MDC/ROUNDHOUSE locomotive rebuilds

[Schraddel]

one last thing I noticed was that the end holes in the side rod are elongated, is that a factory design or would this be from wear on a layout?

Hello Glen!
That is no good. You are never never allowed to have horizontal oval bores in the side rods. This causes solid and dependable binds. Even if all drivers are correct in their quartering.


This little critter has made me a lot of headaches. One of these headaches was the existence of horizontal oval bores in the side rods.
Also this is the way to control the centre distances(?) (German: Stichmaß) of frame and side rods. They have to be of the same measurement to run without binds.
One of the possibilities to repair this, is to solder pieces of brass tube with suitable measures into the enlarged bores.

Lutz