Why I love E-Bay for this Hobby

[Chessie1973]

My Mother and I share the hobby and she just got fantastic deal on soem locomotives.

For approximately $75 USD she won a IHC B&O 4-6-2 President Washington, an AHM 0-8-0 Switcher made by Rivarossi, and two Bachmann locomotives, one a Chessie F-7 and the other a Union Pacific Steam Loco.

The IHC alone id worth more than what she paid for all of these.

The AHM and IHC are missing some small parts that I need to track down like the air tank on the nose of the AHM and the boiler front on the IHC but for what she paid that is nothing to cry over.

All of them run though the 0-8-0 runs rather rough currently due to age and desperate need of cleaning. If I can get them away from her long enough I will post some pics of the Loco's for you all to see and also perhaps get some leads on where I can find the missing Parts for them.

 

[shaygetz]

Try these guys for your AHM/Rivarossi/IHC parts needs...

http://www.golfmanorhobbies.com/

 

[Chessie1973]

Well after inspecting the AHM/Rivarossi 0-8-0 I have dicovered that it needs two sets of the connecting rods for the wheels, the 2nd and 4th sets of drive wheels do not have these rods (Forgive me for not knowing the proper term for them.)

I will check around here locally for a place that may be able to have this unit repaired as it does in fact run but due to the missing parts it runs badly.

I Emailed IHC directly and I am awaiting a response from them regarding the missing nose piece for the B&O unit.

 

[petey]

eBay Purchase

Hello,
You will now start to find how much those locos will really cost you.

 

[pdt]

Hello,
You will now start to find how much those locos will really cost you.

Yikes! That was harsh. But oh so true...

About the only thing I have in my collection that's older and still runs well is an Athearn Pacific. It's easily the oldest locomotive I have and all it needed after some 30 years of storage was denatured alcohol soaked in a paper towel to clean the wheels.

All those deep flanged Rivarossis jump like jackrabbits when they make electrical contact and, since they don't have flywheels, screech to a halt as soon as they fail to make contact. I still keep them around, but I don't bother trying to run them anymore.

I wish I hadn't thrown out my IHB 0-8-0 (it was dropped to the floor and had a bent frame, but could have supplied you with parts). It went to the garbage can with six Globe/Athearn "hi-fi" drive F7s.

 

[shaygetz]

Don't give up yet, though. I'm even now looking at my 4-8-8-2 Cab-forward, purchased for $25 off a swap meet table. Pristine except for Rivarossi's signature "zinc-mites" that warped the frame, I have a nice loco for the additional price of a tube of JB Weld to repair said "zinc-mites". I also am looking at my GG1, purchased for $27 on ebay, with not a flaw on it. As for running ability, I'm beginning to believe that, with all these primo locos that run like a watch right out of the box, the simple pleasure of tinkering we used to enjoy in this hobby is fast becoming a lost art. The afore mentioned Cab-forward embarassed me its first time out pulling only 5 cars up a 1.5% grade but, with tinkering (a very pleasurable, sometimes agonizing 1 1/2 hours) she now pulls a respectable 25 cars with smooth starts and stops. All this on her 35 year old "pizza cutter" flanges and original 3 pole motor.

Use it as a reason to learn what makes them lokeys tick :thumb:

 

[pdt]

Hmmm, well then. Maybe I'll have to crack open my N&W 2-8-8-2s then. If you can get them working again, maybe I have a shot at it. Any tips?

 

[Fred_M]

Welcome to the gauge PDT. FRED

 

[Chessie1973]

Don't give up yet, though. I'm even now looking at my 4-8-8-2 Cab-forward, purchased for $25 off a swap meet table. Pristine except for Rivarossi's signature "zinc-mites" that warped the frame, I have a nice loco for the additional price of a tube of JB Weld to repair said "zinc-mites". I also am looking at my GG1, purchased for $27 on ebay, with not a flaw on it. As for running ability, I'm beginning to believe that, with all these primo locos that run like a watch right out of the box, the simple pleasure of tinkering we used to enjoy in this hobby is fast becoming a lost art. The afore mentioned Cab-forward embarassed me its first time out pulling only 5 cars up a 1.5% grade but, with tinkering (a very pleasurable, sometimes agonizing 1 1/2 hours) she now pulls a respectable 25 cars with smooth starts and stops. All this on her 35 year old "pizza cutter" flanges and original 3 pole motor.

Use it as a reason to learn what makes them lokeys tick :thumb:

You are a man after my own heart. That is part of what I love about this hobby is taking someone elses "Junker" that they ditch on e-bay or at a swap meet and fixing it up and making her run again like she is supposed to.

