The pre-Blue Box Athearn Pittman style motors were not the smoothest, nor was the gear drive. The rubber band drive units were slightly less expensive, and my more common, the rubber bands smooth out the pulses of the three pole motor. But all locomotives of that era lack the smooth low speed action we've become accustomed to,, emulating the O guage toy trains they were meant to replace. Homes we're getting smaller, and room was at a premium. Great job. The loco seems to run about as good as I remember back in the day.
Cool restoration Harrison! Interesting story on these old Athearn geeps is that they were sometimes referred to as 'wide body' GP9s as the car body was much wider than the prototype measurements. It actually wouldn't be until Life-Like released its Proto 2000 model that model railroaders would get a much more accurate model of these locomotives. Athearn currently has a very nice GP9 model in it Genesis line with road name accurate details, LED lighting, and Tsunami2 sound. All that being said, these 1950s Athearn units don't pop up all that often and it's great to see one here!
Athearn models do have pretty cool drives they’re built like army tanks especially the blue box to genesis era which I currently don’t own any genesis models at the moment.
There were correct width GP7/9 body kits you could get in the 80's. They were made by Front Range and were designed to fit on Athearn chassis (ones with the narrower motor of course) with some modification to the frame. I have 5 I bought from someone many years ago (and all were custom painted Santa Fe). I'm sure before that some modelers took AHM's GP-18 and did some kitbashing to make a 7 or 9 also.
The original Lionel corporation sold a magnetizer to service stations to remagnetize HO motors. You might be able to restore the magnets strength by laying a strong magnet on the motor magnet over night. Good video. Thanks
Just anothther excellent job of restoring the Locomotive. I enjoy so much watching your videos and listening to you talk about these trains. Thank you Harrison, you are a good man.
I have a Athearn A unit with the same drive shown here. I was given this unit about 50 years ago but I was not told that the teeth on one drive gear were all worn off. I took it apart the other day and found that to be the problem. Its too bad that I cannot find that drive gear so I just put it back the box and maybe one day I might find what I need. I really wish I had the room like you have. Keep up the good work.
I bought a F7A of similar vintage -- the drive has the same motor, and the frame the same truck mount tabs. Alas, one of the tabs broke off, possibly in shipping, but I swapped in a much more modern drive chassis!
I've seen the old style Athearn motors disintegrate around the magnet to powder. So, I'm not too surprised to see it be a little weak. You could try to remagnetize the core to make it stronger, but, in the end, it is what it is for the age. So far, it works, and I would roll with it until the issue needs to be truly addressed. Also, it's nice to see this drive being repaired if I would run across one. It's not the first time seeing this drive, but my experience dates to the rubber band era of Athearn before the flywheel drive.
Harrison, you have outdone yourself once again man! History lives! I know the older 50's 60's Athearn motors are so temperamental and prone to overheating, but they are pretty stout if you have all the parts in working order. You're assessment of current draw was spot on too. Perfect mechanical restoration! .....Now try triple heading 3 of those suckers on an old bachmann power pack without tripping a breaker.!!LOL! Have fun!
@@SMTMainline in the 1970s Athearn made improved shell designs with finer details and better handrails. But, If you've ever had one apart on the bench, the best of all the improvements was definitely, to the "clip together" truck design with its worm gear and splined drive shaft transmission, sporting a "thinner" motor. With detailed plastic side frames and a simple riveted electrical contact design, it's easy to see why so many mrr repair techs still admire the thoughtfulness that was put into all the bluebox mechanism. No surprises that It still works just as good today as 50 years ago and has also been faithfully copied by both Lifelike and later Walthers motive power and is quite possibly the oldest surviving HO scale drivetrain on the maket which is still in continuous production!
Hello Harrison I’m Aiden and you can probably tell from my UA-cam profile pick I’m from the uk but the trains here where I am are awesome and I love to ride them or go to my hometown train station and watch them arrive and depart I think you channel is awesome! and can not wait for future vids keep up the amazing work 😁😁😉😉
don't know if it was already posted, but it would be a good idea to replace/remagnetize the magnet if it is too weak. The weaker the magnetic field, the more current the motor will draw. Imagine if the magnet were to be completely removed, the motor would essentially become a short circuit. The weaker magnet also increases the "balancing speed" and reduces the torque of the motor, similar to how field shunting works in real trains. Though in this case, the magnet may be too weak and potentially will damage the windings.
