Model Building Tips Reviving Stored Engines N Scale
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- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- Model trains that have been stored for long periods of time can sometimes develop issues that make them run poorly. In this episode, Dan goes through some examples of N scale locomotives that have been stored for at least 5 years. Some of them don't run at all, and some of them are very sluggish. Fortunately most of the time the problems can be fixed with some cleaning and lubrication. Dan shows how to tear down, clean, lubricate, and reassemble several N scale model train locomotives. If you have or have had similar issues with your N scale diesels, be sure to check this one out!
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Thanks for the excellent video I have 30 engines in storage and close to 30 years old. Almost all are new and never run. I now have my work cut out for getting them running.
After the first one or two I think it gets a little easier. Thankfully most of the time all they need is a good cleaning. Good luck with your models and thanks for watching!
Showing the complete disassembly, CLEARLY, was great; we need more of that. I have recently done that while upgrading to DCC decoders on new DCC-ready locos, but a couple don't run at all with the new boards. This gives me courage to not fear disassembling them again.
I'm glad you found the video useful. Sometimes the problem with DCC decoders is that they don't make good contact with the frame where they're supposed to. I'd check that first. Thanks for watching!
Excellent-Excellent-Excellent. After two household moves and about 8 years in storage this is the perfect guide to bring the fleet back to life. Thanks for posting this.
You're welcome. I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for watching!
Great video. I appreciate your presentation skills. Easy to follow
I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for watching!
Ready nice video Dan, nice to see the way you determine the issues. I have a couple of engine with seemlier issues, you gave we good things to look for. Thanks
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Good luck getting your engines back in top shape! Thanks for watching!
Really helpful Dan, just unboxed ten locos that have been on the shelf ten years. Was trying to figure out how to get them running again. You've just given me the next steps to solve the problem.
I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!
Very informative, Thank you!! I have to say I'm more impressed about how you speed matched all those locos to run them in such long consists. WOW!! That must have took forever?
I'm glad you liked the video. If I had to all the speed matching at once it would take a long time, but I usually do each locomotive as I get it set up, so it doesn't seem so daunting. Thanks for watching!
One positive thing about the older models is that they can be had for not much money. I picked up an older Atlas for $10, and ordered a motor online that should fit. With a few others like that, I can still have a group of locomotives that will pull and run, and I get the satisfaction of knowing that I got a broken down train back into service. Half the fun is working on them. I’m glad to see that you are using some of those older trains again. Enjoy.
I have quite a few models that I bought used. Most model locomotives can be rehabbed as long as any needed parts are available. It is fun to take an old model that's been neglected or abused and turn it into something really cool. Thanks for watching!
Very enjoyable and great information.
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for taking the time to point out the most common fixes for older locos, of which I have several that need what you've described. I also clean the wheels just to remove that potential issue. You've also shown how easy it is to disassemble the locos, which some modelers are reluctant to do. Well done!
You're welcome. I'm glad you found the video helpful. I was hoping to show that at least some of the time a model that doesn't work may just need a good cleaning. Thanks for watching!
Excellent!! Thank you so much for this video. And thank you for mentioning the names on the lubricant and grease so we all know what is needed. My diesel locomotives have been stored for a long time due to moving and needing to build a new N scale layout. This gives me a lot of hope that I can revive them successfully.
I'm glad you found the video helpful. A little cleaning can work wonders with a locomotive that's been stored for an extended period. Thanks for watching!
Thank you - I really appreciated that you did multiple locos in one video - it demonstrates that certain steps are done with all of them while other steps are only in response to observed issues in some of them - I frequently find that 'how to repair videos' have one example that never seems to be a direct match with my issue. Great video
I'm glad you liked the video. I know I can't show every N scale locomotive that's ever been made, but I try to cover as many bases as I can. Thanks for watching!
This really comes in handy with the mix of N Scale locomotives that I have (mix of Kato, Atlas, Bachmann Spectrum, Bachmann), none of them have decoders inside so it makes servicing them easier.
