Thanks alot. Just getting back into the hobby and I've been buying all my stuff second hand. If you can buy it used and fix it you'll save so much money!!!. I Just purchased a set of 6 used budd stainless steel passenger cars for $65, and learned how to repaint them with an airbrush. Now I just need to figure out how to fix and mantain loco's with a pancake engine. If more people were out there showing people who to DIY I think the hobby whould last.
I haven't finished the Hi-F project yet, but the belt drive is a totally sound and reliable system. My plan is a quality motor, shaft with at least a quarter inch diameter and to use the same belts found in VCR, cassette and turntables. The belts that you can get for those now come in grab bags with many sizes and those belts last for decades - that will work on those old Budd RDC that you can get at really good prices.
I HAD to see this! 😳😳 I've been very exposed to these, had at least one as a Kid... I would never talk anyone out of rebuilding it, if that's what they want to do... It's just not something that I'd Ever do myself! They ARE durable. They're easy to maintain. BUT, and I mention it often, I'm NO Rivet Counter!! But I do enjoy making my Fleet look like it COULD be from a prototype, and want them to look real... Especially the Locos. I totally agree with you, it's fun to experiment with and a good idea to test out techniques on. But with a *3 Pole Motor* driving only 4 Wheels, and only the rear Truck picking up power..... For me personally I would never build one for my Railroad. I like CRAWLING through Yards and industries. Not just a brief moment slow speed, then fly away... Even though I could care less about what happened on the Rock Island in Joilet, on May 17, 1968.... I do enjoy Prototypical style running. 😉 All that psychobabble said, I'm about to enjoy what you're about to do in the next couple of Videos! 😊 Carmine ✈🚂🚙
since the experiment with connected 2 of them together was such a success, I think I will be doing something where I put DCC in a U36B and then use a connector to a 2nd U36B and they share power and a single decoder, but you could still uncouple the primary and it will work on its own. the 2nd loco would be dead until connected again and it will pickup power that it shares with the main unit.
I have multiple of them, I just picked up a CSX one with a dummy yesterday still sealed for $50. It's a very rare version from the mid 2000's, CSX 1 and 602, the heritage units. It runs really well as do my others, strong pullers and easy to work on and get parts for. Wish they would've made them a little longer, sucks we never got Norfolk Southern or BNSF
there is NS with a high nose! check my video were I wired 2 of them together which gave a huge performance bonus. I plan to revisit a project like this, but in DCC where 1 unit has a decoder and can hookup to, say, 2 other units and provide the decoder. I also have discovered the phantom motor that in theory fits into the existing housing and gives you modern motor performance!!
Actually..... Looking at it, I'd take a few if they were given to me. There's that big stack of flat weights that I could use for Rolling Stock!! 😊 I always go 20% HIGHER in Weight than the NMRA Standards for Cars. They track so much better that way. 😉
@elite194 I just pulled my life like pancake motor apart to clean it and forgot one of the little plastic washers. Is it vital for operation? Or can I go without? I really don't want to pull this apart again lol.
That thrust washer prevents wear and tear on the main bearings. If you got it working and used air tool oil on those bearings you should be ok for a long time. If this train is going to go nonstop for 12 days of Xmas then you should goto the trouble of putting it back in. Be sure to hold on to it!
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I guess I'll do the job correctly and put it back. It's not that big of a job. I just worry about those springs flying. I had one let loose the other day and I spent three hours looking before I found it. I need therapy now lol. I'm a complete noob so checked out several threads from various train forums and saw the suggestion of using ATF (Like Mercon), so I used that very sparingly. @@elite194
yes the springs will fly! I have a laser level that I put on the floor when I lose important parts and it will find anything! you rotate it around and when it hits the missing part, you will be blinded! do NOT use ATF! it's good stuff, but my small engine man at Northern Tool has confirmed that only Air Tool Oil will be acceptable for these things - everyone has a guy who knows more and he's my guy! the reason is ATF is made to ultimately burn itself up over a period of use and then be replaced (actually you add more as it is used) wheras, Air Tool Oil is designed to protect the part and not wear out and later get cleaned up and replaced with Air Tool Oil! get the quart at the auto parts store because it is a lifetime supply for about 15 bucks. the reason I do this is to bust all the old school myths and make a library of the best ways to do stuff - and it takes research outside of the model train hobby. you must always challenge the old school ways - most are based on legends from ancient times when products that we have now were not yet known! I really need to do another pancake motor rebuild soon to keep the spirit alive!