SMT Mainline, I have been watching since almost the beginning I love you videos and you have inspired me to make my own train table, keep doing what you are doing, Sincerely, CSXRailfan
Yours is a second-generation Athearn gear drive from around 1962. Note that it has herringbone gears and bushings--the original (1960) version had straight gears and no bushings, which didn't last very long. A third gen geardive had much the same components, but white plastic housings. You should test the loco without the shell first! Final assy only after all is working well.
I had one of those but it had a normal Athearn black motor in it, but every time I'd try to get it to go, it made the motor run very very hot. I got rid of that whole chassis, and replaced it with a regular 1970's chassis with early steel flywheels and cast trucks.
You actually made a very good point. I own many Athearn Locomotives. All of the ones that have the motor that you are showing here, mine have been replaced with Athern's newer drive units and flywheels. As for the gear units, clean them out and grease them with Labelle 101, and they should be good to go.
I've always wanted a Santa Fe GP9, they are really great engines, this one is pretty odd though. When will you do another unboxing video, I've been wanting to see one. Thanks for dropping this vid.
I had an Athearn SD45 in this same Santa Fe livery, just a couple of years newer than this one that we purchased in their first release (1966, Blue Box maybe?). What I remember most was that the factory paint was thick and very poorly applied, making the flared radiators look bumpy and gross. But I loved that locomotive anyway.
IIRC the yellow box/rubber band drive went through to 64 as I seem to remember the Athearn GP30 either changed from band drive to the " modern " blue box drive mid run or was offered as both. Neat little bit of Athearn history as the GP30 has a little spotting feature that gives away the fact EMD provided blue prints to Athearn to have the 30 come out at the same time as the real one. look at the back of the hood and the headlight is vertical like the GP7 or 9 indicating the 30 switched to the modern 2nd generation horizontal rear light during that period. Other Athearn models that switched between initial blueprints to Athearn and production are the SW1500 ( Athearn's looks like the standard SW7 8 9 etc) and the DD40 with the standard cab nose though that had more to do with it's only buyer going with the full crew cab rather than what would have been the production model.
For 1959, that was a pretty good quality locomotive. Never compare vintage locomotives with today’s low-voltage Motor, low friction gear, units. Also don’t feel bad if you cannot tell the difference between a GP7 and a GP9; most of us cannot either.
Nice restoration on this athearn gp9 the gp7 here was alittle bit different then this but not sure on that. I believe this might be a yellow box era of this type of model idk. I actually nevered own any athearn yellow box era locomotives except the b&o piggyback flatcar that my dad had when he was little.
psssst, the way you tell apart GP-7s and GP-9s is the radiator pack, if it has this flared out radiator pack it's a GP-9, if it's totally flat the whole way along the body it's a GP-7... yes I spend too much time looking at this stuff, don't judge me XD
Good job in repair and clean the GP7 high nose locomotive. GP7 my favorites locomotives. Grand Continental in the movie Under Siege 2 Dark Territory. Where is you 🐱 ?. Scooby Doo is a good dog. Scooby Dum is a nice dog. Scrappy Doo my pup.
you can get a new magnet for it or if you are carefull you can converter it to the newer motor and drive system by drilling the chassis for the motor mount pads, and using a dremel with a metal cutting bit. 3rd option is to get a new chassis, motor and trucks. the shell should be able to fit a GP7/9 chassis.
I'm a big fan of your channel. I've learned alot how to restore those HO scale locomotives.Quick question. Where did you learn your electronic repair skills ? Just curious. I also admire your soldering skill.
Anuva runnah gov’nah! Well done chap! Although you ran it backwards. Or maybe not. Who can tell with these high noses? Yeesh. Love the road name and paint scheme though! ;)
Anything that was made in the early to late '50s the name of the company was called globe as in like your globe like in school then the company name was changed to answer but the original name is called globe I have a few of those engines are easy to work on and get them back up and running I had a couple that were dead now running
Athearn locomotive are so easy to fix that was a good fix for 5o's years old that is the best you get out of it. now you have a lot of boxes you to open some of them to see what's in there. did you get the other comment's I left you , That Dumass box I had my worker open up for you all Flatcars 5 of them I needed. I got one that derails a lot I can not find the problem. i check the wheels in gage OK still derails, the trucks are OK also. The guy at my club today 8-19-22 said that video was funny. I must be talking behind your back again of nice things;
Maybe it runs slow on modern transformer because it was designed with brass rail track in mind and a more powerful transformer from the 1950s? i think the older transformers tended to be bigger and more powerful? A lot of the 50s transformers were huge monsters. Also the light on the loco is sucking some power.
