GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I have replaced early Athearn wheels with Nickel Silver wheels from NWSL. It was one of the first loco 'upgrades' I ever attempted and it was very easy. The result was a set of wheels very easy to keep clean, and increased reliability overall.

But that said, I'm not sure what type of wheels you have on the Genesis units. Both my upgrades were Athearn Blue Box diesels from the 80's with the old sintered wheels that were graphite-colored.

Galen

I LOVE those old wheels. I know I have to replace them (they get black after two or three laps on the layout), but they are fantastic for traction. My E60CP locomotives have those old types, and they cannot be stopped. It seesm like the more dirt they pick up, the better they pull, until they can no longer maintain an electrical connection. Nickel Silver wheels seem so much more slippery. Not a problem on a freight where i can justify adding an extra locomotive, but on heavy passenger trains every bit of grip counts.

GEC,

After reading your post checked the two on the layout and neither has the discolored wheels. I clean my wheels with denatured alcohol on a paper towel and run the loco over it. Also use it to clean the track. Only problem I have had with the Athearn GP 15-1s was one was operating very herky jerky( for a lack of a better word). After pulling the shell off found that two of the wires to the board that have the little black clips had bad connections. Soldered them instead of the clips and that solved the problem.

Bruce

I haven't had the problem with my GP15-1, but I DO have that problem with an Athearn RTR RS2. its a more recent model, and i guess now they've totally abandoned the old metal clips (some of you rolling your eyes out there, but i haven't bought much in the way of Athearn locomotives in a while other than these being discussed ).

The annoying part is apparently they still use the frame to pass electricity, and there is some sort of spade connector that screws in somewhere, but i can't find it for the life of me. It looks like it should go between the frame and the deck just behind the cab, but i can't get this to fit together without jamming or warping the shell.

GEC;

I finally got my Athearn GP15-1 running the other day. Not sure what I did to get it running other than I found the wheels on the rear truck were all out of gauge (too narrow) and the rear truck was not supplying power to the model. Once I corrected the wheel gauge, it started running just fine, and has continued to run okay.

But I have noticed that copper color where the wheels contact the rail. You don't suppose that the wheels are brass with a nickel silver plating do you? Sure has got me wondering. If this loco was going to be my main power for the layout, perhaps I'd look into replacing the wheel sets. For now, I'll just run it off and on and see what happens.

This is exactly what i was thinking. I would not be surprised if they are plated at all, but then aren't most wheels like that? Still, I might think about getting new wheel sets. I'll have to take a picture of the problem spots on the wheel.

As far as the wheel gauge goes, i didn't check that before i removed the loco from the layout to be worked on, but i definitely checked the wheels before i put them back in, just to make sure they didn't shift any while i was working on them.