A little TLC for an older loco...

[doctorwayne]

The loco itself weighs 15.25oz., and is almost perfectly balanced at the mid-point of its driver's wheelbase. The tender, however, was a little on the light side, so I cast a couple of lead weights to bring its total weight up to 9.75oz. This should ensure good tracking qualities along with positive electrical pick-up.

I made a few test runs to check the loco's performance, and began with the same test I use for all of my own locos. This consists of a 2.5% grade on an "S" bend with 34" radius at each end, with about 54" of straight track in between. I use Athearn two-bay hoppers loaded with "coal" (total weight of one loaded hopper is 8 oz.) and an Athearn caboose weighing 4oz. The caboose rides on Kadee trucks, while the hoppers all use plastic trucks with plastic wheels and are not especially free-rolling. The loco managed 5 hoppers, along with the caboose, for a total weight of 44oz. The curves had some affect of course, but the short train was only ever in them one-at-a-time.
I also ran a train of free-rolling cars of various manufacture. With these, the loco was able to handle 20 cars with a combined weight of 67oz., fairly impressive considering that the train was strung through both curves at the same time for much of the climb. Of course, on level track (the usual milieu of this type of loco) quite a few more cars are possible. Normal current draw never exceeded .5 amp on level track, and rose only to .75 amps on the grade. Even when the train was too heavy, the current draw never exceeded this, with the drivers simply slipping, as they should.

Once the mechanical work was done, I repainted and lettered the loco. Here are a few photos:












Wayne