@@SMTMainline What about those very large transformers from the 50s and 60s that weigh 10-20 pounds. a lot of 50s models were heavy diecast or brass and needed lots of power. and they were not as concerned about prototypical speed back then either. its actually normal for many 1950s models to run slowly now, so many years later. most of em been frozen up for a good 50 years some plastics and metals warp after 50 years
SMT - The large gear with the teeth forming a " V " is called a " herringbone gear ". The advantage of the herringbone gear is that it doesn't put any sideways pressure on the axle. This is because the arrangement of the teeth causes any sideways pressure on the axle to occur in both directions - thus cancelling the pressure. Maybe you should consider cleaning the wheel treads with the fiberglass pencil?
No. Straight involute gears do not impart a sideways force. Helical gears do, but in opposite pairs, make for a smoother engagement. Tolerances on model locos is pretty sloppy--newer locos have finer teeth, which are smoother.
Nice restoration. Lack of oil and grease.. wow then you got Bachmann trains that puts too much. Interesting model I have one similar I think it was by lifelike many years ago. Not that I pay attention of whether it's a gp7 or a gp9 I'm not a rivet counter so it doesn't matter to me LOL
Athearn listed this for decades as s GP-9 when it's clearly a GP-7. The placement of the louvers give it away. Athearn also listed their SW-7 as an SW-1500 for decades. 😳
Correct, Athearn also did this as a bit of a cost cutting measure by simply using the GP7 tooling, adding the dynamic brake blister and painting them in the colors of the roads that owned them rather than just create all new tooling for the GP9. Since model trains were still pretty much aimed at the toy market more than hard core model railroaders, Athearn got buy with it for several years up until people started demanding more prototype accurate models, which Athearn delivered in the blue box era and Life-Like ultimately bringing out a truly dimensionally accurate model in the 1990s as part of the Proto 2000 series.
@@randallellison6421 when this model was originally marketed, it was labeled as a GP9, even though it was actually a GP7. The reason this came about is because Athearn used a diagram of a GP7 but photos of an SP GP9 to complete their (his) dies. The dies were in three parts. Body/walkways-sills; cab; and dynamic brake "blisters". The first production model was as an SP GP9 black widow. The picture on the box was that SP GP9. It was labeled as a GP 9 for about 20 years. To this day the original dies have not been retooled. Sometime during the late 1970s or early 80s boxes were labeled GP7. The reason it has a winterization "hatch" is because it too was copied from that diagram. The incorrect truck sideframe curvature was taken from the same diagram.
@@suppylarue220 Uncle Irv, ( Irv Athearn ) chose some real oddballs to replicate as ho scale models. His EMD SD-9 was another SP prototype with the odd fuel tank. The SDP40, DD40 etc.
@@williammcgeehan3424 he was always influenced by the ESPEE , EMD advertising, and Kalmbach, his brick " factory " on S. Western ave. had that old time feel to it. the jet motors were stored on trays carefully oriented to maintain their magnetism. that's when you could buy a 40' boxcar frame for 15c!
Iam going to run some trains on SUNDAY 8-21-22 try to find people to run on Sunday with me and do video's, We want you to join are club tell how good you are with DCC you would be good with DCC
Some one left me a comment said did you my girl open a Dumass BOX? I look for it I cannot find it. I thought you left that comment. I put up 5 videos today 8-22-22 , I got a lot of comments on the new video's , I had a good day,
@@mannyfernandez2921 Yeah. I was taking repairs for a while but I usually ended up running into problems which would take a lot of time to fix. Most of the problems were dealing with shipping companies.
@@yourfellowpancake6335 No, the GP7 and almost all GP9's had four 36 inch fan (late GP9's had two 48 inch fans, the same as GP18's. . Three sets of louvers on the battery box = DGP7 1 set or none = GP9.
