Athearn Shaft Coupling

AFAIK, no such coupling are available. Athearn abandoned the drivetrain in question at least 20 years ago.

You will have to improvise. I have found that IV tubing of the appropriate size is an excellent replacement. You can usually get some from a friendly hopsital worker - the stuff is available by the mile, apparently. A foot or so will probably outlast you. :-)

Other people have recommended model aircraft flexible fuel tubing. It comes in several sizes, too.

HTH.

Saw an add on Ebay for an old Athearn rubber band drivetrain just the other day. Motor and trucks included, I believe... If your not in a hurry, keep an eye on the postings for "Athearn". Good luck

Only twenty years ago? I still have a "hifi" drive Athearn GP that I built back in the '60's. Any decent rubbery tubing can be used for the flex couplings. If the model airplane tubing doesn't work out, try the auto parts store for small diameter tubing.

David Starr

Somewhere I've got my first HO engine, a Santa Fe F unit in freight colors with a lopsided cigar band, and rotted away rubber bands. That may not bode well for the condition of the couplings, but if you strike out elsewhere I'l try to find the junk box it's in.

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Small diameter tubing used in fish tanks for air and filter lines works quite well. It's available at most pet stores.

Len

I have one of those old Athearn diesels bought used about thirty years ago. the previous owner must have installed rubber sleeves on the armature shafts. I would suggest finding a product called windshield wiper hose or vacuum hose in the smallest inside diameter.

Hello, Len and thanks to you and others for the comments. IV tubing has also been suggested but these couplings have a very small inside diameter. The drive shafts for the locomotive are about the width of those brads that come with small picture hooks. I can't imagine aquarium air line or IV tubing being that small but I could be mistaken. Sincerely,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: snipped-for-privacy@itd.nrl.navy.mil Naval Research Laboratory

Try epoxying brass tubing over the shaft(s) to enlarge them to the tubing size... Clean the shaft well, and roughen it with a file to give the epoxy a better chance to grab.

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John,

It actually is available that small, although you may have to check out a couple of shops to find the small stuff. It's what I use in a couple of Hi-F drive RDCs I never converted to NWSL power trucks.

If you're friendly with your dentist, the retainer bands they use with braces work well as replacements for the original Athearn drive belts. Regular rubber bands don't hold up very well at all.

Len

Press or solder a short length of K&S brass tubing (or similar) over the end of the shaft to increase it's diameter. Then it will fit the smaller rubber tubes available. Even a piece of rigid plastic tube superglued on the end of the shaft might work.

Dan Mitchell ============