Improving "Train Set" Locomotives (adding flywheels??)

A couple more points/corrections, sorry I forgot to include them in the original post.

I am dealing with HO scale...

The model power units are actually Alco RS11s I believe (I know, hard to confuse with a GP.... I had a little brain freeze), it may have been sold in the US as a Mehano, AHM, RSO, IHC etc. I bought it as a Model Power here in Canada. It is one of the units with a-test RSO stamped on the underside. It has the centre mounted can motor that drives the front and rear truck via universal joints. Not that it is the same as an Athearn but the layout is similar.

Again, any suggestions on adding weight to the Cox GPs (what/where etc.). and how to add flywheels or posibly other solutions to get rid of the jumpy start on the AHM/Model Power units would be greatly appreciated.

As I mentioned in the previous post, with a little care these units run pretty good (to be used as road switchers) I am just looking for that little bit of advise to get them to the next level. Most of all I love a good challenge, buying more higher end locos is not all that challengeing....

Jason wrote: solutions to get rid of the jumpy start on the AHM/Model Power units would be greatly appreciated.

-------------------------------------------------- I found that a MRC power pack with pulse power is a good way to get smoother running from inexpensive locomotives.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

Those RS-11 units may have also been sold as Varney's here in the US. If it is the unit I am thinking of, I used to have one in SP colors. Unfortunately, I was not able to get it running much better, so I can't be of any help to your original question.

Mike

Jas : A couple more points/corrections, sorry I forgot to include them in : the original post. : : I am dealing with HO scale... : : The model power units are actually Alco RS11s I believe (I know, hard : to confuse with a GP.... I had a little brain freeze), it may have : been sold in the US as a Mehano, AHM, RSO, IHC etc. I bought it as a : Model Power here in Canada. It is one of the units with a-test RSO : stamped on the underside. It has the centre mounted can motor that : drives the front and rear truck via universal joints. Not that it is : the same as an Athearn but the layout is similar. : : Again, any suggestions on adding weight to the Cox GPs (what/where : etc.). and how to add flywheels or posibly other solutions to get rid : of the jumpy start on the AHM/Model Power units would be greatly : appreciated. : : As I mentioned in the previous post, with a little care these units : run pretty good (to be used as road switchers) I am just looking for : that little bit of advise to get them to the next level. Most of all I : love a good challenge, buying more higher end locos is not all that : challengeing....

=>Jason wrote: =>solutions to get rid of the jumpy start on the AHM/Model Power units =>would be greatly appreciated. =>-------------------------------------------------- =>I found that a MRC power pack with pulse power is a good way to get =>smoother running from inexpensive locomotives.

Agreed, and that's as far as I would go - plus judicious use of Aerocar's Conducta-Lube, which does astonishing things to the running qualities of cheap motors. Put a little on the track, too - it vastly reduces the contact resistance.

Unless of course you really _like_ solving the mechanical problems you've posed, in which case why not go the whole hog -- get a small lathe, make your flywheels, cut new gears, and so on. :-) That's really Model Engineering, a different hobby, w/ trains as just one of its subjects. Very satisfying to those who pursue it.

IMO, the next level is to get better made motive power. I consider trainset locos as expendable - they cost little enough, run well enough, and last long enough, for the purchaser to find out whether (s)he wants to continue in the hobby. If so, put them aside, and count their cost as part of the initiation into the Best Hobby In The World. :-)

Have fun!

Wolf Kirchmeir ................................. If you didn't want to go to Chicago, why did you get on this train? (Garrison Keillor)

Dear Jason, I like challenges too, and I would very much like to hear what tuning you have already done on the engines, especially the Model Power units, because my attempts at tuning them always ended up in pieces.

Your question on weights is pretty easy. Go to the gun shop and buy a bag of small lead shot. I don't know what number to use. Then build boxes of tin or wood or sheet plastic to fit your shells, fill them with shot, and soak the shot with some kind of glue to hold it together. Wash your hands before you eat. That stuff leaves a black mess.

You probably already know this, but the pickup strips on the Mehano trucks can get dirty. Clean them with denatured alcohol (rubbing alcohol has glycerin & I distrust it.)

If your RS11's are the 8 wheel drives with plastic universals, you might be able to buy some fender washers and fit them over the round part of the universals, and glue them on with epoxy, to make flywheels without machining. I have never tried this.

Cordially yours, Gerard P.

Thanks for the tip on the lead shot. I did not think of "glueing" them together. I had though about lead sinkers but I was stuck on the concept of melting them and casting a weight (and could not figure how to do this without making a toxic mess). Glueing is a much better idea!

To make these units run well I take a nail file and carefully go over the gears and remove any iregularities/flashing. After that make sure to lube them up well with plastic friendly lube.

The motors run well but tend to go up in smoke once every couple years. I have never needed to replace one yet. Just clean up the commutator (make sure to remove any copper that has crossed the insulators). Clean up the brushes and lube the bushings. Put it back together, I usualy let it run full voltage with no load for about a minute to rebreak it in (reseat the brushes). Then reinstall the motor. They will run like a champ for atleast another year. The rebuild takes all of 20 minutes. I have yet to have an armature actually cook itself, too bad becuase I would like to rewind one...

The good part is you can find lots of parts locos at swap meets becuase most people do not even try to rebuild the motors (take a $5 swapmeet non-runner and have a fully working engine in under an hour!).

As you said make sure to keep the pickups clean and they will run well.

I am glad to see there are still some people who still enjoy the mechanical aspect of this hobby. I see far to many people buying high dollar mechanics and spending all their time glueing doodads on them... Then they bad mouth everyone elses stuff/approach.

For the Cox engines I basically follow the same pratices (altough the motors seem to be bullet proof).

Jason,

I'm surprised none of the replies to your original post mentioned one obvious solution: remotoring.

North West Short Line (NWSL) is one company that offers a variety of repowering kits featuring Mashima motors with flywheels. Their price is a bit high, given the models you mention, though it may be a way to go if the models in question have sentimental value.

Dieter Zakas

Nit-pick: Sagami. A-Line do Mashima.

Both these motors are pretty good although I prefer MAshima (I use their 1833 flat can in small O-Scale locomotives).

A source of cheap motors is often traders at shows, who have dismantled old broken models to get anything saleable. You can often find the original motor for the model for a small price.