I did 2 videos today 8-21 -22 no one was there but me today I am going to finish on Monday -22- I will 5 videos to be put up. I need more people to get in are club younger ones so they take over the older people in the club; It's getting out of hand are President is got his hands tide now he wants to get out it . that looks bad on other clubs; We have a bad reputation now Tom cat is not talken to me at all do with things going on in club, DCC is way for younger people to get in to'. get back to me , You have a lot boxes to open up now .
The pre-Blue Box Athearn Pittman style motors were not the smoothest, nor was the gear drive. The rubber band drive units were slightly less expensive, and my more common, the rubber bands smooth out the pulses of the three pole motor. But all locomotives of that era lack the smooth low speed action we've become accustomed to,, emulating the O guage toy trains they were meant to replace. Homes we're getting smaller, and room was at a premium. Great job. The loco seems to run about as good as I remember back in the day.
Cool restoration Harrison! Interesting story on these old Athearn geeps is that they were sometimes referred to as 'wide body' GP9s as the car body was much wider than the prototype measurements. It actually wouldn't be until Life-Like released its Proto 2000 model that model railroaders would get a much more accurate model of these locomotives. Athearn currently has a very nice GP9 model in it Genesis line with road name accurate details, LED lighting, and Tsunami2 sound. All that being said, these 1950s Athearn units don't pop up all that often and it's great to see one here!
Athearn models do have pretty cool drives they’re built like army tanks especially the blue box to genesis era which I currently don’t own any genesis models at the moment.
back in the days most model geep makers cheated on the hood widths
I had no idea these were the best you could get for so long.
There were correct width GP7/9 body kits you could get in the 80's. They were made by Front Range and were designed to fit on Athearn chassis (ones with the narrower motor of course) with some modification to the frame. I have 5 I bought from someone many years ago (and all were custom painted Santa Fe). I'm sure before that some modelers took AHM's GP-18 and did some kitbashing to make a 7 or 9 also.
The original Lionel corporation sold a magnetizer to service stations to remagnetize HO motors.
You might be able to restore the magnets strength by laying a strong magnet on the motor magnet over night.
Good video. Thanks
I'd like to buy a magnetizer, it could help these kinds of locomotives a lot.
Just anothther excellent job of restoring the Locomotive. I enjoy so much watching your videos and listening to you talk about these trains. Thank you Harrison, you are a good man.
Thank you so much!
I love to see when you make these videos, the repairing old Locos makes me smile
I have a Athearn A unit with the same drive shown here. I was given this unit about 50 years ago but I was not told that the teeth on one drive gear were all worn off. I took it apart the other day and found that to be the problem. Its too bad that I cannot find that drive gear so I just put it back the box and maybe one day I might find what I need. I really wish I had the room like you have. Keep up the good work.
I bought a F7A of similar vintage -- the drive has the same motor, and the frame the same truck mount tabs. Alas, one of the tabs broke off, possibly in shipping, but I swapped in a much more modern drive chassis!
I've seen the old style Athearn motors disintegrate around the magnet to powder. So, I'm not too surprised to see it be a little weak. You could try to remagnetize the core to make it stronger, but, in the end, it is what it is for the age. So far, it works, and I would roll with it until the issue needs to be truly addressed. Also, it's nice to see this drive being repaired if I would run across one. It's not the first time seeing this drive, but my experience dates to the rubber band era of Athearn before the flywheel drive.
Harrison, you have outdone yourself once again man! History lives!
I know the older 50's 60's Athearn motors are so temperamental and prone to overheating, but they are pretty stout if you have all the parts in working order.
You're assessment of current draw was spot on too. Perfect mechanical restoration!
.....Now try triple heading 3 of those suckers on an old bachmann power pack without tripping a breaker.!!LOL!
Have fun!
Thanks. I don't dislike these but their designs seem to have greatly improved into the 70s
@@SMTMainline in the 1970s Athearn made improved shell designs with finer details and better handrails. But, If you've ever had one apart on the bench, the best of all the improvements was definitely, to the "clip together" truck design with its worm gear and splined drive shaft transmission, sporting a "thinner" motor.
With detailed plastic side frames and a simple riveted electrical contact design, it's easy to see why so many mrr repair techs still admire the thoughtfulness that was put into all the bluebox mechanism.