My very first Athearn unit was an old metal truck sideframe model I picked up F-7 that after some TLC ran great if somewhat hot. I still have that loco although the little clip that serves as a pivot for one of the trucks finally broke and retired it.

This Rivarossi actually runs great it just needs the slide rods for it to look right while doing it. And I think it may have a slightly warped frame as well because the front two sets of wheels tunr freely but do not turn when it is on the track, they actually are riding on the rail but not truning without those slide rods to drive them.

I contacted that shop about ordering the missing parts. I can pick up the new version of this Loco for about 70 dollars online brand new so I am probably going to set my spending limit at about 30 dollars on this one and if I cant get the parts for less than that this one may become a shelf unit

 

[pdt]

Thanks!

Welcome to the gauge PDT. FRED

Why, thank you! I found this forum through a link to a "how-to" on backdrops in "The Academy." Simple, elegant, beautiful, amazing work there. Each step was its own work of art. Since then, I've lurked and finally had to chime in! So, thanks again for the welcome!

 

[shaygetz]

Hmmm, well then. Maybe I'll have to crack open my N&W 2-8-8-2s then. If you can get them working again, maybe I have a shot at it. Any tips?

Welcome to the Gauge...I'm waiting with bated breath at the opportunity to snag one of those malleys at the club. Having already seen the mechanism for one of those Y6bs, my fix will work just fine. First you build a cradle from scrap wood and a towel. Then you set up a peice of track on a flat and level piece of plywood.

 

[shaygetz]

Chessie, this part's for you. When I bought the Cab-forward, it had an unusual tippy toed gait to it. The rear engine would ride the rails only on the very front driver. All others would rise up in the air with no chance of touching the ground. This was caused by the boiler weight having warped and pulling everything (and I mean everything) out of line. By carefully breaking the weight into three peices and carefully gluing them back in line with JB Weld, I was able to salvage it. After it hardened, I filed and shaped it, then painted it black to keep it from further corrosion. Then it was simply a matter of tweeking and filing 'til all 22 tootsies touched the ground.

 

[shaygetz]

Three 1/2 oz. fishing weights were then hammered flat, shaped to fit inside the boiler, then placed---one over each gear tower, one in the cab roof. They were then attached with silicone adhesive caulk.

 

[Fred_M]

That sounds like a bunch-o-work. Glad my diesels need no such adjustments :thumb: FRED

 

[shaygetz]

The drive train has some pretty loose tolerances so that the loco can negotiate 18" radius curves. This not being necessary for me, I tightened them up, making sure they were as straight in line as possible. Then I stretched the plastic drive shaft by cutting it, then using heat shrink tubing to lengthen it, making it flexible but having more grip on the gear towers.

 

[shaygetz]

Opposite the drive train, I added weights to the frame, an ounce and a half balanced just ahead of the rear set of drivers. That was it. It crawls at the #5 setting on my Digitrax throttle and pulls quite well for a 35 year old.

 

[shaygetz]

That sounds like a bunch-o-work. Glad my diesels need no such adjustments :thumb: FRED

Art imitating life...that's why steam died :cry: :cry:

 

[Fred_M]

Art imitating life...that's why steam died :cry: :cry:

That's deep.

 

[shaygetz]

You are a man after my own heart. That is part of what I love about this hobby is taking someone elses "Junker" that they ditch on e-bay or at a swap meet and fixing it up and making her run again like she is supposed to.

My very first Athearn unit was an old metal truck sideframe model I picked up F-7 that after some TLC ran great if somewhat hot. I still have that loco although the little clip that serves as a pivot for one of the trucks finally broke and retired it.

This Rivarossi actually runs great it just needs the slide rods for it to look right while doing it. And I think it may have a slightly warped frame as well because the front two sets of wheels tunr freely but do not turn when it is on the track, they actually are riding on the rail but not truning without those slide rods to drive them.

I contacted that shop about ordering the missing parts. I can pick up the new version of this Loco for about 70 dollars online brand new so I am probably going to set my spending limit at about 30 dollars on this one and if I cant get the parts for less than that this one may become a shelf unit

:thumb: :thumb: Its how I can afford the hobby, sittin' at the corner of the club layout, catchin' the cast offs as the latest offerings from Broadway Limited and Kato bedazzle my fellow hobbiests. Makes for an interesting collection of motive power. I still want to get an old Hi-F drive Geep just for the kicks. I had an AHM 0-8-0 that had the old tender mounted motor whose floor had crumbled from a major case of zinc-mites. Had to eventually say "Uncle" BUT, got my money back offering it on Ebay as is/where is. Learned alot about Rivarossi and model steamer mechanics from that thing before she went, you'll do OK, just be patient. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[shaygetz]

That's deep.

And nobody pays me for that...