Bring An Old Athearn Loco Back TO Life (364)
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- One of the problems you are likely to encounter when digging an old loco out of storage or when you buy one at a flea market or train show is they may run poorly if at all. However the issue can usually be fixed quite easily with a little grease and oil. In this video I'll show you how to bring an old loco back to life using an Athearn F7A unit. However, these techniques will usually work with just about any model loco as manufacturers often us similar designs. Following is a list of the products that may be needed.
Labelle 102 or 107 Oil
Labelle 106 Teflon Grease
Woodland Scenics Lite Oil
Woodland Scenics HL657 Teflon Grease 
Хобби
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Larry I’m a little worried, you made some comments about health and haven’t heard from you, hope all is well and sending prayers just in case 😊
Larry, I hope all is well with your family, and that you are in good health. Best Wishes
Thanks Larry for all your instructive videos! Hope you are OK. Wish you all the best!
HOPE YOUR HEALTH is well, miss your videos
For some time back, all I bought was Athearn models. Still have about 2 dozen of them in my collection. At the time they were the most economical models as well as some of the best runners on the market.
Same here, I bought about 20
of the Blue Box SD40-2S and GP40-2S years ago when I started collecting Conrail
Locomotives!! 👍👍👍
Larry, love the channel, I have been watching just about since you started on RUclips!! Excellent informative videos always... Any chance you might consider diving into the LCC topic? This could be a topic that can become an extensive playlist from intro to how too's. Just a suggestion from a loyal fan.🙂
Great video Larry hope you’re doing well. Im looking forward to seeing your next video. I’m sure your absence is because your camera crapped out again. Gotta wait till you get the Nikon or Canon camera…..
These videos are so helpful. Thank you for making them. I recently rebuilt an Atlas/Kato RS-1 I bought used over 25 years ago but never ran. It ran but was real "crunchy" ! All gears were removed, soaked and scraped in degreaser (super wash) and regreased with Super Lube (found in most hardware stores), oiled the bearings and motor with Labelle. It was so satisfying to start it up and listen to it purr.
Another great video. And the timing was perfect, I have some old Athearn BB locomotives I want to bring back out. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff as always. Currently rewatching your DCC conversion video to refresh on a current Blue Box SW1200. I have successfully converted countless blue boxes this way. Great locomotives.
Thanks Larry, a lot of us have old locos that need a little help to keep them going.
I bought a few of these second hand Athearn BB locomotives, replaced cracked gears (I just swapped out the entire wheel set to get the nickel silver wheels), and relubed. I actually found that the regular light oil on the wheel bearings gave me electric pickup issues. I had to clean the oil out of them and used the Bachmann Conductive Contact Lube on those bearings instead. Everything seems to be running fine now.
Hi Larry & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks Larry & Friends Randy & Super Cool &Athearn Locomotive & Thanks Super Cool Video & Friends Randy
I always polish the coms on my athearns when they look that dirty.
As always another great video, Larry!
Thanks for bringing up the topic of the ancient proto series of locomotives, that use a drive close to Atheran.
Some of my old life like proto 1000 series Subway cars, that were left unopened until recently, had this same old grease issue as well.
That drive you have there, looks a lot like the proto 1000 drives.
I'm sure your video on this topic, will help many people, repair seized up drives.
I hope you are well larry it has been a little over a month since the last video. Best wishes!
Great video Larry!!
As usual a very informative video; in this case on how to rehabilitate an old Athearn F7 locomotive. I've certainly disassembled my fair share of these locos to get them running a bit smoother using similar techniques I'd seen on someone else's channel. But I have to ask, what in the world is all that goofy looking wiring? I watched the entire video just in the hope of finding out it's function, if any. Never seen anything like that before. Anyway, thanks for another great model railroading video!
I have the same question regarding the wiring.
Thank you for sharing.👍
I got rid of all of my athearn BB diesels sintered iron metal wheels and replaced them with nickel silver wheel sets from NWSL. Result: Way better power pick up and less dirty wheels.
Yes sir. I do the same. Any BB Athearn, pre RTR, I up grade them with ns wheelsets. They stay cleaner for longer. Same goes for P2K 4 axel models. I replace the axel gears whether they need them or not.
@@michaelcudby787 I recently replaced the wheels of my 44Tonner the other day(nwsl geared wheels). Works so nice and smooth now.
I run a 1950s Hornby Dublo tank using old mechano bridge rectifier and a Lionel cw80 controller on my modern layout, alongside dcc on the other loops
Well done. Thank you.
l love watching your videos sir!
