Help Repairing Loco

[Conrail]

Hello everyone. I'm a newb to scale modeling so I apologize in advance for asking anything that may seem elementary. So anyhow, My wonderful sister showed up at my house a few weeks back with 4 huge boxes and said " I'm never going to set this stuff up, so I thought you might want it". Was she every right. It was all of my Grandfathers HO train gear. Most has seen it's better days but thats not the point. I remember breaking all of this stuff atleast 15-20 years ago!! Me and my Grandfather were pretty close so this stuff is like gold to me.
I have an ahm loco I simply must repair. Thing is the motor is shot, and I being green to this hobby, have no idea where to locate a fresh powerplant. The motor is mounted vertical on the rear truck and looks nothing like anything I have come across. I took the whole thing apart and spent the better part of last weekend and today cleaning every piece and putting it all back together to no resolve. The motor seems to get stuck. It will spin half a rotation and freeze. Any suggestions? Any links to repair parts dealers? I can post pics if needed. It's an ahm NYC RS-2. I apreciate all of your help. :thumb:

 

[Matthyro]

Welcome to the Gauge Conrail. I am sure someone here will be able to provide the information you are looking for.

 

[Conrail]

Ill be in here frequently. Ive already started my first layout. Being my first it's only 138"X48". But I have room to expand.

As for my Loco.... I found a match on eBay but I really wanted to get some fresh power inside, not another of the same that could end up in bad shape like this one. I know that this Loco isnt exactly a top notch piece but it's the memories that make it worth a million to me. I'll fix it one way or another. I'm going to try and replace the 3 pole armature with a 5 pole armature that has a longer shaft on the top and maybe try to add a flywheel. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again.

 

[shaygetz]

It may be possible to adapt a Kato or Atlas drive to the body shell. Personally, I love annoying the devil out of my fellow modelers when I run my circa 1972 AHM Spirit of '76 U boat with its death like gear weazing, rubber traction tires and noxious ozone smell gnawing its way around the club layout...woot! :thumb:

 

[ezdays]

Hey, welcome, there is always someone here that can help, or at least show you where to find it...:thumb::thumb:

Anyway, what makes you believe the motor is "shot"? Does it just not go, or does it smoke or smell burned? It may just need a good cleaning after sitting in a box all these years. If you take the shell off, can you see the motor try to move when you power it? Can you move the rotor by hand, even just a little bit? Even if the motor is good, you still may have mechanical problems that cleaning and lubricating might or might not do the job.

You may be 100% right, but these are just a few things to think about.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

I have a few AHM locos with that drive.
It seams that the top bearing/ brush holder piece shrinks from the heat of the motor. This pulls the steel pole pieces to close to the armature.
With a little filing and shimming it can be made to run again.
I have also mounted a can motor in a couple of them by removing the armature, magnet and pole pieces, drilling out the bottom armature bearing to accept the bearing holder on the end of a can motor.

 

[Conrail]

Well............ I think it's beyond my ability to repair. Every single piece is spotless and shiney but no go with the original armature. I ordered up a few running AHM RS-2's off of eBay today and I will just switch over the bodies and make one a dummy. The armature is pretty ate up looks like it was just grinded down over time or from the heat as stated above. I think just for sport, I will trim the original motor mount on the truck down and try adding something with a little more torque. I need to get something running before this sceaming Bachman drives over the edge . I'm whooped! I spent all day trying to fix this booger. Well that and cleaning about 400 pieces of seriously oxidized brass track. Thanks for the repies.

 

[XavierJ123]

You said, "the motor seems to get stuck. It will spin half a rotation and freeze. Any suggestions?
Yes, I had a great suggestion because this sounds exactly like an old Mantua motor that is in an engine that I acquired recently.
I sprayed it several times with " CRC QD Contact Cleaner" ( from Home Depot, electrical aisle ) which is a quick drying cleaning formula that leaves no residue and is plastic safe. It comes in a spray can like WD-40 etc with a red extension tube for pin point cleaning. Follow the directions on the can, and let your loco dry overnight. I think it will solve your problem.

 

[MasonJar]

Conrail,

Welcome to The Gauge!

The vertically mounted motor sounds like a "pancake" motor power truck that may or may not be worth repairing. You can cannibalize other old locos (from ebay, etc) as you noted. You can also put the shell on a better chassis/motor.

My suggestion though would be to get a really nice display case for your train room, and put in all your favourite pieces that you used to run with your Grandfather. That way there is little chance of ruining/breaking them any further. The memories are right there for you to look at whenever you want. Then go out and get a new(er) loco that will be a better runner and cause less frustration on your new layout.

Andrew