Getting a Life Like GP38 Running For the First Time in Years
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- I bought this locomotive in an eBay lot many months ago and after testing it, it was clear that the motor wasn't getting power. This wasn't the only issue with this loco, the whole frame seemed to be warped and the engine wouldn't sit on the track correctly. Today I bring the locomotive back to life
20 years ago I bought my nephew 2 train sets with that locomotive in them. One set had a powered and dummy locomotive with 8 cars and a caboose. The other set had a single locomotive with 5 cars and a caboose. All of the locomotives had the same road number. I bought decals and changed the numbers on 2 of them. I bought extra track and some extra train cars. I set up a L shaped layout in a spare bedroom for him. He could run 2 trains with multiple switching locations or one train with 3 locomotives pulling 25 cars. He loved his trains. Unfortunately Hurricane Katrina flooded their house and his trains were destroyed.
Sad. But awesome he had some joy out of them. You are an awesome Uncle.
Cool but sad
I bet SMT could have fixed those engines
The locomotives just wanted to go for a swim I guess
i'm so disappointed- i thought this was going to be a math question....
Nice restoration Harrison! Unfortunately, some models do escape the factory with these types of issues, got a Walthers Dash 8-40B that had a similar issue with the body! Fixed it by adding a couple of Kadee gray fiber washers between the frame and body, and still runs today!
This one might have been made towards the end of their run too, with bad molds.
Way to go! The "Harrison Touch" prevails. Looked so awesome running the rails, even with 12 cars. Seeing her with a caboose as well was so cool to see. Thanks so much for sharing.
Mom, Sis and I made a drive to Flagstaff a couple weeks ago and the tracks were so busy with trains, loooong ones. Sadly no caboose on any of them but just the same was awesome seeing them. 💕😊
you won't see any cabooses around anymore
@@vincentandhimi6990 sad. Don't know why. Besides the caboose my other favorite of course is the locomotives.
Thanks, it's too bad they don't use the cabooses on regular trains anymore. My local railroad (Ottawa central) was still using one at least up until a few years ago. Maybe they still are.
Super! After watching a lot of your repair/rebuild videos, I have started buying some "as is-does not run" locos from my favorite local hobby shop for fixing up. They all sell for under $4! Lots of fun. And I really love that mountain layout!
That's not a runner - that's a SCREAMER!
Haha, it sure is
What an amazing restoration on this life like emd gp38-2! Serenity and yes as i say before like a countless times i would agree with you these life likes right here for the 3rd generation ones is so easy to work on and put back together as well as lubricanted it. Like i said i used to have this engine and i still do but its used as parts nowadays.
I literally got this locomotive donated to me yesterday. The coincidence! Thanks for the repair SMT!
Very nice "Runner" Harrison thank for letting me tagging with the repair .
Seeing that thing stripped right down to its chassis made me wonder if you could assemble a locomotive if someone sent you all the parts. And then blindfold yourself. Haha.
Another success. Well done!
Maybe a simple one but probably not a fancy kit loco.
you do some fine work!
a couple things
1- a recommendation as a fellow electrical guy. spend a few extra bucks and get some good fine wire rosin core solder. it makes a world of difference
2- suggestion- maybe start a small series, and maybe focus on doing some external restoration? pick your top 5 favorite locos that need some love, handrails, horns, couplers, and some small add on parts like snow plows, MU hoses/cables, ect? get them spit shined and make them the top tier they should be...
Success! Serenity!
This was my very first train set great video
Great video! Just a thought. Some of these locomotives you’ve gotten to work put a patch on them and use them as your railroad’s short line switch engines.
It’s great you get these older locomotives back to a working condition.
Have a great day!
I absolutely loved Life Like Trains. Nothing but fond memories playing with them as a kid.
Hi Harrison, what a cracking looking loco. You did a good job on it. Really enjoyed the video. Carl.
Thanks
I love watching your videos. Thanks to you, I was able to repair a 1970s locomotive that had a broken truck on it thank you for your videos
Glad they could help.
Bro I haven’t seen your videos in like a eternity but then I found you again feels good to be back
I think the reason the loco was tilted to one side, could be that the wires were caught between the chassis and the shell, to begin with.
just like the real thing!
That's possible but it still looked like it had some tilt with the shell off.