No surprises that It still works just as good today as 50 years ago and has also been faithfully copied by both Lifelike and later Walthers motive power and is quite possibly the oldest surviving HO scale drivetrain on the maket which is still in continuous production!
Hello Harrison I’m Aiden and you can probably tell from my UA-cam profile pick I’m from the uk but the trains here where I am are awesome and I love to ride them or go to my hometown train station and watch them arrive and depart I think you channel is awesome! and can not wait for future vids keep up the amazing work 😁😁😉😉
Thanks Harrison this is on of my favorite channels, thanks again,
Thanks
I like these videos of vintage loco resurrections, my new favorite channel 👍👍
Watching these videos gave me the inspiration to dig out all my old locomotives, test them & service them.
That's great. Have most of them started?
don't know if it was already posted, but it would be a good idea to replace/remagnetize the magnet if it is too weak. The weaker the magnetic field, the more current the motor will draw. Imagine if the magnet were to be completely removed, the motor would essentially become a short circuit. The weaker magnet also increases the "balancing speed" and reduces the torque of the motor, similar to how field shunting works in real trains. Though in this case, the magnet may be too weak and potentially will damage the windings.
I'm looking into getting a magnetizer.
I am not surprised. The "Harrison Magic Touch" has once again paid off. Nice job Harrison. 💕😊💕
Thanks, I wasn't so sure about this one.
@@SMTMainline I had no doubts 😊
You never fail to amaze. Consider re-naming the channel to "She's a runner!"
Thanks, also that would be a great name haha
Great work Harrison.
Can’t stop watching your channel! Love it!!
Thanks
SMT Mainline, I have been watching since almost the beginning I love you videos and you have inspired me to make my own train table, keep doing what you are doing,
Sincerely,
CSXRailfan
That's awesome, welcome to the hobby!
Yours is a second-generation Athearn gear drive from around 1962. Note that it has herringbone gears and bushings--the original (1960) version had straight gears and no bushings, which didn't last very long. A third gen geardive had much the same components, but white plastic housings.
You should test the loco without the shell first! Final assy only after all is working well.
I had one of those but it had a normal Athearn black motor in it, but every time I'd try to get it to go, it made the motor run very very hot. I got rid of that whole chassis, and replaced it with a regular 1970's chassis with early steel flywheels and cast trucks.
Thats awesome...luv watching the restores...cheers for filming
You actually made a very good point. I own many Athearn Locomotives. All of the ones that have the motor that you are showing here, mine have been replaced with Athern's newer drive units and flywheels. As for the gear units, clean them out and grease them with Labelle 101, and they should be good to go.
Nice work, SMT! Yes definitely a GP7 or 9. I have a very good running Kato Santa Fe GP35.
It's a 9.
I've always wanted a Santa Fe GP9, they are really great engines, this one is pretty odd though. When will you do another unboxing video, I've been wanting to see one. Thanks for dropping this vid.
Likely very soon. Many boxes ready to go!
A testament to Athen workhorse locomotives they are awesome anyhow nice video SMT keep up the good shows man
They're not bad
Never seen that style of drive so this was interesting to me. Glad you got it running.
They are far less common than their Blue box era
Great restoration, SMT. I have a GT 4553 with that style of older Athearn metal frame, but the motor and drivetrain are a "blue box", and it's DCC.
The GT engines are one of the best looking locos around!
I think their blue box era was their best.
Nicely done.
I love your videos your my favorite youtuber
I really like like the blue santa fe scheme
I had an Athearn SD45 in this same Santa Fe livery, just a couple of years newer than this one that we purchased in their first release (1966, Blue Box maybe?). What I remember most was that the factory paint was thick and very poorly applied, making the flared radiators look bumpy and gross. But I loved that locomotive anyway.
Blue Boxes didn't come out until mid to late 1950s
Yay another one saved! Thanks for sharing.
IIRC the yellow box/rubber band drive went through to 64 as I seem to remember the Athearn GP30 either changed from band drive to the " modern " blue box drive mid run or was offered as both.
Neat little bit of Athearn history as the GP30 has a little spotting feature that gives away the fact EMD provided blue prints to Athearn to have the 30 come out at the same time as the real one. look at the back of the hood and the headlight is vertical like the GP7 or 9 indicating the 30 switched to the modern 2nd generation horizontal rear light during that period. Other Athearn models that switched between initial blueprints to Athearn and production are the SW1500 ( Athearn's looks like the standard SW7 8 9 etc) and the DD40 with the standard cab nose though that had more to do with it's only buyer going with the full crew cab rather than what would have been the production model.