Ok, I'll take it apart to put the washer back on and I'll clean the ATF off and use the air tool oil. Thank you for the tip! Im about to start tinkering with my layout...Im trying to fit an incline in but I don't have a ton of space.... @@elite194
I have an older Canadian national gp40 with a pancake motor and it smells like something burning is there a way I can fix this or is it fine to leave it run like that?
it needs a very good cleaning! I have a playlist with about 12 videos showing these rebuilds that will help you out a lot with this. A complete disassembly, cleaning and reassembly will get rid of the smell and improve performance. One thing that I strongly advise is using red lithium as your lubricant on the gears - something I do in all of those locomotives. At the auto parts store it's called High Temp Brake Grease (it's more brown now than red) that is about 10 bucks for a lifetime supply. Just a little bit goes a long way. Cleaning all the wheels and then coating them with Oxgard will improve power pickup (put it on the small wipers that collect power as well as the backside of the wheels that pickup power). Add the heaviest weight you can above the power pickup truck for much better power pickup. Don't get any Oxgard on the motor core or the motor brushes or it will instantly burn up!
Hey Guys, I have a life-like Santa Fe war bonnet Engine, the rear truck has a broken tab so that the truck falls from the chassis when lifted, it is also missing the rear coupling on the same truck, I have hunted high and low, and cannot find a replacement rear truck, it was a for parts engine that I took its lower truck assembly with the coupling to fix another engine that was fine except it had no rear coupling. After using a dremel on the rear wheels making them all shiny again the thing runs great, but now I need just the rear truck to put it right, if I buy another parts engine and it also works I am back to square one, needing parts to put it running, I can't just leave it alone, if it works I gotta make usable. I searched e-bay and there is no listing for just the trucks. I am hoping someone here might know where I can find just the rear truck to put this engine back into usable condition. Thanks.
use Amazing GOOP on the that truck - it will be as permanent as you need it to be, but when it comes time to do maintenence again, you can peel it off nice and clean with no damage and do it all over again! GOOP is in pretty much all hardware, lumber yard, auto parts stores everywhere. it doesn't matter if its the Household, Automotive or Marine GOOP, they're all the same for working on trains. no need to sacrifice another locomotive. if you are planning on changing to Kadee couplers, then a set of 148 comes with the new snap together boxes and you can replace both front and reare couplers!
If you look at the pc board I made, that is where a decoder would go. The power wires to the decoder and the decoder motor wires to the motor. It's super east to put in the Digitrax 126 decoder right at that spot.
@@elite194 Hi there from Downunder. I'm just about finished repainting mine into a custom livery. Bought it off Ebay a couple of months ago. It had been hand painted by the previous owner. I think a kindergarten kid could have done a better job! Paint all stripped back and 3 coats of light grey undercoat. It even looked better in undercoat than the original! The body is complete, just have to do the railings front, back and sides. New decals added. Next job is adding a decoder, nothing fancy as long as it goes forwards and backwards. Oh yes couplers to be added as well. What # Kadee would you recommend?. Re adding decoder. Is that particular motor isolated for DCC purposes - getting in early here as I've only looked at the first 20 minutes - and I am assuming you go into that later. Also i have couple of Bachmann China Santa Fe F3?/F7locos - one minus the front bogies, (Trucks to you :) ). I you see you have a video on Bachmann pancake motors, will look at that and see if it is the same as the one I have. I will now finish looking at this video and the follow up, and hope they show adding a Digitrax decoder.
