Whats the most awkward and difficult engine any one here has had to take apart,repair and put back together.

[Lee-H]

A Roco ÖBB ‘Crocodile’. Gave up and got a professional to fix it!

[ejstubbs]

3 hours ago, Brit70053 said:

Lone Star OOO (N Gauge ?) Baby Deltic I've been asked to see if there's any chance of reviving. I know nothing about it other than drive (from where ??) to the wheels (Which were loose in a box with no guarantee they belong to this loco) may have been by 'elastic bands'(?), There are of course no instructions/ diagrams.

  I can barely see what , if any, 'works' are present inside the cast metal body shell, let alone figure out how I would release them to see if anything could possibly be done.  Nightmare ! 

 

Regards,

 

                 John

 

There's quiet a lot of information about the Lone Star Treble-O-Lectric products on this web site: http://www.irwinsjournal.com/a1g/a1glocos/TrebleO.html including a page specifically about servicing the locos: http://www.irwinsjournal.com/a1g/a1glocos/TrebLocoService.html

 

ISTR that last time I looked into the subject (my first "proper" electric train set was a Lone Star and I was indulging in a bit of a nostalgia trip) there was more than one web site with info about the Lone Star products, and there may also have been sources of spares e.g. the drive bands - possibly even on eBay. I wouldn't be surprised if a bit of Googling wouldn't unearth more than the above (in fact, there do seem to be some "how to" videos on YouTube).

 

Edit to add: this web page has some other relevant-looking links (I haven't checked them but it definitely includes the web site I linked above). Note that it states: "The Lone Star 000 electric system is supposed to have disappeared by the mid-1960s (although Beatties still seemed to have some stock in 1967)." I know that Beatties had some stock later than that, because my Mum managed to buy some of the US image stuff from them in the early 1970s.

Edited January 22, 2022 by ejstubbs

[John Tomlinson]

On 20/01/2022 at 16:36, RedgateModels said:

Bachmann 80XXX tank engine. Impossible (almost) to get the body off without breaking the under cab pipework. The trick is to prise it off from the underside of the tanks, if it will ……..

 

Completely agree. Total nightmare. I bought a secondhand one that the previous owner had attempted to dismantle, so dislodging lots of bits - fortunately the bits were included. Virtually impossible to get together properly without some modification, needed a lot of study of photos. In the process I realised that the slide bars were badly fitted - must have been a factory fault, so had a go at these as well. Whole thing took ages but fine now, looks and runs very well. Never again!!

 

John.

[RedgateModels]

26 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

 

Completely agree. Total nightmare

it would be so much easier if the thin bracket that holds the undercab pipework was not glued to the chassis. This one action makes the job so much more difficult. 

[Quarryscapes]

Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-0, But it was my fault after an ill fated attempt at converting to EM gauge. I made such a hash of it I gave up and bought a complete new chassis. 

[MartynJPearson]

Ah, the joys of opening a Bachmann class 108 DMU. After checking where the retaining screws are on the instructions, I remember the gumf about it being a detailed scale model for adult collectors that should be handled with care. Quite how you can handle it with the required care to open it beats me, the underside detail has had to be glued back a couple of times.

 

My other bugbear is bodies that clip onto the considerably more brittle plastic used for glazing.

[jwealleans]

I was defeated by a Bachmann Ivatt 2 - I was only weathering it for a friend and can't remember why I needed the top off, but it was such a tight fit I gave up before I broke something.

 

The DJ/Kernow Beattie Well tank is the worst I've managed to get into - ours is still in bits in a box as someone else has had a go at it and lost a spring, but no-one will now admit to supplying any spares for it.   I'll have to wind my own when I feel enthusiastic about it.

[DK123GWR]

11 hours ago, MartynJPearson said:

Ah, the joys of opening a Bachmann class 108 DMU. After checking where the retaining screws are on the instructions, I remember the gumf about it being a detailed scale model for adult collectors that should be handled with care. Quite how you can handle it with the required care to open it beats me, the underside detail has had to be glued back a couple of times.

 

My other bugbear is bodies that clip onto the considerably more brittle plastic used for glazing.

Screws? You don't get that luxury on a 121. I've no problem with bending the body to get it off of the chassis clips when I'm dismantling a Lima 47, but it's a bit scarier on a £110 super-detailed DMU.

[Brit70053]

Further to my post on Saturday, with the benefit of having read the links provided by ejstubbs I've actually made some progress in accessing the internal workings of the Lone Star Treble O Baby Deltic. 

The furry appearance of oddly shaped panels on two opposite corners of the chassis underside which had puzzled me greatly on first inspection, was found to be down to double sided adhesive tape, the visible bottom side covered in crud, concealing the heads of the screws by which the body casting was secured to the chassis! First and to me most puzzling mystery solved, I could now separate body  and chassis.

            This revealed the motor and remnants of  long since disintegrated drive bands still sticking to the drive shaft.  I removed the motor to test it and found that there were inconsistent signs of life. Testing the magnet by suspending a jeweller's screwdriver from it confirmed that it is reasonably strong, so I moved on to checking the armature. I found that the winding from one segment was detached from the commutator plate, and that one of the brush springs was fractured where it bends to provide 'spring pressure on the carbon brushes. The brushes themselves ? Square pegs in round holes and obviously 'home made' not the originals.  Diagrams and text in the 'Links' referred to confirmed that the unattached wheelsets do indeed belong to this model, so another query resolved.

                 I think from here I'll be able to attempt some repairs to the obviously broken/ damaged parts, though what the prospects for returning this to running order are remains uncertain.

                 In the meantime, thanks again to ejstubbs, 33C and Redgate Models for helpful information , advice and the offer of contact with an expert on Lone Star, all much appreciated.

 

                      Regards, 

                                       John

Edited January 26, 2022 by Brit70053
addition of phrase

[Legend]

Heljan 17 got to be up there . Removing those blasted buffers to get body off , then getting to the gear train a real pain 

[Geep7]

The most difficult I had was a Heljan Class 128, just to fit a decoder. The bodyshell was a tight fit, and I had to fight to get it off, plus the chassis seemed to want to shed itself of any detail part it could.

[John M Upton]

Some Lima locos were a right pain, particularly classes 59, 60 and 73 where the chassis clipped into the glazing in at least two points down each side plus the ends as well.  You could loosen the sides all right but then faced practically pulling the lower front end off before the end clips gave way. 

 

Needless to say, losing the clip parts off the end glazing was a standard requirement before reassembly.

 

Then there was the fun and games I once had with a Farish DCC ready Class 37.  In the end I had to ditch the PCB and hardwire it just to get it to work.

[47406]

Maybe i've just got off easy over the years compared to some of the folks and models above, but I'm going to nominate the Heljan Class 47 - on some of them the body shell is so tight on the chassis that it is a struggle to get them off (no, they're not mazak-ing, some of them have always been like that since i got them many years back, others not), then getting the drive shaft in place when refitting the bogies....

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

I'd say the Model Rail-Rapido 16XX pannier. You can't just remove the chassis from the body, the chassis is (part of) the body!

 

[47137]

On 20/01/2022 at 17:03, dasatcopthorne said:

Heljan 00 4 wheel railbus.

 

Failed and gave up.

 

Dave.

 

 

Me too.

 

I gave up trying to take my model apart because I thought I would mark the paint. Passed it to a professional who did the work and returned the model with two gouge marks in the sides and explained "this can't be helped". Dismantling was needed to simply apply lubrication. I sold the thing "as seen" on eBay soon afterwards, funny thing was I got most of the original purchase price back.

 

- Richard.