I purchased a set with that locomotive in many years ago and it's going great still, the only problem I have had with it, is the traction tyres perished but replaced them with very small O rings, yes plenty of power for sure, great video, thankyou from Wairoa down under in New Zealand
Life-Like sold a version of this loco (low nose) in Australian National green and yellow. I have a couple of them, one I intend to give to my great nephews. No one would ever mistake these for "top shelf" model locos, but they'll still pull a reasonable train around. I even saw one on a layout at a train show that someone had DCC chipped!
I bought one of those for my son... they're really neat for an old life like 👍
Harrison, superb!
Love the video! Used this to learn how to take apart the motor on the front truck, I took the gears out and made my first dummy locomotive. It was my first time working on model locomotives now I’m hooked! Time to buy some more 5-10 locos!!
I noticed the Gold and blue " chessie system " GPS 38 I believe in the background. I had that locomotive as a teenager, wondering if it is unique or valuable, wish I would have saved it. Enjoy your channel.
I’ve always liked the strength of the last generation life likes. In fact on of mine can haul 16 cars (with some wheel slip) but makes me happy
They weren't very powerful motors but lifelike did a good job getting the most they could out of them.
Chalk up another "W' for Team SMT!
I've been meaning to ask: what is the length of your main table? It looks like the scenery fits perfectly, and not just crammed in. I ask because my project isn't going so well, and I'm considering the nuclear option and starting over from scratch. The layout that I built works, but the end result just doesn't look the way I thought it would, meaning that I built the minimum size, and at the end of the day there's a ton of track and lots of consist size and all the electrical stuff works, but not enough surface area for the buildings and scenery I want to use, and the 1×6 and 1×8 lumber I used for elevated trackboard is warping. Any high expectations went right down the tubes. So, I'm considering going back to a "basic" double oval with a triple track on one end and some industry spurs. I'm picturing the surface area to be 5 feet wide by 15 feet long (approximately). My point is that your main table looks about how I envision my rebuild to be, with the minor differences I mentioned before, and not have the complicated riser and trackboard warpage and shimming and scenery space mess that I'm dealing with now.
My Layout is 4x16 on the long section. Honestly, if you have the space I would probably try to use as much as possible but that's not to say small layouts are bad. One suggestion I would have would be to make it wider than 4 feet since it would allow for wider turns which can be nice.
Really nice restoration quite easy being that it's just a couple wires and a little tweaks. I noticed one thing with these life like diesel locomotives what's this one according to the date code is April 5th 2004. The rear truck metal wheels which are blackened always tend to oxidize like they were brass. Being at this has a typical three pole Ringfield motor it's not as loud as most can be.
it amazes me that somebody actually WANTED his name associated with this motor...
@@tommurphy4307 what the heck are you talking about? That comment made no sense at all
Santa Fe never had the upgraded EMD GP38-2. They did have the earlier EMD GP38 but only in blue & yellow and none came with a high short hood. Only Southern Railway in the United States ordered the EMD GP38-2 with the high short hood. All became Norfolk Southern with the 1982 merger of Norfolk & Western. In Mexico, N de M got theirs with the high short hood as did Chihuahua Pacifico.
You are right about GP38 high hood. I do Southern railway in HO and I use to volunteer at Spencer Shops or NCTM. Go Southern, Southern served the south.
Master at restoring
I have a locomotive just like the one you're working on. I don't remember who gave it to me, but know it came from Goodwill or Salvation Army. It amazed me the the loco number is actually correct for a AT&SF GP-38. I also found a photo. It was a low nose GP-38 "yellow bonnet in blue and yellow. I was surprised that Life-like went through the effortto correctly number the loco, as I remember Tyco/Mantua putting the same number on all the locos, no matter which railroad it was decorated for. Usually, it would be a correct number for one of the paint schemes, and usually an East Coast railroad. Thanks for the info, as I have never worked of these, but have seen several modified by friends.
they probably did nothing but copy something somebody already produced.
@@tommurphy4307 I don't know who they would have since they've probably been making the same one for 40 years.
I got a bunch of these Life-Like locomotives when I was growing up in the late '90s, and they were generally good. I only had an issue with one: the low hood version of this locomotive. It kept derailing in the curves, so I did something similar to what was done here: I flipped the pancake motor around, and it helped. It still jumped the track occasionally, so I mostly just ran it long hood forward after that. That fixed it.
Very nice thumbnail and camera angles
Thanks a bunch!
Another great locomotive repair. I have the same engine in my collection. Now I can go tune up mine. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
Glad to hear that.
I have a few of these. My dad managed to get one functional one out of them and converted another to a dummy. Mine also runs pretty smooth and quiet compared to some of my other locos
Nice restoration in the HO scale locomotive.