For 1959, that was a pretty good quality locomotive. Never compare vintage locomotives with today’s low-voltage Motor, low friction gear, units. Also don’t feel bad if you cannot tell the difference between a GP7 and a GP9; most of us cannot either.
I wouldn't expect the current draw to be too low but when it's near an amp, it's near burnout territory.
GP7s: three louver sets below the cab. GP9s: one. Otherwise the same. Athearn marketed this as a GP9 but it really was a GP7
That locomotive would be a GP9 as it has the dynamic brake grids on the long hood. GP 7, no dynamic brake.
nicely done
Loving the old stuff.
Oldie but a goldie
12:47 : That's a really useful engine.
Thank you for a nether awesome video
Nice restoration on this athearn gp9 the gp7 here was alittle bit different then this but not sure on that. I believe this might be a yellow box era of this type of model idk. I actually nevered own any athearn yellow box era locomotives except the b&o piggyback flatcar that my dad had when he was little.
That’s really cool
It's a GP7... look at the louvers.
@@ErickC sorry
@@MattKonsol : what's there to be sorry about? We're all learning all the time.
@@ErickC yup I agree with you know no one is perfect though
Athearn is always good. God job..
That’s a cool locomotive! It’s an old one, but I’m exited to see if you can make it run! (I haven’t finished the video yet)
Spray stencilled lettering. A remnant from when Lionel was associated with Athearn many decades ago.
psssst, the way you tell apart GP-7s and GP-9s is the radiator pack, if it has this flared out radiator pack it's a GP-9, if it's totally flat the whole way along the body it's a GP-7... yes I spend too much time looking at this stuff, don't judge me XD
That looks to be a gp9, I can tell because the dynamic brake vent is slightly risen. Great video! 👍
GP7. The vents on the doors under the cab and on the battery access doors give it away. Both the 7 and 9 have/had the rise risen like that.
@@SlapthePissouttayew The debate continues
Way to go good work! Can't wait for the next project. Hopefully a steam locomotive 🚂 😉
It's time for another soon.
Good job in repair and clean the GP7 high nose locomotive.
GP7 my favorites locomotives.
Grand Continental in the movie Under Siege 2 Dark Territory.
Where is you 🐱 ?.
Scooby Doo is a good dog.
Scooby Dum is a nice dog.
Scrappy Doo my pup.
Yes, GP7. Three sets of louvers under the cab.
oh im sure you will have it kickin up the dust in no time!
Looks like a converted ATHEARN band drive loco I have…….
My two ATHEARN hustlers also have the same motor……
Same era
As soon as I saw "Athearn", I said "well no s**t it's gonna run".
If it was a 70s or 80s model no doubt, I find the 50s era can be slightly less reliable.
you can get a new magnet for it or if you are carefull you can converter it to the newer motor and drive system by drilling the chassis for the motor mount pads, and using a dremel with a metal cutting bit. 3rd option is to get a new chassis, motor and trucks. the shell should be able to fit a GP7/9 chassis.
A neodymium magnet would improve it greatly but is also probably worth more than the loco.
I believe that would be yellow box instead of blue box
I'm a big fan of your channel. I've learned alot how to restore those HO scale locomotives.Quick question. Where did you learn your electronic repair skills ? Just curious. I also admire your soldering skill.
Nice!
The speed seems just right to scale.
It is but should be able to go faster.
Hey smt can you tell me where you got your carbon fiber brush at im trying to repair a train of mine and I can’t find it
Anuva runnah gov’nah! Well done chap! Although you ran it backwards. Or maybe not. Who can tell with these high noses? Yeesh. Love the road name and paint scheme though! ;)
The Santa Fe's paint scheme rocks - Cheers gov’nah!
Anything that was made in the early to late '50s the name of the company was called globe as in like your globe like in school then the company name was changed to answer but the original name is called globe I have a few of those engines are easy to work on and get them back up and running I had a couple that were dead now running
First time I've heard of this. Did they make other things at that point?