@@hawthornvalley I use Kadee couplers either 5 or 148 (since I have a stockpile of 5s). Bachmann and Life-Like pancake motors don't need isolation since they are already wired directly to the pickups so you can just drop in you decoder. I suggest the cheapest decoder you can get, like a Digitrax 126 or a used decoder from another unit getting an upgrade. The only issue I have with this particular locomotive is that I didn't take time to put pickups in the front truck, but I will because it really runs nice. If you look at the hydro-dipped F9s and the multi-unit GP38/GP50 you'll see and hear how nice they run with more power pickup. I see you also noticed how good they look once the paint is stripped off. I think they're hidden gems that are overlooked by most people.
all the Bachmann and Life-Like pancake motor locomotives are 3 pole. recently I did a video on scavenging an old CDROM drive and I did discover the legendary motor that could be used in these locomotives. I intend to do exactly that... but in reality these motors are actually pretty decent as long as you load up the weight over the top of the rear truck! I've always liked these locomotives and their motors because they are exceptionally durable - not at all what other people say - these things will take a severe beating and keep going! one of my best ever experiments is mating 2 of these guys together to share power and power pickup and they totally whoop ace!!!
yes it can!! you can totally use DCC with these locomotives - in fact putting on a DCC decoder and setting the decel rate to 1 or 2 will make them so amazing - but, like I said, load as much weight as you can on top of the rear truck to give you more contact. My choice - digitrax DH126D - that one will kick ace in these guys!
@@Wawa111_Mainline DCC is safe for 3 pole motors - you can limit that max speed when programming just in case. I would probably not use old decoders from 10 years ago or more, but a modern DH126 will work nicely
be on the lookout for a video coming pretty soon where I use that gear kit to remotor an Athearn Hustler from rubber band drive to geared drive. also look through my pancake motor rebuild playlist and there is a video (also in the cracked gear repair playlist) where I slice a gear in have to make a replacement gear in a pancake motor
As far as spring replacement i have used springs from locks. The springs are small and fits nicely in brush tube. Works great. Still running them.
Great tip!
Restoring to life a pancake motor. Simply awesome!
it's DCC ready also...
@@elite194 Which decoder are you thinking about using on this locomotive?
Something cheap
Thanks alot. Just getting back into the hobby and I've been buying all my stuff second hand. If you can buy it used and fix it you'll save so much money!!!. I Just purchased a set of 6 used budd stainless steel passenger cars for $65, and learned how to repaint them with an airbrush. Now I just need to figure out how to fix and mantain loco's with a pancake engine. If more people were out there showing people who to DIY I think the hobby whould last.
I haven't finished the Hi-F project yet, but the belt drive is a totally sound and reliable system. My plan is a quality motor, shaft with at least a quarter inch diameter and to use the same belts found in VCR, cassette and turntables. The belts that you can get for those now come in grab bags with many sizes and those belts last for decades - that will work on those old Budd RDC that you can get at really good prices.
I HAD to see this! 😳😳
I've been very exposed to these, had at least one as a Kid...
I would never talk anyone out of rebuilding it, if that's what they want to do...
It's just not something that I'd Ever do myself!
They ARE durable. They're easy to maintain. BUT, and I mention it often, I'm NO Rivet Counter!! But I do enjoy making my Fleet look like it COULD be from a prototype, and want them to look real...
Especially the Locos.
I totally agree with you, it's fun to experiment with and a good idea to test out techniques on.
But with a *3 Pole Motor* driving only 4 Wheels, and only the rear Truck picking up power.....
For me personally I would never build one for my Railroad. I like CRAWLING through Yards and industries. Not just a brief moment slow speed, then fly away...
Even though I could care less about what happened on the Rock Island in Joilet, on May 17, 1968.... I do enjoy Prototypical style running. 😉
All that psychobabble said, I'm about to enjoy what you're about to do in the next couple of Videos! 😊
Carmine ✈🚂🚙
since the experiment with connected 2 of them together was such a success, I think I will be doing something where I put DCC in a U36B and then use a connector to a 2nd U36B and they share power and a single decoder, but you could still uncouple the primary and it will work on its own. the 2nd loco would be dead until connected again and it will pickup power that it shares with the main unit.
I have multiple of them, I just picked up a CSX one with a dummy yesterday still sealed for $50. It's a very rare version from the mid 2000's, CSX 1 and 602, the heritage units. It runs really well as do my others, strong pullers and easy to work on and get parts for. Wish they would've made them a little longer, sucks we never got Norfolk Southern or BNSF
there is NS with a high nose! check my video were I wired 2 of them together which gave a huge performance bonus. I plan to revisit a project like this, but in DCC where 1 unit has a decoder and can hookup to, say, 2 other units and provide the decoder. I also have discovered the phantom motor that in theory fits into the existing housing and gives you modern motor performance!!