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dan.I can relate to the motto, "less is best", as far as lube goes. I can remember, years ago, pulling apart an old Athearn HO scale F7 with metal side frames. It was completely dry of lubrication,but it still ran perfectly, so it is almost better to have no lubricant than to have too much.Too much always attracts the dirt & dust, & defeats the purpose. Thats how I learnt not to overdo the lubrication. Most gears are made of Delrin, & are self lubricating, its the bushes on either side of the worms ( & their thrust washers) that need it the most.When pulling long trains, all that weight is transferred onto those thrust washers. Of the , close to 300ish locos, I have, I would have stripped down, cleaned & lubed, most. Bought a P2K SD60 off e bay that did not run, for $29, last month, When I received it,it was like brand new, & guess what the issue was?? Yep, old oil that had congealed on the worm bushings. Lack of use has its drawbacks, eh. Cheers, Michael NZ
I can relate to the Proto 2000 issue. I have a few of those that I bought very cheap years ago and almost all of them suffer from the congealed lube problem. I'm not sure what they used, but it's almost like glue, exactly the opposite of what you want. I've had to disassemble and clean out the gear boxes and I'm sure I'll have to do more to get those engines in service. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video. Very useful tips. Thanks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Very nice video tutorial 👍🚂
Thanks for watching!
That's is a LOT of locomotives! Lol. I will try and repair my custom IC Blue Devil in N scale now! Great job! And you just got a new subscriber.
I hope the video helps with your repair job. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
@@DanielCortopassi Thanks! And No Problem!
Excellent video. Really good information for anyone in the hobby. Thanks.
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!
Nice work, this tutorial should be required for n scalers.
I'm glad you liked the video! Thanks so much for the kind words and for watching!
Hi Dan, Great tutorial! Thanks for all the very useful information. Mike
Thanks for watching!
Fascinating, I have never seen how a N scale loco goes together before. (A similar video you did a few years ago about Proto 2000 locos has helped me rescue quite a few of those locos since)
One gripe: my viewing was interrupted by ads EVERY 3 MINUTES...that is worse than any tv station.
The ads can be annoying, I know. I'm glad you liked the video otherwise. Thanks for watching!
Change the browser to "Brave" the ads are GONE!!!!!
@@georgebono8655 I view youtube videos via the iPad app, not using a browser.
Love the N-Scale stuff you do Dan!
We've been having fun getting out the N scale over the past couple of weeks. Thanks for watching!
Wow very good. You covered it well. One of your best so far.
Thanks so much!
Great Video!
Thanks for watching!
Great video Dan!
Thanks for watching!
Very helpful video that shows exactly how to keep your 1:160 fleet on the road. Thanks for sharing this!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Very informative with great detail. Thanks for posting. Greg in TN
Thanks for watching!
AWESOME!!!!! I had the same problems and now they work fine. Thank you for sharing and keep up the good work.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Nice presentation. Good and helpful. Thank you.
I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!
Cool Beans...Loved it....Learned something...Thanks
I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video Daniel. Thanks for sharing. Being an N Scaler this was very helpful, so thanks. Will probably be using some of these tips, as I have some engines with the same dilemma. I'm sure I'll have to fix them the same way. Thanks again...Cheers!!
I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for a great video on maintenence!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
I love this episodes
Thanks for watching!
Great video - I will probably need to book mark this one for my N scale collection.
I'm glad you liked it. Thank for watching!
i have saved this extremely useful video. thanks for posting.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this video Dan. Some of my locos have been stored for quite a while and as I build the layout I want to bring them back into service. These tips will be invaluable to me. Two more years of videos to go 😅. I see lots of interesting topics but want to watch how the channel develops.
Congealed lubricant is the most common problem I run into with locomotives that have been stored for long periods, so often a good cleaning is all they need. Thanks for watching!
Well done thank you
You're welcome. I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for watching!
Incredible! I only have 4 or 5 HO locomotives. One is an old Rivarossi Big Boy. I haven't
been running any of them, but take a couple them out of a ( rectangularFender Stratocaster case)
for viewing 3 or 4 times a week. Trying to build a layout soon. Super excited about an SD-90 EMD
I should receive in a couple weeks. ( American in Japan... Definitely one of your students!)