Seriously, Harrison...is there any locomotive you CAN'T fix???? I mean really - this loco is almost as old as I am!!!
Usually the ones missing a lot of parts but just as long as everything is there, it's got a good chance.
Athearn locomotive are so easy to fix that was a good fix for 5o's years old that is the best you get out of it. now you have a lot of boxes you to open some of them to see what's in there. did you get the other comment's I left you , That Dumass box I had my worker open up for you all Flatcars 5 of them I needed. I got one that derails a lot I can not find the problem. i check the wheels in gage OK still derails, the trucks are OK also. The guy at my club today 8-19-22 said that video was funny. I must be talking behind your back again of nice things;
Maybe it runs slow on modern transformer because it was designed with brass rail track in mind and a more powerful transformer from the 1950s? i think the older transformers tended to be bigger and more powerful? A lot of the 50s transformers were huge monsters. Also the light on the loco is sucking some power.
My money is on the magnet. Most of the older HO controllers are very underpowered. Mine is super strong, kicking out 19volts and around 5 amps.
@@SMTMainline What about those very large transformers from the 50s and 60s that weigh 10-20 pounds. a lot of 50s models were heavy diecast or brass and needed lots of power. and they were not as concerned about prototypical speed back then either. its actually normal for many 1950s models to run slowly now, so many years later. most of em been frozen up for a good 50 years some plastics and metals warp after 50 years
So I have a Athearn model just like this one and it runs, but it's leaning to much on one side for some reason. Anyone know how to fix this?
There are plenty of cheap ultrasonic cleaners out there for your train parts.
Nice to see smt
That’s pretty nice
I don't think I've ever clicked on a video so fast
Thanks :)
SMT - The large gear with the teeth forming a " V " is called a " herringbone gear ". The advantage of the herringbone gear is that it doesn't put any sideways pressure on the axle. This is because the arrangement of the teeth causes any sideways pressure on the axle to occur in both directions - thus cancelling the pressure. Maybe you should consider cleaning the wheel treads with the fiberglass pencil?
Thanks for explaining that, the design seems kinda genius. I had a good look at the teeth and didn't see any dirt or oil. I think it was just dry.
No. Straight involute gears do not impart a sideways force. Helical gears do, but in opposite pairs, make for a smoother engagement. Tolerances on model locos is pretty sloppy--newer locos have finer teeth, which are smoother.
@@Greatdome99 - You Sir are correct!
Do a compilation where are you include every time you say: we’ve got a runner
I really should haha
Nice restoration. Lack of oil and grease.. wow then you got Bachmann trains that puts too much. Interesting model I have one similar I think it was by lifelike many years ago. Not that I pay attention of whether it's a gp7 or a gp9 I'm not a rivet counter so it doesn't matter to me LOL
It might have had oil which slowly drained out over the years.
@@SMTMainline yeah true. Its just that it was so clean like it never existed. First time ive ever seen it do that.
Do u still want a blue B class? I got a mate who’s selling a kit bash dcc sound for 80 Australian plus postage
See if a neodymium magnet will go in that motor - she'll go like the clappers, then.
Nice loco
Nice I will use a Santa Fe passenger train in RO-scale central railroad on ROBLOX later
Nice
yeah! thats what im talkin about!
How do you differentiate times when you use grease versus oil? Do you use grease for plastic against plastic or oil? Plastic against metal?
The more friction the thicker the lubricant. Metal parts usually require more grease, plastic parts usually just need a bit. A bit of oil for each.
As the motor in this loco seemed a little weak perhaps in future you might think about investing in a magnet re-energizer machine perhaps?
I'm interested in getting one
im trying to buy one of these, as well as a gp38 off of facebook.
Hi Harrison How are you lately? I would like to meet you one day
Good, how about yourself?
When are you going to do a restoration on the T1?
Probably soon
1959? ai carmaba! cant wait to watch this :)
Thanks
Athearn listed this for decades as s GP-9 when it's clearly a GP-7. The placement of the louvers give it away. Athearn also listed their SW-7 as an SW-1500 for decades. 😳
Correct, Athearn also did this as a bit of a cost cutting measure by simply using the GP7 tooling, adding the dynamic brake blister and painting them in the colors of the roads that owned them rather than just create all new tooling for the GP9. Since model trains were still pretty much aimed at the toy market more than hard core model railroaders, Athearn got buy with it for several years up until people started demanding more prototype accurate models, which Athearn delivered in the blue box era and Life-Like ultimately bringing out a truly dimensionally accurate model in the 1990s as part of the Proto 2000 series.
