In The Belly Of The Beast (1)
#1
Hello,



this time a Cab Forward from Intermountain was put onto my workbench: https://intermountain-railway.com/ho/html/59002.htm

Damage report: Loco does not move, sound and lights are doing. It seems to be an mechanical problem.

Testing the loco in mute mode: motor is reving but no movements at the wheels. The fault must be anywhere in the drivetrain.







[Image: dsc03458iikp1.jpg]
For this i started demounting the loco. After removing some details at the boiler, some screws became visible and this allowed to take off the upper half and the cab.














[Image: dsc03459x3j15.jpg]


But not complete because there were some wire connections. As the SP has a lot of special headlights, it not a good idea to disconnect them. Let's make a workaround.














[Image: dsc03460gqkbr.jpg]


At the rear end in the the smokebox this wire wad was visible.















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Front end too.














[Image: dsc034623ykrg.jpg]


After removing some tape more screws became visible and after removing these, the upper half of the ballast weight could be lifted out. This allowed a first glance onto the drive train. And of course of more screws.


Turning the motor gentle at the flywheel, no jamming, no cracks at all and the shaft and the universals were firm. The fault has to be searched further down.














[Image: dsc0346307jt3.jpg]


And here too, after removing motor and shaft, more screws.
















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After removing theses screws, the lower half of the weight could be lifted out.


And guess, more screws. Ather removing these ones too, the lower half of the boilder and running boards was revoved.
















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But before the articulated joints between the two group of drivers has to be removed; screws Goldth
















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Now more test could be made.


The axle gear box of the rear group was o.k.


And the one of the front group was also o.k.


The fault must be within the transfer gearbox.














[Image: dsc03467szjst.jpg]


Next step is to remove the transfer gearbox.



(to be continued)
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#2
[Image: dsc03468qvjcc.jpg]
In the search of more scews the valve gear was removed.





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Here some delicate details were removed as preventive step for not damaging them.






[Image: dsc03467szjst.jpg]
Now it was possible to unscrew the cylinder blocks and remove them.






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After removing the bottom plate (screws!) at least the mounting screws for the transfer gearbox were visible and acessible.






[Image: dsc03472fdjwe.jpg]
The the transfer gearbox could be lifted out of the frame.






[Image: dsc03473vojx7.jpg]
After removing the last 4 screws the halves of the case could be pulled apart.
And the the guilty part was detected. 2285_



There was a cracked spur gear. Icon_mad 



Fortunately i had a suitable spur gear im my grab box. This time out of brass; this will never get cracked. The mouting was a quick job for which i used my puller.







But now ... 



... the whole loco has to be reassembled 2296_








Lutz





P.S.: Competition question: How many scews had to be removed before getting nuts?  35
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#3
P.S.: Competition question: How many screws had to be removed before getting nuts?

If I had disassembled this to this point the parts would be interesting loads for the scrapper. Your abilities far surpass anything that I can do. Looking forward to seeing it run once again.
Charlie
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#4
(08-01-2022, 11:08 AM)Charlie B Wrote: P.S.: Competition question: How many screws had to be removed before getting nuts?

If I had disassembled this to this point the parts would be interesting loads for the scrapper.  Your abilities far surpass anything that I can do.  Looking forward to seeing it run once again.
Charlie

Some folks have more patience than others, some have more dexterity, Lutz has both... Worship Worship
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#5
After the second set of mystery screws I would have given up and sent the loco to Lutz.  Goldth
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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#6
(08-01-2022, 02:33 PM)tompm Wrote: After the second set of mystery screws I would have given up and sent the loco to Lutz.  Goldth

I agree....Lutz certainly knows his way around HO scale locomotives, especially too, with some of those older ones, where the original owner (or perhaps the original builder) had really botched-it-up.

"If your loco gets putzed-up, just call Lutz to make it right!" Goldth 

Wayne
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#7
aha, this is an interesting one. Did the this cab fwd come in a box and was the product label white? If so, then this was a 1st run cab fwd which had quite a lot of problems.
the second run had a blue(ish) colour label, came with standard tsunami sound and was a bit better, but still ran quite slow. The 3rd run (of which the box label was either green or yellow) was equipped with ESU sound and this one had other improvements too so that the speed is better too.... Fixing them is not for the faint hearted.... that's for sure so a great job done here!
Hope to see more pictures of the transfer box with the replaced gear...
Be sure to visit my model railroad blog at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.namrr.blogspot.com">http://www.namrr.blogspot.com</a><!-- m -->
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#8
It's usually always something simple. Getting to the something....might not be so easy. Seeing all of the parts and the detail of this locomotive makes you appreciate the design and detail that's part of recent products - and you can then appreciate that these beasts are not cheap.

Fixing other people's problem children is now something I steer well clear of from a single bad experience. The fact that you're willing to help others fix their problems, Lutz, is a testament to your fortitude and patience.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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