Episode 5 Part 4 of repairing an antique Athearn SW7.

[@harperlarry49]

She runs!! Nice work.

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

Thanks 👍

[@XDHwilks]

Excellent work! I'm sure that if you have more Athearn locomotives like this, each one will get easier and easier to repair once you know them inside & out! I would recommend you make new handrails with brass wire (0.20 - 0.40mm thick wire, anywhere in that range should hopefully look right!), and a horn also shouldn't be very hard to come by. I'm in the process of restoring and upgrading my own, I had a similar issue where the motor mounts entirely cracked so I had to replace those, then I gave everything a real nice polish and clean, and lubricated the gearbox. I have also scrapped that metal pickup that runs from the trucks to the top of the motor, and instead directly soldered wires to it (which also allowed me to add new headlights for both directions easier!) Good luck with all future projects, from Australia!

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

Thank you for your kind comment. I plan to eventually finish that locomotive for the model railroad I'm in the process of building. I do have other antique locomotives and all of them have been used hard before being put into storage for years (I acquired them from a former coworker and never used them). The all need repairs. I'll use the brass wire you recommended when I return to working on it. Thanks.

[@halliebohan884]

Nickel Silver track will help a lot. Hal

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

That's for sure. Thanks for the comment. I plan to make a major purchase of new track and scrap all of the track I held in storage for the past 30 years. ;-)

[@markh4531]

Well done. You definitely deserve a raise 😊

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

I can only hope :-)

[@mike9repeating]

Awesome! Dan is a hard boss to please, I’m sure if you get your bench work done, you’ll get that raise 😀

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

Fingers crossed!

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@johnparker7874]

To clean the wheels, flip the locomotive upside down, hook power leads to the frame, and the truck frame, so that the motor runs. Then take a semi sharp Xacto blade, and run the tip of the blade against the rotation of the wheels. This will scrape the crud off the wheels, stop the arcing, and improve electrical efficiency. I have a set of the nickel plated wheels, and I don’t like them. Very slippery, locomotive has a hard time moving its self, much less freight cars. The sintered wheels grip the rail better, IMHO.

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

That's great advice. Thanks. I'll do that.

[@JBG1968]

I have to newer athearn engines that came with nickle silver wheels . They constantly gave me issues . My older engines with the old wheels were running better . Tried putting older wheels on the newer engines and now they run just fine

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

@@JBG1968 Very interesting.

[@michaelcudby787]

@@FunWithHOScaleStuff The nickle silver wheelsets are shiny,& have good elctrical pickup, but may suffer SLIGHT pulling ability, but every manufacturerI know, in the last thirty odd years, are putting nickle silver wheelsets on their locos.AND switchers are never likely to encounter much, if any, grades.IMO, nickle silver is a perfect upgrade. Cheers. Michael NZ

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

@@michaelcudby787 Thanks for sharing that.

[@michaelcudby787]

Thats what you do need, is the nickle silver wheelsets,in spite of other comments. BUT do not purchase those ones you saw online, that you showed. They wont fit the older, metal side frames. You will need the wheelsets with LONGER axels , on the outside of the wheel. Problem is, they are very hard to come by. They are called OUTSIDESIDE bearing wheelsets, as apposed to the more popular INSIDE bearing wheelsets. Athearn Genesis wheelsets ,will not work, either. I do know that JB wheelsets used to make the correct wheelsets, years ago, but good luck with the newer company..I have replaced the older, metal sideframe trucks, that you have here, with the newer, plastic sideframe trucks. & nickle silver wheelsets are easy to get for them. It would have saved all that bother with those trucks that you repaired. The beauty of Athearn BB, is that the whole mechanism is completely upgradeable. Just watch the motor, though, as these switchers use a sligtly shorter motor. Let me know how you get on with getting outside bearing nickle silver wheelsets.Cheers Mihael NZ

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

Thank you for responding and sharing that important information. Regards.