So today, i got out my Connie (which i might add has run flawlessly for years). Put it on the track and it moved about 3 feet. Now it’s a push toy…
Barry, why couldn’t you have gone out of business next month? WHY?!?!?!?!? (j/k)
sigh
I’m bummed. I know I can fix it, just not feeling it right now.
big sigh
I’m gonna go punish my RC truck…
Terry
Give Barry a call. He ain’t dead.
Terry Burr said:
So today, i got out my Connie (which i might add has run flawlessly for years). Put it on the track and it moved about 3 feet. Now it's a push toy..... Barry, why couldn't you have gone out of business next month? WHY?!?!?!?!? (j/k) *sigh* I'm bummed. I know I can fix it, just not feeling it right now. *big sigh* I'm gonna go punish my RC truck.....Terry
Terry I agree that draws a big vac.
Had the same thing happen to mine up at Bob’s one year. Come to find out the gear on the axle had slid over and off the knurling. From the bottom I couldn’t see that since I was looking for a broken gear. It drove me nuts for awhile, since sometimes it would run and then it wouldn’t. Eventually I tore it down and found the problem. Slid the gear back over the knurling, drilled a pinhole through the gear and axle, put a small brass key in it, then glued the whole thing. Voila!
That was the first problem I ever had with it in close to 10 years of running it.
After wailing on the RC truck (don’t worry, it likes it) I think I’m in the right mindset to open the connie up. If it needs a new gear, which I may as well replace if I have it apart, is northwest shortline the only option?
Thanks,
Terry
Nope contact Barry… He’s still alive and kicking.
Terry…Bachmann now makes a brass replacement gear installed on the axle. $10.00 a piece + $5.00 shipping. Ordered mine on-line and had it in about 3 days. As my Connie is running as smooth as the proverbial watch I have not made the “repair” but am glad to have the part if I need it.
I’m sure the NWSL gear is a fine replacement too but with the Bachmann unit there is no screwing around with the axle/fit.
Barry, NWSL, and now Bachmann…You have plenty of choices.
What Mark said. My Connie went down over Chirstmas last year. I know that Barry alluded to still building his drive. He is just not going to advertise for new customers. I also got a new Bachmann brass gear. It looks good, but I have not installed it on my loco. I’m still thinking I might get the BBT drive.
I just finished installing one of the new Bachmann drive axles in Fred’s Connie. The bolts for the drive rods are a PITB to get undone because they are welded in place with red Loctite. A 7mm socket wouldn’t turn them because sockets have a bevel on the inside edge to help them slip over the nuts being removed. The depth of the bevel is slightly larger than the height of the Bachmann drive nut, so the socket just slips. Fortunately I also had a 7mm wrench.
Once you get by the crankpin nuts off, there are lots of screws to remove: 4 in the boiler braces, 1 on the Johnson bar, 8 in the ash pan, one in the steam chest, 16 above the brake hangers, 4 in the gearbox cap, and 2 in the motor brace.
I disassembled the counterweights and wheels from the old drive axle, and re-assembled them on the new one. While re-assembling the chassis, the last of the crankpin nuts sheared off in the second axle counterweight. G** D*** C******* C***
As there is no way of removing the remainder of the sheared bolt from a pot metal counterweight, I tried to remove a counterweight from my Connie, but the small screw was welded in with Loctite. I think to myself as I clamp the vise grips on the small screwdriver, if I shear this off, I’ll have two totally useless steam engines. After a lot of cussing it finally let go. Put my counterweight and drive nut on Fred’s Connie. Clamped some power on the motor terminals and the chassis limped down the test track like a peg-legged pirate. ^$%&*#$#$% I HATE STEAM ENGINES!!!
Set it aside until this morning when The Muffin Gang met. We removed the motor and pushed the chassis back and forth on the test track. We discovered that one of the excentric drive rods was bowed up slightly. Straightened it and the limp was gone, but the chassis still dragged. Investigation revealed that with no weight on the chassis, the wheel flanges of the first and last drive wheels rubbed on the metal rods for the brake shoes. Added a little weight and the chassis finally rolled smoothly. Re-installed the motor and tested the chassis. It ran fine. The boiler and cab were re-installed. One down, five more to go! I wonder if I will have any parts left on my Connie by the time they are all done.
BTW: Trying to re-install a small non-magnetic screw in the bracket and Johnson bar under the walkway was fun. NOT! Stu finally showed me a trick that I thought I would pass on. I cut a 1/2 inch wide strip of paper and poked a hole in the top corner for the shaft of the screw. Now I could turn the shaft of the screw through the hole in bracket a few turns without it dropping under the work table. The Johnson bar was the pulled back against the bracket with self-closing tweezers while turning the screw with a small screwdriver until it caught. The paper was then torn away and the screw tightened down.