GP38-2 Santa Fe Life Like.
I have a GP38-2 Santa Fe Life Like high nose in HO scale.
Very cool nice find SMT Mainline
This same engine was the first engine I did a restoration on!
Was the road number same 💀
Great track sounds!
do this enough times you become a master, and you sir have this mastered,, time to start a business of repairing old loco's
If I remember right, he did repairs for others. Unfortunarely he was having issues with people not wanting to pay or pay for the shipping once he was finished. So sadly it caused him to stop doing for others. Glad though he continues to service and restore/repair (same thing? 😊) Always enjoy watching him getting them running the rails again.
@@joallawestervelt6918 just has to start out small, do a couple and see hoe it going, there are mostly nice people out there, But afew bad apples kill it for the rest of us
@@joallawestervelt6918 I still do repairs locally but yes, shipping lead to some issues. I didn't have any issues paying for the return shipping but sometimes things would get stuck at the boarder because of fees and I couldn't pay them because the shipping address was different from my billing address.... I suspect "repair job" as the item listed might have been what kept causing it.
@@SMTMainline my bad, I stand corrected. Sorry for the confusion on my part. 🙁
That thumbnail looks amazing.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Good work, Harrison!
Thanks
Its actually GP38-2. Paint it in Southern Tuxedo livery. Southern(NS predecessor) has the largest order of HH GP38-2's
Great job 👏 my friend DOUG in Ga
Awesome job.
great job i have the same locomotive and mine runs like a top keep up the good work
You make it look so easy
Hi I have an locomotive I would like to send you how and were do I get a hold of you thank you
Those loco’s always sound like a Suzuki motorcycle. A sewing machine with wheels on it ! 🤣🤣
I love the sound, its so nostalgic.
I wonder why they didn't just put one big weight on the inside instead of stacking many different plate weights, job well done!
money, money, money. that was a clue for you. in asian production nomenclature-that weight would be called 'lead-free'......
I'd suspect so they could use the same weights in other models they were producing at the time.
good job again
Very helpful - thank you!
Nice!
I was sad until I saw this
Glad it cheered you up
well im about to add 2 more locomotives to my fleet, one to my o gauge and one to my ho. i will be adding a marx commodore vanderbilt to my o gauge fleet and a tyco chattanooga pacific type steamer to my fleet of ho engines, i can hardly wait!!
I had one of these when I was a kid ☺️
Can't go wrong with a Santa fe
So about that n scale f3 I told you that it smelled like it was burning it runs perfectly fine, even has good slow speed, it’s been lubercated, but it’s just that smell.
The smell is common on older locomotives, its ozone created from all the sparking. However, I would have a close look at the commutator to make sure it's clean.
One bad issue with life like, was the fact they chemically blacken the wheels, and that cuts down on conductivity between the contact strips and the wheels.
I've been on vacation seeing big boy model trains (real life Shae steam locomotives in cass wast virginia that run)so catching up. But when you wanted to check but wasn't worried I like seeing that. For if you have it open just a simple check could lead to oh glad I checked for you now found hidden damage
The sequel of the santa fe GP restorations
Part 3 coming soon??????
The thumbnail got changed. :/
Huh?
I went to KINGSBURG CALIF, I saw a lot of Steam locomotive I did some video of the place and car barn also you may want to see the place also' a lot of walking she talks about the place also The locomotive them self are cool watch the videos.
That sounds great
@SMTMainline hey, Harrison, I know that you just got the locomotive back together and all, but would you mind telling me what the dimensions are of the top weight side-to-side, between the front hole and front-rear hole, and between the front hole and middle-rear hole, please? I have some Life-Like GP38-2s just like that at my Nana & Pop's house that I'm planning on converting to DCC ;-)
I think you would have to remove some of the weights to convert it.
I just put mine on the track and it almost runs, traction tires👍😀
I think you need a decent soldering station! That thing looks older than your oldest loco's!!
I have one just like this, which isn't in the best of exterior conditions, but I bet it still works inside.
It might have a bit of trouble staring if it hasn’t been run in a while but otherwise it should be good
belle vidéo
Merci
its gonna take off like moodys goose!!
Super. 💙 T.E.N.
Hermosa locomotora
a lot of life likes should be called "dead likes"
Still more reliable than bachmann and tyco of the time lol
@@SMTMainline bachmann no ran tyco no go
Will take a Life-Like over a Bachmann or Tyco of the era any day. I am almost always able to get the Life-Like to run decently without dealing with split gears. I have several I have ran for years now.