Actually..... Looking at it, I'd take a few if they were given to me.
There's that big stack of flat weights that I could use for Rolling Stock!! 😊
I always go 20% HIGHER in Weight than the NMRA Standards for Cars. They track so much better that way. 😉
I tend to go even higher than that because my layout is an industrial park and the longest trains are usually around 10 cars
I've always believed that heavier cars track better, smoother, and rarely have derailments! If it doesn't feel right, add a Helper!!
@elite194 I just pulled my life like pancake motor apart to clean it and forgot one of the little plastic washers. Is it vital for operation? Or can I go without? I really don't want to pull this apart again lol.
That thrust washer prevents wear and tear on the main bearings. If you got it working and used air tool oil on those bearings you should be ok for a long time. If this train is going to go nonstop for 12 days of Xmas then you should goto the trouble of putting it back in. Be sure to hold on to it!
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I guess I'll do the job correctly and put it back. It's not that big of a job. I just worry about those springs flying. I had one let loose the other day and I spent three hours looking before I found it. I need therapy now lol. I'm a complete noob so checked out several threads from various train forums and saw the suggestion of using ATF (Like Mercon), so I used that very sparingly. @@elite194
yes the springs will fly! I have a laser level that I put on the floor when I lose important parts and it will find anything! you rotate it around and when it hits the missing part, you will be blinded! do NOT use ATF! it's good stuff, but my small engine man at Northern Tool has confirmed that only Air Tool Oil will be acceptable for these things - everyone has a guy who knows more and he's my guy! the reason is ATF is made to ultimately burn itself up over a period of use and then be replaced (actually you add more as it is used) wheras, Air Tool Oil is designed to protect the part and not wear out and later get cleaned up and replaced with Air Tool Oil! get the quart at the auto parts store because it is a lifetime supply for about 15 bucks. the reason I do this is to bust all the old school myths and make a library of the best ways to do stuff - and it takes research outside of the model train hobby. you must always challenge the old school ways - most are based on legends from ancient times when products that we have now were not yet known! I really need to do another pancake motor rebuild soon to keep the spirit alive!
Ok, I'll take it apart to put the washer back on and I'll clean the ATF off and use the air tool oil. Thank you for the tip! Im about to start tinkering with my layout...Im trying to fit an incline in but I don't have a ton of space....
@@elite194
I have an older Canadian national gp40 with a pancake motor and it smells like something burning is there a way I can fix this or is it fine to leave it run like that?
it needs a very good cleaning! I have a playlist with about 12 videos showing these rebuilds that will help you out a lot with this. A complete disassembly, cleaning and reassembly will get rid of the smell and improve performance. One thing that I strongly advise is using red lithium as your lubricant on the gears - something I do in all of those locomotives. At the auto parts store it's called High Temp Brake Grease (it's more brown now than red) that is about 10 bucks for a lifetime supply. Just a little bit goes a long way. Cleaning all the wheels and then coating them with Oxgard will improve power pickup (put it on the small wipers that collect power as well as the backside of the wheels that pickup power). Add the heaviest weight you can above the power pickup truck for much better power pickup. Don't get any Oxgard on the motor core or the motor brushes or it will instantly burn up!
Hey Guys, I have a life-like Santa Fe war bonnet Engine, the rear truck has a broken tab so that the truck falls from the chassis when lifted, it is also missing the rear coupling on the same truck, I have hunted high and low, and cannot find a replacement rear truck, it was a for parts engine that I took its lower truck assembly with the coupling to fix another engine that was fine except it had no rear coupling.
After using a dremel on the rear wheels making them all shiny again the thing runs great, but now I need just the rear truck to put it right, if I buy another parts engine and it also works I am back to square one, needing parts to put it running, I can't just leave it alone, if it works I gotta make usable.
I searched e-bay and there is no listing for just the trucks.
