Large Scale Central

James craps out -- So now what?

General Discussion
#1

I decided to let My Lionel James out to play on the new layout today… running light he did OK, but when we added 3 cars he decided to go on strike with a grrrrrrrr.

now I had already stabilized the motor with a couple plastic strips and a wire tie a long time ago. So I’m guessing the drive gear probably stripped this time. I also know that the darn things have been out of production for a LONG while, and the idiots, err, buyers on evilBay now think they are solid gold. Unfortunately this is my 6YO’s favorite engine, and I have spent quite a bit of time detailing him to look more like the books, so I’d really hate to have him relagated to just a dust catcher.

Long and short, does anybody sell gears to redo this engine? Or do I have to scavenge from another Lionel 0-6-0?

#2

Mik,

Check Northwest Shortline for availability of replacements.

#3

Mik,

You might try calling Gary Lantz at Wholesale Trains. He is a Lionel dealer and he may be able to point you in the right direction if he can’t suppy the parts you need.

http://www.wholesaletrains.com/

#4

He got the part numbers and all the info on another forum.

Aside from the busted gear it may require a bit of alignment. :wink: :slight_smile: :wink: Stabilizing the motor errrr I mean aligning and securing it properly - proper gear engagement/clearance - could help quite a bit.

#5

Thanks for those who helped! I just wish Lionel had done a better job on these, as they are pretty light and flimsy (especially for the money they command today on evilBay!)

#6
Mik said:
Thanks for those who helped! I just wish Lionel had done a better job on these, as they are pretty light and flimsy (especially for the money they command today on evilBay!)
Mik,

As far as I’m aware Lionel targeted the toy market, not quite the same as the model railroading market. :wink: :slight_smile:

OTOH I’m sure if one really wanted to, one could replace the vital components with sturdier ones. If it’s worth the money, is another question.

Read your profile. YES! I like those Lehmann ToyTrain freight cars, too. Pretty good starters for some RhB freight cars.

#7

I was told by someone at Lionel several years ago that when Kuhn (Kughn?) owned Lionel, and decided to get into Large Scale, they had Schuster design the line for them.

Now, Schuster designed the Delton Line.

If you’ve ever owned any Delton power units, you can compare their life expectancy with the Lionel units.

Also, the coupler heads are virtually identical (shanks different).

Same designer.

I had one Lionel powered unit, pitched it a long time ago.

#8

Thank you for the reply Dave. About sums up my experience with it so far. (Flimsy construction, half-@$$ed engineering, etc.) Kinda surprising Lionel let it out the door with their name on the box.

Still it’s the only game in town if you want a Thomas lok to make the kids happy… Unfortunately a BUSTED Thomas doesn’t make them very happy either.
I just cringe when I see them going for $150+ on evilBay (payed about $30 for mine at a swap meet)

#9

You may want to consider a chassis swap.

TOC

#10

Dave, believe me, I’ve already considered it! What has given me pause is trying to figure out how to make the eyes still go back and forth (OK it’s probably hokey, but the little kids think it’s really cool). Plus it has rather tiny drivers, so wheel spacing is a bit of a prob (I already looked at pirating a B’mann Mining Mogul drive)

#11

Mik,
Back when the very first issue of these came out they were a huge hit for the holidays! I worked for a large hobby shop in Buffalo NY at the time. After Christmas the true issues started to come to light. The transformers weren’t up to the task at hand. Bothe the wall plug part and the Speed control parts pretty much got replaced ASAP. Soon after that we started to see stripped gears coming in. Some of the parents admitted that the kids tried to push them while some said it just quit while running on the track.

The original prices? The original Thomas was about $100. James was $125 and the “deluxe” Thomas set was like $150 or $175?

They still came in with stripped gears from time to time.

Good luck!

Chas

#12

Mik/Allen

If it’s near and dear to your heart consider replacing the gear train and the motor. Ever done work on older brass engines (just about any scale!)? When people wanted better performance that would be reliable, that’s what they’d do.

I saw you mention that you should have ordered two sets of gears - depends on how often you run this engine. It may take more in the long run. :wink: :slight_smile: :wink:

#13
W. Chas. Ronolder IV said:
The original prices? The original Thomas was about $100. James was $125 and the "deluxe" Thomas set was like $150 or $175?
Ayup! And getting full msrp on a 10YO (used) toy with known quality issues probably makes the sellers happy as clams! I sometimes kinda (idly) wonder how many replacement James I could buy for the same price of a custom built BBT drive? THAT would solve the problem, though!
#14

Not really meaning to enter into an area I don’t know much about, but I’ve always thought that if our Thomas crapped out, I’d get a Bachmann ten wheeler and try to stick that under the body.

#15

True, but it would sit WAY too high.

You are not limited to the original wheel arrangement, BTW.

Use anything that will work!

Been a long time since I’ve been into one.
What operates the eyes?

Seems we could get around that.

TOC

#16

The eyes are a worm on the other end of the motor to a gear train that ends with to a swashplate and a “stick” that moves the eyes back and forth. The gearbox takes up about 80% of the available space in the boiler, which is a BIG part of why they are so light (add weight, though, and you just strip the gears sooner).

#17

so…this doesn’t have cylinders and main rods like Percy, right?

Inside cylinders?

Can’t use those.

But:

If the chassis you chose does not have any gears on the front axle, you should be able to JB Weld a washer at an angle with a fork pivoted in the chassis.

Or, a cam and bell-crank.

Has to be do-able.

TOC

#18

The James in the books is a Mogul with inside cylinders and a Belpaire firebox (Lionel omitted this second feature)…interestingly, he’s also the only character that people can’t pin down an actual prototype for.

Lionel, in their infinite wisdom, decided on a (very sloppy) chain of gears along the one side to turn the drivers with the siderods just along for the ride (they have a largish oval hole for the front crankpin and aren’t even connected to the center driver)…It works, more or less. The footplate is a large solid plastic slab, so a bit of dremel butchering would be in order to drive the eyes from the front wheels. I may revisit using the Mining Mogul drive if the “factory” fix doesn’t last.

#19

A Custom Drive is defintely the answer. Whether you drive the eyes or not (I too agree with TOC that it should be easily doable). Barry should be able to handle this and then it would be bulletproof. It would also add the needed weight down low where it’s needed. Since Lionel won’t let us know when or if these will be re-issued. We as consumers need to take matters into our own hands and MAKE them work. Hmmm wondering if the Ruby Drivers would work? Live steam James or Thomas? Hmmm? Don’t go there Chas!

Chas

#20

I’d take a broken Thomas, it’d make my kids happy!

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