I use my camera on my phone and take pictures during disassembly so I can look back at them for reference during reassembly 😊
It can help
I've just got the bcol 720 version so video handy for that strip down
Nice!!!
I have three of those.
Same
@@notcooper339 two of them came with a caboose and a dummy #3056.
I have that engine! Mine works fairly decent it dose have copper wheels i believe and I grinder the wheels and it works decent now! Unfortunately a knuckle and one of the trucks are broken but still works!
you took a grinder to the wheels?- nice.
Glad to hear it worked!
It looks like they put enough weights in that thing
Not too bad
at least 10-cents' worth....
I just won A auction on eBay for a vintage athearn Santan fa diesel locomotive ( sdp-40) ho Engine It was untested I'm Going to restore it To Original working order? I hope you get your engine running again? Ps I'm your biggest fan 💗💗💗💗💗💗👍👍
That's awesome, best of luck with the project.
harrison- if you did that while working at life-like- you would be fired on the spot with no dinner.
That's fine, tyco would tire me.
Nice
I plan to get one and repainting it in PanAm
Great video I want to restore ho scale engines because I have some that don’t run and I want to fix up can you tell me what tools I would need to restore ho scale engines
A basic screw driver set, a fibreglass pencil and some tooth picks wouldn't be a bad place to start. After that I'd say modeling oil.
@@SMTMainline ok and would a soldering iron be helpful too
Anyone else think this seemed like Model Train repair ASMR?? Makin alot of clicks and metal sounds very close to the camera when workin on this one.
It's not intentional but I could see how the effect is there.
Nice job also what did you use to clean the wheels and where can I find one
That is a fiberglass pencil. I've been looking to get one of those myself. It was suggested to me to check out a home improvement store to find them.
amazon has em under 'scratch brush'
@@sort187 I got a three pack on Amazon a few weeks ago for either $10 or $15.
I Have a Union pacific model like that to by Life Like
dose the rail road crossing in your basement work
It lights up but doesn't blink.
Do you have a guide on ID-ing these locos?
Saludos amigo
now you just need to covert it too DCC
I don't know how to adjust the CVs
i got a life like with the same drive i just need to swich out the light for some leds because i got a custom resson shell and i dont want it to melt
then use a DC bulb with a proper current rating.
@@tommurphy4307 I’m going to put dcc in so that would be risky
@@Wawa111_Mainline The CVs need to be adjusted on the decoder to work with a 3 pole. I burned a motor out that way.
@@SMTMainline I was told It was a 5 poll it's a latter life like it has Walthers address on the box
@@Wawa111_Mainline Oh it's a proto. Then a 5 pole would be correct.
Nice loco, I would buy one but I cant
Why not?
not enough money unfortunately
I have a life like Santa fe no 3500 gp38 locomotive. But it's Untested.
😊
I now think life like made good locomotives just they need good owners
nope- they still make junk. they just give them new-sounding names- like proto.
These train set ones weren't high quality but they were also sold dirt cheap and run decent with a bit of work.
@@tommurphy4307 That's not true, Life-like Proto used a design very similar to Athearn.
@@SMTMainline unlike the claims of some, I have some that have run for years now. I would take a Life-Like any day over a Bachmann with its splitting gears. They are a good basic locomotive to get started in the hobby.
What is it with old HO scale Santa Fe models getting ruined lol
They were mostly sold in train sets...
@@SMTMainline lol thanks
Hey SMT, I just got a Bachmann Spectrum F40PH, the directional lighting and stripe lights work, but the motor doesn't make a sound and it doesn't move, what do you think the problem might be?
one of the motor contacts is bent because it was dropped
@@tommurphy4307 what?
Ether the wires going to the motor or the brushes them selves are messed up.
@@SMTMainline thanks, I'll look into that
The gears to the motor looked 3D printed
If you do have a bent 1. Try using a hair dryer.
We have HO train set at home locomotive
Nice
You still like using the soldering gun instead of the iron?? Lol
I like the iron for more precise jobs but otherwise it's faster.
I watch you solder and it sure looks like a lot of cold solder joints. But you are there and I am not. Thanks for your fix-it videos!
@@larrysmith9359 Usually I like to let the solder flood more but when working with plastic it's too risky no matter what you're using.
I have one but it's broken 💔 😢 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥☹️☹️☹️🥺
It's easy to find parts for these
U should buy broken engine fix's them then sell them
I do to an extent.
i must be blind- i didn't see a bid.....
Ifthelocomotiverunsgoodwhymesswithit?