Gnome One Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 I am currently attempting to bring my too-long-in-storage fleet back to life. I have an A4 'Sir Ralf Wedgewood' which I was given immediately before everything was packed away. To the best of my knowledge the loco was never run and if it was ir certainly was a very limited ride.Today I took the locomotive out of its packing, again it seems 'as new', lightly oiled the piston areas and set up a test. During the course of the day I have been running various of my locomotives, some of many years in boxes and some recent acquisitions. Varied success as you would expect and lots to do as a result. However; the star was a Hornby 'years in box' tender driven loco 'Yorkshire' which took off from the start.Not so 'Sir Ralf' however, the loco moved sure enough but the wheels on the loco remained motionless and consequently I aborted pretty quickly. I tried the tender from 'Yorkshire' and it had zero success. I wondered if anyone had anything to share on this?Ta very much in advance.BillP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Strip it down, clean all old oil off and re lubricate. I suggest servicing them all after long term storage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony57 Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 HiWhen you oiled the piston area did you oil the driving wheel axels and those on the bogie and pony trucks where they go through the various chassis blocks?Have you tried turning the driving wheels on the locomotive by hand to see how free moving they are? Not knowing what version of the loco is, it may be possible by turning the loco upside down and be removing the bottom plate you will expose the driving wheel axels which could then be cleaned of old oil and grease and can be re-lubricated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rana Temporia Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Is the chassis showing any signs of distortion? As others have said, try to turn the wheels by hand. If there are signs of distortion any weights in the chassis may have expanded due to Mazak rot. The weights expand and stop the axles from turning before disintegrating. If there are no signs of distortion simply turning the wheels by hand may free up the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morairamike Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 My 9F does this occasionally, it's the connecting rods or the valve gear jamming on the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Hi G1, welcome to the forum.All suggestions are totally correct.Main thing is to be systematic.Loco inverted, try turning the driving wheels as if in contact with rails. Are any of the rods - coupling or connecting - slightly distorted (probably poor handling which bent them) and at certain points the rods interfere / block each other?Are any of the joints, where pins hold rods together, which are too loose, permitting too much lateral movement?Has this locomotive been run on track over carpet - are there 'hairs' in the axle bearing areas?Are the pickups clean - is there a lot of fluff - related to 3.Mazak rot is several batches of MAZAK - the metal alloy generally used in model locomotives - were poor quality and absorb moisture and become deformed, normally seen by fissures / fractures and swelling, changing the shape slightly.Were there separate bolts on each wheel holding the rods, or just one central screw - check these / this are gently nipped up - DO NOT FORCE. Sometimes a loosened screw can interfere - even very partially unscrewed.Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 I spent ages getting the ones on mine to work properly it was virtually all the things in atom3624's list. On one it turned out to be the cylinder block, another the wheels where slightly buckled, made worse by me adding extra pickups. Eventually I got them working property, only to find much later, by use of bits of modelling plastic sheet and a new rear steel bracket, I could get a modern Railroad chassis to fit. Much better solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 Ok, will do very, very soon. Was hoping for better result from 'from box' item but there you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 @Tony57Thank you, learnt a lot (not hard in my case) - will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 @Rana Temporia.Thanks, starting to realise the size of what in front of me! Will certainly follow up on your welcome advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 My 9F does this occasionally, it's the connecting rods or the valve gear jamming on the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 Ok, will check this. Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 Hi G1, welcome to the forum.All suggestions are totally correct.Main thing is to be systematic.Loco inverted, try turning the driving wheels as if in contact with rails. Are any of the rods - coupling or connecting - slightly distorted (probably poor handling which bent them) and at certain points the rods interfere / block each other?Are any of the joints, where pins hold rods together, which are too loose, permitting too much lateral movement?Has this locomotive been run on track over carpet - are there 'hairs' in the axle bearing areas?Are the pickups clean - is there a lot of fluff - related to 3.Mazak rot is several batches of MAZAK - the metal alloy generally used in model locomotives - were poor quality and absorb moisture and become deformed, normally seen by fissures / fractures and swelling, changing the shape slightly.Were there separate bolts on each wheel holding the rods, or just one central screw - check these / this are gently nipped up - DO NOT FORCE. Sometimes a loosened screw can interfere - even very partially unscrewed.Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 Ok and thanks for excellent input. Point 3 hit a point having experienced this very phenomena with my first ever (Tri-ang circa 1952) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 @ColinBThanks for this input, don't think I will be going as far as a new chassis just yet. The loco looks to be in very, very good nick actually. Nonetheless will keep will you suggest in mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Be careful if thinking of getting a Railroad A4 chassis for your A4. I have an old Top Link Mallard (tender drive) which I wanted as a loco drive loco so I bought a Railroad A4 to donate it's chassis as I had done sucessfully with some tender driven 4-4-0s (County, Midland Compounds and LNER Hunt) but found the A4 chassis did not fit. The main issue was that trailing wheels on the Railroad 4-6-2 are fixed to the chassis and not on a separate truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Funny that, I have converted about 4 of my A4 tender driven locos to to the new Railroad loco drive. My A4s were mainly 80s to 90s ones where the body clipped to the chassis using the cylinder block. To do the conversion you have to machine the plastic away from under the cab, so that the single locating lag will fit (earlier ones had two small ones). Then you make up a steel plate to go over this, which you attach to the body using the self tapping screws in the holes in front of of the cab. Next you build up a locating tab at the front of the loco using plasticard and liquid weld. I then drilled a hole in it to take a heat insert able captive nut to attach the front of the body. If you want more info I will supply some photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 This is the conversion I did on my Hornby Seagull: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome One Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 Many thanks for this I have done about twelve out of the stable so far an those that not responded to treatment have shown no signs of chassis problems of this type. Off to look up Mazak rot though.BestBillP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 @ColinBWell done with the conversion, you are much braver than I! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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