The Aristo U25B Amtrak that I have has white handrails. Those you show in the picture Ken are very similar to the ones on mine except for the front and back handrails as Ted said. The front and back rails need another kink at the bottom but do go into the side of the loco. I have never posted a picture on this website before, but tomorrow when I have the time I will try.
Colin
Ted, Colin,
Appreciate the nice clear photo Ted! Both of you are very correct after looking at the link that Ted supplied. Many of the handrails are painted with silver centers and white ends. That’ll be good information for me when I paint them. There is another picture that I couldn’t seem to provide here because it wouldn’t download from eBay. That photograph shows the front handrails much clearer and it also shows the side, front handrails as well. I do see what you are referring to Colin about the wrong angle at the bottom and this makes me believe that maybe this is a combination of USA trains and Aristocraft handrail sets, although I’m not sure until I see them. One thing for sure, between both sets of handrails, the ones that I ordered from USA and this set, I should be able to make a usable set that will look good. I’ll paint them silver except for the handrails that show white as a color on Ted’s photos.
Like you guys suggested and I kind of figured, I’ll paint all 8 ends white in addition. I really appreciate your input and I’ll let you know what I find when they arrive and if they’ll fit or have to be modified. I’m not a handrail expert so I hope I can handle this project! I’ll post some photos when they arrive and I’m finished.
Thanks again everyone! Ken
Ken, so you can see what the U25B railings (both side types and end types) look like, there is a loco on ebay the shows them in the foam packing:
-Ted
Thanks Ted,
A few modifications, some silver paint and a moderate amount of time yielded these results. Not perfect but acceptable to the kids that run it. I am in need of one gearbox though, if anyone has a spare. One is making a little noise. Maybe the screw needs adjustment. It looks like someone turned it before and I don’t know where or how to set those screws at the ends of those gearboxes/drive? Thanks!
Good job Ken!(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Thanks everyone! Ken
Ken,
I would check the “U-joint” connecting the motor to the gearbox. Unless there’s an actual gear issue. This is usually the noise maker. You might try putting some grease on there to quiet it down. Also when open you may be able to see if the adjustment screw has any effect on the pressure applied to this joint. I’m honestly not sure if it makes a difference…and there are many different versions, some don’t even have the screws at all.
Rocky,
The gears are in good shape as the engine hasn’t been hardly ever run. I did grease the gears and shafts very well and that did seem to help quiet the noise quite a bit but I just wanted to make sure that turning that adjustment screw doesn’t cause excessive wear on the gears or shafts. I know the screw has been turned, I can tell. The reason I have a concern about it is because when I first started using the locomotive I had a 1 amp draw on the transformer, especially in reverse. That problem seems to have gone away now and I was just trying to make sure that we weren’t going to have damage to the drive by having that screw out of adjustment. It’s one of the things I don’t understand in the Aristocraft, G scale world and I didn’t know how to adjust it. I didn’t know if I should try to re-adjust it or leave it alone but one thing I do know for sure is that it has been messed with before by the previous owner and that may not be good. The locomotive drive seems to be fairly quiet now and is no longer pulling any amperage in either direction, so maybe it’s okay. I just hate to run it and damage the gears down the road, if it is out of adjustment. However, if anyone knows how those are supposed to be adjusted, any information would be appreciated on it.
Thanks so much! Ken
You know I read George’s stuff on the lash screw and it’s a bit confusing.
As I have documented, and actually worked with George, there are a number of versions of the motor block, but the ones with lash screws were pretty early.
I’m going to have to disassemble some to look inside, the single lash screw ones seem to only adjust the lash at one end of the motor, and it’s not clear if there is a ball bearing between the lash screw and the motor shaft or not.
Also the dual lash setups have an additional lash adjustment, but on the “rocking” gearbox, so you are adjusting one end of the shaft in that gearbox, not the motor, and there must be some interaction between that lash adjustment and the play in the universal between that rocking gearbox and the universal (which also apparently came in 2 versions).
Anyone more experienced with these? I’m particularly interested in his reference to squeaking and turning the lash screw 10 degrees to stop it (but he does not indicate tighter or looser)
Greg
Ken & Greg,
In Appendix A of vignette, “Upgrading Aristo-Craft Loco Motor Blocks from Sleeve to Ball Bearing”, is an example method I used to dynamically adjust the Aristo early version motor block lash screws - illustrated below:
-Ted
Yeah, so one adjustment directly affects end play on the motor, the other presses on the shaft in the “pivoting” gearbox, and from what you say, can take free play out of the universal, and I suppose will eventually take up free play on the other direction of the motor.
The thing that is interesting to me is which should be adjusted first, and how the interplay between the 2 adjustments exhibits itself.
Clearly if both adjustments can affect the motor end play in each direction, you could probably have more than one “final setting” that would have different offsets in the motor, and how to make sure you are not offsetting the motor shaft too much in either direction?
Greg
Ted, Greg,
Finally, information that is useful in regards to the adjustment of this drives lash screws. I will definitely give it a try.
Thank you so much!
Ken
As to the adjustment of the motor block set screws, I first see if both have a thread exposure of about 1/8 inch between screw head and plastic - or set them about the same for that value. Then progressively adjust similar amount for each back and forth.
-Ted
