an F-7 that was put together with what looks like salvaged parts.
By the way would you like an Athearn F-7 blue box? It kinda runs, but isn't worth my time to fix. Is customs a problem for donations?
Thx IGN
Did you reverse direction in which the trains run now for a reason?
super que bonita locomotora
Mind if I ask you a question? What type of oil are you using?
Dremel tool is a good investment
I agree
I love h.o Amtrak trains
FWIW, it's an FP45. I don't believe Amtrak actually had any, they were so new in 1971 that railroads who had them chose to keep them and send older E and F units to Amtrak.
These almost never not run, although they can have a few minor issues. The oddest one I had was a couple of engines this vintage the bearings on the worm gears locked up and I had to free them up. It was a bit of galvanic corrosion I think. They ran fine after.
Interesting to hear that. I wonder why Athearn decided to make them.
@@SMTMainline Athearn introduced these in 1973 along with the freight only F45. Neither one was owned by a lot of railroads (only Santa Fe and Milwaukee Road bought FP45s), so they invented a few fantasy paint schemes to sell more of them. Amtrak was one choice because of the similar looking SDP40F that was first built in 1973. But they also offered Baltimore & Ohio, which never existed in any form.
Athearn was based in California so they tended to lean towards making things the western railroads owned.
Sd-dash40 I think
I see
👍
Hi smt when you going to have your friends over again that was great
I bet it might start and then stop
WOW
epik
For some reason on the box of mine it said "Amtrak FP45"
Apparently Athearn used their FP45s to mimic SDP40s
@@SMTMainline When Athearn produced these over 40 years ago they weren't going to bother making a "one-off" model of the SDP40F. Instead they just painted and lettered their FP45 in Amtrak phase 1 colors. They also sold these in Santa Fe "warbonnet" red and silver, Milwaukee Road, Baltimore & Ohio, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific, Pennsylvania, and Southern Pacific. Only the first two are correct, and the Milwaukee version is incorrect in that the real ones did not have dynamic brakes.
If you can't get any engine running you can use them as a dummy engine use them as a second engine to look like a second engine is pulling train
🤝👍
😀👍
And your Amtrak SDP40F is missing it's horn.
It's clearly had a rough go.
@@SMTMainline Indeed.
👍🏻😜👍🏻
You still didn't fix the top electrical contact, it was still out when you put the shell on, Slow down a bit and take your time so you don't have to go back and do things again.
Missed that detail but it's not hard to correct.
I have 3, 1 BN, and 2 Amtrak
That's nice
Well folks in today's video...
Thats an fp45. Not and sdp40f
Apparently Athearn used their FP45s to mimic SDP40s
@@SMTMainline no. They look very differnt. Perhaps it was a mismatched box. Idk. But they r completly differnt looking locos.
It's an FP45
Apparently Athearn used their FP45s to mimic SDP40s
This is the most realistic model of the 40F. It’s faulty, and…. just faulty haha.
The devil is in the detail, haha
you still exist
Yeah