anyone have an Arnold S2 handy????

[71jeep]

I have an Arnold S2 with the dreaded bad gear syndrome and I wanted to bring a gear with me here to work and forgot.
So my question is can someone give me the outside diameter of the gear on the axle either by meauring or of the top of your heads???
I wanted to machine them tonight at home so I wanted to make up some blanks here at work because I do not have a lathe at home yet ;D


Thanks a bunch if anyone can


Allen....

[Bob Bufkin]

Here's some info:

The second problem is more serious. There is a design flaw in the secondary gears in the trucks. The gears pressed onto the axles (and the idler gears in the truck gearcase) have a dimple on them (making them thin). As a consequence, the gears pressed onto the axles may crack at the dimple. You'll know if this is the case, because an S-2 with cracked drive gears will make a clicking noise as it rides the rails. You can usually identify the axle with the bad gear by holding the locomotive in your hand and gently applying force to the wheels. The wheels should not move. But if one does move, it probably has a cracked gear (which is now slipping). NWSL used to offer replacement gears for these models (not sure if they still do - but the part number is/was 2152-6). Since this model is out of production, your only other replacement option would be to find a used one and cannibalize it for spare parts.

I have 2 of these and have NWSL gears and wheel replacement for one - which I haven't done yet.  I've also read some articles about using Gorilla glue to reglue the gears (just be very careful doing this).

[71jeep]

Thanks Bob this is exactly the problem with the one I have so I am going to make my own gears I got this engine cheap off the site and it came with a GHQ T6 conversion so i want to get her up and going again.

I made the indexer made the profile cutter I was just hoping to cutthe gears today but I forgot one of the axles to get all my measurements hence my question.

This is the second time I have made gears I made a sets for a basket case ABBA Bman F7's I bought of the site now they are great runners a little noise but great runners.I figuered I had no other choise when I ordered replacment gears from Bman and they were bad as well.

Thanks allot

Allen....

[Walkercolt]

Allen, you want to machine some pistons for a 1914 Excelesior V-twin motor-cycle? ;D I'm pulling your chain. One of the guys in our N-TRAK club is already working on them. Antique motorcycles are my other obsession besides trains. We have a custom bicycle maker in CO bending and welding a copy of the Columbia bike frame the engine went on, but he's using Compenallo(sp?) super-ultra steel tubing from Italy. He swears it will be 4-10 times stronger than the original frame, and I don't doubt him. You can't believe what we do to resurect these relics! Often it would be easier to build one from scratch off the blueprints....if they still existed! We just may be crazier than N-scalers.

[71jeep]

I have always been one of those guys why buy when I can supply if there is a will there is a way and I will find the way  ;D
And yeh there is nothing to me more gratifying than bringing something back from the dead espescially when you fabricated the parts yourself.
And I know what you mean about just wanting to start from sratch some of the hoops you have to jump through make things work  : but all fun and reward is in the end.
Most anything is repairable just a matter of time, money and pattion.

OH and be glad to make some pistons for ya just find time between the train repair ;D ;D


Allen....

[Walkercolt]

Allen, one freind from my church was a machinist at American Airlines maintance here in Tulsa (he just retired). James made a crank-shaft from aero-space forged steel for us, built-up the three pieces, and had the shop resistance welded it all together, balanced it then they quenched the thing in liquid nitrogen!(Whew!) This was for an Indian board-track methanol racer that runs VERY well now. The engineers at Indian never dreamed of that kind of metallugy, precision machining, the stress-reliving they did, flame hardening and then the cyrogenic treatment to modify the molecular structure(crystal lattaces) in the steel. AA uses cyrogenic treatments on their brakes and wheels with fantastic results. James quoted a Rockwell hardness, a tensile strength(6 figures) and some numbers and things I'd never heard about steel before. He grinned and said the crank was better than the axles on AA airliners. I got the impression several guys in the shop worked on it during lunches for "fun", and played "how good can we make this?" without worrying about cost. I have the feeling they have done this for each other on old cars and/or hot cars. I know a woman who does upholstery there, and have seen what she did on a custom car. She didn't get it done in a week, but her work is as good as any you've ever seen.

[gpicyk]

Allen, this repair comes from my good friend Russ Straw. Order Kato N Geared Wheelset,pointed axle for PA-1. Part number 932020. remove the wheels and axles. Cut the shoulders off the gears and you will have a gear that will slip on the Arnold Rapido axles without the dreaded dimple. Note that these gears have one more tooth than the Arnold gears however there is plenty of slop in the trucks that this is not a problem. I have used this method myself and I can assure you that it indeed works. The geared wheels come 6 in a package for $9.00.     George Picyk   

[71jeep]

Thanks George that is some great info but the S2now has a dandy new set of custom brass gears and now runs like a Swiss watch. And I do have one extra set if anyone is interested shoot me a PM.


Allen.....

[Iain]

You can't believe what we do to resurect these relics! Often it would be easier to build one from scratch off the blueprints....if they still existed! We just may be crazier than N-scalers.

Try restoring a WWII LCVP.

[Walkercolt]

Well, Iain, it's probably about like the guys that re-built "Glacier Girl" the P-38F under 80' of ice. Took 'em ten years, and some of the people said it really would have been easier to just fabricate the whole thing from the plans. When we take an old cast iron cylinder, bore it out and re-sleeve it(heat the cylinder in the oven, cool the sleeve in liquid nitrogen) or getting new gears hobbed going from "steel" to vaccumm re-melt from Sweden. Some times the "fun" gets a bit exspensive. Finding the old body men who can hammer out a new pair of fenders and a fuel/oil tank from flat metal, weld them up and "wipe" them with solder is interesting. You find a guy you can depend on, does great work, and he'll up and die on you from old age! :-[ We've actually had this happen on us a couple of times, sadly, because they were wonderful guys and great craftsmen, but one of them went to sleep and just didn't wake-up; he was only in his early 90's. Many skilled craftsmen like those guys are just dying out. It's MUCH easier to find a custom saddle maker than metal-workers. And custom automotive glass cutters are dissapering totally. One place left in town, where there were two with-in a mile of my house 'till 2 years ago. Mr Dixon retired, and the other man I didn't know personally, died. Union Pacific has the same problem finding people that know how to work on steam engines, and make replacement parts, because there aren't any Westinghouse steam injector pumps on any shelves anywhere.

[Robbman]

Getting harder to find somebody who will work on a copper/brass radiator (and it's new) anymore as well.  The very few guys in my area who did do it all quit for health reasons (I can understand though)