@@randallellison6421 when this model was originally marketed, it was labeled as a GP9, even though it was actually a GP7. The reason this came about is because Athearn used a diagram of a GP7 but photos of an SP GP9 to complete their (his) dies. The dies were in three parts. Body/walkways-sills; cab; and dynamic brake "blisters". The first production model was as an SP GP9 black widow. The picture on the box was that SP GP9. It was labeled as a GP 9 for about 20 years. To this day the original dies have not been retooled. Sometime during the late 1970s or early 80s boxes were labeled GP7. The reason it has a winterization "hatch" is because it too was copied from that diagram. The incorrect truck sideframe curvature was taken from the same diagram.
@@suppylarue220 Uncle Irv, ( Irv Athearn ) chose some real oddballs to replicate as ho scale models. His EMD SD-9 was another SP prototype with the odd fuel tank. The SDP40, DD40 etc.
@@williammcgeehan3424 he was always influenced by the ESPEE , EMD advertising, and Kalmbach,
his brick " factory " on S. Western ave. had that old time feel to it. the jet motors were stored on trays carefully oriented to maintain their magnetism. that's when you could buy a 40' boxcar frame for 15c!
Hey SMT with the fiberglass pencil have you ever get pieces of the fiberglass in your hand? Thats the most annoying thing with it lol
Haven't had that problem but it is a risk.
@@SMTMainline sorry if I just jinxed you now lol
@@Xtream__Attitude Hopefully not haha
Good Harisson thats a very old athearn engine
I'd imagine so
Thought real old Athearn were rubber band drive
Apparently the production of the band drive and regular drives overlapped for a while.
awesome!
Iam going to run some trains on SUNDAY 8-21-22 try to find people to run on Sunday with me and do video's, We want you to join are club tell how good you are with DCC you would be good with DCC
belle vidéo
Merci
I’ve got the dummy version…
My ten wheeler can pull the circus train because my ten wheeler can pull short amount of cars
Some one left me a comment said did you my girl open a Dumass BOX? I look for it I cannot find it. I thought you left that comment. I put up 5 videos today 8-22-22 , I got a lot of comments on the new video's , I had a good day,
❤❤❤❤😊
Hey Harrison do you fix n-scale? if so how do I get them to you? Thanks Manny Fernandez
I do work on N scale but no longer do repairs that involve shipment.
@@SMTMainline Even if I pay for shipping?
@@mannyfernandez2921 Yeah. I was taking repairs for a while but I usually ended up running into problems which would take a lot of time to fix. Most of the problems were dealing with shipping companies.
@@SMTMainline Do you know anyone that can help me?
@@mannyfernandez2921 Check train stores in your area or on facebook
It is a GP9.
Hello SMT
I have a older model
That is a GP9 not a GP7. One way you can tell is the radiator vents on top.
That looks to me like a GP7, because of the cylindrical tanks after the fuel tank
@@yourfellowpancake6335 GP9‘s had that too
@@northwestrailfanofficial good to know, thanks!
@@yourfellowpancake6335 Three sets of louvers on the battery box = DGP7 1 set or none = GP9
@@yourfellowpancake6335 No, the GP7 and almost all GP9's had four 36 inch fan (late GP9's had two 48 inch fans, the same as GP18's. . Three sets of louvers on the battery box = DGP7 1 set or none = GP9.
I was your 1,200th like!
Thank you!
@@SMTMainlinewow! I didn’t think you would actually reply to my comment 😅 love your videos! Keep doing a great job 😁
I did 2 videos today 8-21 -22 no one was there but me today I am going to finish on Monday -22- I will 5 videos to be put up. I need more people to get in are club younger ones so they take over the older people in the club; It's getting out of hand are President is got his hands tide now he wants to get out it . that looks bad on other clubs; We have a bad reputation now Tom cat is not talken to me at all do with things going on in club, DCC is way for younger people to get in to'. get back to me , You have a lot boxes to open up now .
ever thought about being a mechanic? ;)
Absolutely. Took a corse on small engines and am currently trying to develop my skills working on boats and classic cars.