I've spent a lot of time having trains with nowhere to run them, so I can relate. They're still fun to have. Thanks for watching!
great video thank you very much
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Great video, Dan. I've done about a dozen or so "will it run" videos on N scale locomotives that i've picked up used on evil bay. Mostly older vintage stuff on the lower end of the cost spectrum but the fundamentals are the same. Most of the time, as long as the unit isn't completely destroyed from neglect or age (or both) a disassembly, clean, and lubrication is all they need. Everything I've done so far, though, is DC as far as N scale goes. I do have a few DCC H.O. scale but haven't dove into any of those as they're all still running well, as have been the used ones i've picked up. So no need to diagnose those.... yet. I've been a subscriber on my personal account for a while but decided to sub on this one as well as I spend more time on it working on my own channel as of late. This way I can catch your latest vids. I've really been enjoying the RV layout build! -Shane
Thanks so much for subscribing twice! I'm glad you liked the video. Dirt and too much congealed old lubrication can be a problem in any scale, but especially N since it's so small. I'm glad you're enjoying the RV layout build, too. Thanks for watching!
I don’t run that many trains on my layout anymore. I just run what I need to run. It’s all spur of the moment when choosing the trains for my layout. I may need to inspect my locomotives more often after watching this.
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching, and I hope your models all still run great!
Great tips, you have quite an N Scale collection there! I let all the ads play on the video to help get you a little extra revenue :)
Thanks for that, I appreciate it!
Thanks for the info on getting these locomotives running. I’m amazed that people have so many locomotives. They have more in storage than I ever hope to own. I’m still trying to afford for my first Kato locomotive. The units that I’m trying to get to run are much lower in quality, and their engines are nothing like those in this video.
I may have a deal for you. recently got my dad's collection and have over 200 engines. about to start listing them for sale soon. kato, atlas, fox valley, intermountain, etc..
I have been collecting trains for many years, which is how I ended up having so many. I probably couldn't afford to buy what I already own if I had to pay for it all at once. Cleaning and re-lubing a model that's not a great runner to begin with isn't going to work miracles, but it might help some. Thanks for watching!
Thank you Sir :)
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Hey Dan it's great to see ya working with your Trains and I'm glad you did this Video and share some Very Helpful tips especially with Atlas's Conducta Lube and that electrical cleaner can ask Sir is the Electrical cleaner easy to find I'm not really a Amazon shopper so I was wondering if certain stores had it, The Conducta Lube I'm glad you mentioned that a very small amount can be put on the Comuntaters on the Motor could a small amount of this Lube say using a tooth pick or using a micro brush be put on the End caps where the wheel Axles fit into or would it be even necessary to perform this procedure.. I'm seeing a few of the New Atlas's go to wired trucks to Engines frames I'd say this helps with better conductivity and with DCC you probably need as much as you can get Thanks again for Sharing and I like seeing them Santa Fe SD40-2's especially the 1 with the Orange Air Conditioner🤠
Stafe Safe cant wait to see more Videos down the Road Allen D..
You can get similar electrical contact cleaner from some hardware stores, like Lowe's. ULine and other online retailers also have it. If you have a store near you that sells electronic supplies they might also have it. I patched those BNSF SD40-2 ex-Santa Fe units myself, and painted the A/C units on a couple of them. Thanks for watching!
Great video! Apparently they call 9647 the ‘Vomit Bonnet’ but I think it’s a handsome paint scheme.
Phillip Sakalik that’s so funny! When he told me that I said “ugh why? I love the color green ☺️ thank you so much for watching
It's definitely unique. Thanks for watching!
Nice, I'm still lost with mine. I have 3 locomotive all have metal gears in the trucks. I know the brand is bachmann
I used to have some old Bachmann engines with metal gears. I didn't give any of those a cleaning, so I'm not sure how different the process would be. Good luck with your models and thanks for watching!
Conducta lube can cause carbon from motor brushes to collect around comutator and eventually cause problems,I've found it to be unnecessary on brushes but good on bearings
That's good to know. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for this video Dan. I've taken my engines apart before for various reasons, but have never really known where to apply lubricant, so I haven't. Your video helps me understand what to do now to restore function to some of my engines.
Got any tips for lubricating an N scale Athearn Challenger? Or is it roughly the same as the diesel?
I haven't taken apart an N scale Challenger, but the idea would be similar. A tiny drop of oil on each end of the motor to lubricate the bearings, a small dab of grease on the gears if needed, and conductive lube and/or electrical contact cleaner on any contact points for good electrical flow. If the engine is actually using the side rods to transfer power to the drive wheels, then lubricant on the moving parts there could also be used, but very sparingly. For steam side rods I sometimes use a liquid graphite lubricant instead of oil. It goes on wet but dries quickly. It can also be used to blacken (well, more of a dark gray) the side rods if you like that look. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi thanks for the help!