Good info, Larry! One point, though. Athearn's little square bearings are a powdered metal product. They are porous, which acts as an oil reservoir. Unless you clean them very thoroughly, by soaking in acetone, lacquer thinner, or some other serious solvent, the old lube is still clogging the pores, and new lubricant won't last long. Ideally, you can replace the old bearings and apply the better lubricant.
Thankyou thankyou thankyou🚂‼️
Great video. Just a thought if you don't mind though, on older Athearn locomotives like that, some of them are my favorites, I found that cleaning the commentator(sp) really improves performance as well. That and a good wheel cleaning. Thanks for the video.
Just getting active in the hobby again after 30+ years. Would like to see a video if there's an alternate than needing a separate power supply for each Digitrax Accessory.
Which accessories? There are ways to share power supplies on some but not all.
Great video. Comment and a question. If using a SoundTraxx decoder, if the motor draws too much amperage, the decoder will protect itself by stopping the power feed to the motor and will flash a code telling why through the headlight (11 flashes if I remember correctly). Also, what is the purpose of the black device you have wired into the loco and why is it sticking out of the back of the shell?
That is part of old wiring from a 1990s era command control system.
What are these "hobby shops" you keep mentioning? Haven't seen one in years!
Hobbytown is about it.
Hi Larry, would you (or anyone in the comments) know how I could connect a BDL 168 (or similar block detector), to detect a OO gauge loco on one of many blocks within a reversing loop. Will a block detector work if the current is reversed ?
Many thanks,
Regards Alan
I guess it depends on the design of the block detector but I would bet that most can easily detect within the block even if polarity is reversed. After all the detector is simply “seeing” the change in current flowing between the rails through the loco motor or lights. However this would be a question for the manufacturer of the specific detector.
@@TheDCCGuy many thanks, Alan
Larry, what is the wiring setup for? What kind of connecter is that? Looks to me it’s used for continuity with other locomotives in areas where power could be spotty (like insulated frogs). Could you post a schematic of the wiring. Thanks
That was a wiring harness for an old CTC16 command control system with a blanking plug for use on straight DC. I sold my old CTC16 system when I converted to DCC back around 1995-as I said these are OLD locos!
@@TheDCCGuy Thanks Larry, I don’t remember that system, who made that?
CTC16 was THE system from around 1988 to the late 19990s. Keith Gutierrez who now makes EasyDCC was the designer although it was based on an even earlier command control system CTC1600 that MR bought the rights to and commissioned Keith to redesign. MR ran a series of articles in the late 1980s showing how to build a system and receivers. It basically allowed you to control 16 trains at the same time, although in the following years by narrowing bandwidth they increased that to 32, 64, and 128 locos. When DCC came along with smaller decoders that could contol as many locos as you had power for, CTC16 and its related systems tanked fast.
You should have said something about the wheel axle gear are going to need replaced from the crack in gear ⚙️ replaced with
( ath 60024) after all you already have locomotive took a part.
I did, and I included a link to my video on how to do it. You must have nodded off at some point.
You will find that most. if not all Athearn BB locos do not need the axle gears replacing. It is only the 4 axle P2K locos that have that problem. Because the P2K locos have the identical trucks & gears, they are interchageable with Athearn BB trucks/gears, which are readily available.
How many thrust washers did you lose ?
None.
@@TheDCCGuy Do you know of a source for the exact size of thrust washers they use in those drives? I tried a microfastener place but they are too thick.
Northwest Short Line, nwsl.com
Whe I saw the title "Old Athearn Loco..." I was hoping to see one of the dreadful 1960 type. The drive consisted of a motor with dive shafts extending fore and aft. On these drive shafts, four small rubber bands translated the rotation 90 degrees to the axles. The operation was sloppy, way too fast, and a nightmare to repair. But CHEAP! I hope you never have to encounter one of these. Even the little shunter, "Hustler" was capable of scale speeds of over 125 mph.
Ah, the Athearn Hustler. Back in the day at the Allentown train meets they had HO train races. The Hustler was the one to race with. Once you learned how to control the loco you could win.
@@user-ff2iz5qc6l It was also a great tool to clean off any scenery laying to the outside of any curve.
Ah yes, the good old rubber band drive! I have seen a couple of those but never owned one. A design better left to the dust bin of history.
I ordered my first HO locomotive which was an Athearn B&O Hi-F drive F7 from E&H Model Hobbies for $3.99 on September 26, 1960. Yes, I still have the order blank. When i needed more rubber bands, I found I could use the ones from my orthodontist for my braces. Years later, I had a hobby shop and obtained an Athearn Locomotive Parts Kit. The bag of 48 rubber bands in the kit are still there and have hardened. I ended up with 3 F7's and will keep them for sentimental reasons. The RDC car also used Hi-F drive. I bought an Ernst gear kit for that years ago and still need to install it.