PRR GG-1

I have two GG-1s of the types mentioned. The one marked "Rivarossi made in Italy for AHM" has a vertically oriented motor which is directly geared to one 6-wheel truck and swivels with truck. It runs poorly.

The other is marked "made in Yugoslavia." It has a conventionally horizontally mounted motor that drives 4 wheels on each 6-wheel truck. I repowered this model. There is no room for flywheels. The coupling between motor and gear towers are helical springs, not universal joints. It looks strange, but it works.

I added bronze brushes to pick up current from the wheels on the leading and trailing trucks that are insulated from the axles.

When I converted to DCC I found that the engine was very jerky. I recently replaced the original decoder with an NEC D15SR which significantly improved performance.

On 2/18/2009 5:45 PM Old.Professor spake thus:

What kind of motor did you put in it?

Dang. So much for *that* idea.

I noticed that too, but it does seem to work OK. Pretty stiff springs.