I am hoping someone here might know where I can find just the rear truck to put this engine back into usable condition.
Thanks.
use Amazing GOOP on the that truck - it will be as permanent as you need it to be, but when it comes time to do maintenence again, you can peel it off nice and clean with no damage and do it all over again! GOOP is in pretty much all hardware, lumber yard, auto parts stores everywhere. it doesn't matter if its the Household, Automotive or Marine GOOP, they're all the same for working on trains. no need to sacrifice another locomotive. if you are planning on changing to Kadee couplers, then a set of 148 comes with the new snap together boxes and you can replace both front and reare couplers!
How would I be able to install a digitrax dcc decoder in my lifelike gp38-2
If you look at the pc board I made, that is where a decoder would go. The power wires to the decoder and the decoder motor wires to the motor. It's super east to put in the Digitrax 126 decoder right at that spot.
@@elite194 Hi there from Downunder. I'm just about finished repainting mine into a custom livery. Bought it off Ebay a couple of months ago. It had been hand painted by the previous owner. I think a kindergarten kid could have done a better job! Paint all stripped back and 3 coats of light grey undercoat. It even looked better in undercoat than the original! The body is complete, just have to do the railings front, back and sides. New decals added.
Next job is adding a decoder, nothing fancy as long as it goes forwards and backwards. Oh yes couplers to be added as well. What # Kadee would you recommend?. Re adding decoder. Is that particular motor isolated for DCC purposes - getting in early here as I've only looked at the first 20 minutes - and I am assuming you go into that later. Also i have couple of Bachmann China Santa Fe F3?/F7locos - one minus the front bogies, (Trucks to you :) ). I you see you have a video on Bachmann pancake motors, will look at that and see if it is the same as the one I have.
I will now finish looking at this video and the follow up, and hope they show adding a Digitrax decoder.
@@hawthornvalley I use Kadee couplers either 5 or 148 (since I have a stockpile of 5s). Bachmann and Life-Like pancake motors don't need isolation since they are already wired directly to the pickups so you can just drop in you decoder. I suggest the cheapest decoder you can get, like a Digitrax 126 or a used decoder from another unit getting an upgrade. The only issue I have with this particular locomotive is that I didn't take time to put pickups in the front truck, but I will because it really runs nice. If you look at the hydro-dipped F9s and the multi-unit GP38/GP50 you'll see and hear how nice they run with more power pickup. I see you also noticed how good they look once the paint is stripped off. I think they're hidden gems that are overlooked by most people.
What side do the insulated wheels go on at the back?
if the rear truck gets power from only 1 side then they go on the opposite side of the power pickup wheels in the front.
are those life likes 3 pol or 5
all the Bachmann and Life-Like pancake motor locomotives are 3 pole. recently I did a video on scavenging an old CDROM drive and I did discover the legendary motor that could be used in these locomotives. I intend to do exactly that... but in reality these motors are actually pretty decent as long as you load up the weight over the top of the rear truck! I've always liked these locomotives and their motors because they are exceptionally durable - not at all what other people say - these things will take a severe beating and keep going! one of my best ever experiments is mating 2 of these guys together to share power and power pickup and they totally whoop ace!!!
@@elite194 can 3 poll be used for dcc to my nolege it burns the motor out
yes it can!! you can totally use DCC with these locomotives - in fact putting on a DCC decoder and setting the decel rate to 1 or 2 will make them so amazing - but, like I said, load as much weight as you can on top of the rear truck to give you more contact. My choice - digitrax DH126D - that one will kick ace in these guys!
@@Wawa111_Mainline DCC is safe for 3 pole motors - you can limit that max speed when programming just in case. I would probably not use old decoders from 10 years ago or more, but a modern DH126 will work nicely
Cant fine the gears
ebay plastic gear robot part - you'll see grab bags for under 10 bucks and so far they have always had the gear i needed
@@elite194 okay I ordered them thank you very much
be on the lookout for a video coming pretty soon where I use that gear kit to remotor an Athearn Hustler from rubber band drive to geared drive. also look through my pancake motor rebuild playlist and there is a video (also in the cracked gear repair playlist) where I slice a gear in have to make a replacement gear in a pancake motor