Great video Dan! Can you make a similar video for HO scale locomotives as well?
I'll put that one on the list. Thanks for the suggestion!
Hey Dan, I love your videos. I have an HO scale Atlas gp40 that looks very nice, but stutters when I run it, it is DCC ready is brand new and I am using HO unitrack, any thoughts?
Atlas HO engines are usually pretty good runners, so my first thought is that it might need a cleaning. Unitrack is also very good, but can get dirty like any other track. I usually wipe mine down with a paper towel soaked in electrical contact cleaner (rubbing alcohol will also work). I use a paper towel soaked in the same cleaning fluid across the track and run one truck of the engine onto it, then hold the engine and let the wheels spin on the paper towel to clean them. After doing one truck, I do the other one. If that doesn't help then you might need to take the model apart do some cleaning on the drivetrain. I made another video like this one about HO scale diesels. There aren't as many examples but most diesels are put together in similar ways on the inside. Good luck and thanks for watching!
Hey Mr.Cortopassi I recently purchased an older atlas SD7/9 and at the front and back where the couplers are there just a big rectangular gap and I was wondering if there was a way I could fill it to make it look more prototypical.
I'm not sure about the older Atlas N scale SD7s and SD9s, but I know the early GP7 and GP9 units had the trucks mounted too far toward the middle of the unit. There isn't an easy fix for that as far as I know. You could maybe glue some bits of styrene in there and paint them black so they didn't show too much and blocked the view through the underside. Thanks for watching!
Another great video Dan. Any advice for those of us on Fixed or low income that have to buy the, 49 dollar specials with dcc and 7 to 10 dollar cars. What about DCC controlers? A lot cannot afford the $200+ controllers, I use a 4 engine MRC Prodigy I managed to buy new 4 years ago. Does anyone still make these small controllers any more? Buildings, older and kids cannot afford the building kits or all the stuff is takes to make plastic buildings. My buildings are paper and cardboard. Any list of free downloads on paper and cardboard buildings? I remember your great 101 series and thought these may be some Ideas for your future videos if you have the time. thanks.
Don Scholz those are excellent ideas and question. Thank you so much for the input and spotlight, we certainly do need to look at all those. I think Daniel over time has tried a lot of products but no one was there with a camera ☺️ he definitely has favorites.
@@tokerspade Thank you for your reply. Makes this 78 year old day a lot brighter
Those are some great topics for a future video or two. Thanks for the suggestions!
Only issue is the time I did my kato ES 44 I put a drop of oil on the gear and the entire drive system freed up but stopped running the wheels until I cleaned all the lubricant off and it started working again
Kato N scale locomotives generally don't need very much lubricant. I'm glad you were able to get yours running again. Sometimes a good cleaning is the best thing. Thanks for watching!
Need to adjust CV 2, 3, 4. Sounds like your having to spin the throttle up to get them moving. I like them to start moving at speed step 2 .
Most of my engines are already speed matched to each other. I do use momentum, and I like them to start moving (barely) at 1 on the throttle. Most of the N scale stuff I have has Digitrax decoders, which I've found are okay but not super great for motor control. I am thinking of replacing them with something else eventually. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dan i need lubricant for my U36B SeaBoard Coast Line N scale Bachmann . Is for clean grases . I need trackcleaning boxcar for clean the track of my layout .
There are some track cleaner cars that you can buy. I haven't tried any of them so I don't know how well they work. The lubricants I used in the video should work for your engine. Make sure any lubricant you use is plastic compatible. Thanks for watching!
Are you gonna review the n&w 611?
The one I already have in N scale? I suppose I could do that, though it's been converted to use an ESU LokSound decoder so it's not "stock" anymore. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@DanielCortopassi yup! And bachmann came out with a new dcc sound version of the locomotive pretty recently
A better word than 'congeal' (thicken) is "seize" (freeze).
Okay, thanks for watching!
But if it's a steam locomotive, you're screwed!
I didn't have any issues with any of the steamers I pulled out of their boxes. Maybe in the future I'll see if I can do a video showing the disassembly, cleaning and lube of a steam locomotive. It's not that different in principle, though the arrangement of the parts is not the same. Thanks for watching!