Can I fix it? Brass B&O P7 Pacific by Key

[u18b]

Yay!!!
Teamwork.

Glad we could play a small part.

Now for posterity, please post the info you entered for the Poland company.
What parameters?

[wm3798]

The only thickness available was 1 mm.
Diameter couldn't be fractionalized, so I went with 6mm.
Tooth count was 22, center bore was supposed to be 1.5, but it was snug. ( perhaps to be tight on a 1.5 axle, not loose to spin on a 1.5 screw post) and the pitch was 25.

My next challenge is getting it to roll through my long Peco insul frogs.  With the traction tires on the electrical footprint is terrible .
I have the non tire driver set, so I may try swapping that out.  I'd like to see if I can take one tire and keep it on the dead side like a Rivarossi. I don't want a smooth running engine tha can barely pull itself around the layout.

Lee

[wm3798]

Okay.  Here's the problem.  The traction tires wheels set reduces the pick up to just two drivers on the engineer's side.


Which gives this sleek, beautiful engine the same electrical footprint as the lowly Bachmann docksider.


What I'd like to do is mimic the Rivarossi set up where the traction tires are both on the neutral side, leaving all three drivers on the live side available to pick up the juice.

Having never disassembled a brass drive to this extent, I'm naturally concerned about reducing this to a $400 paperweight.

Any recommendations?

Tips and pointers about the best way to separate the wheel from the axle and do the swap?

Awaiting your advice I tremble with anxious fervor.
Lee

[Mike C]

  Lee , I think it would be easier to make an all wheel pick up system for the tender . It sure runs nice on that oval !

[peteski]

  Lee , I think it would be easier to make an all wheel pick up system for the tender . It sure runs nice on that oval !

+1
I wonder if any of the Kato tender trucks would work. They are already set up for power pickup.

[OldEastRR]

Did the B&O intentionally build this to look like the whole thing is slanted backwards? To look like it was fast? Wow ... look at that underside- everything screwed together. Talk about retro design!!

I assume there'll be no DCC installed. Maybe put in a few keep-alives...

[nickelplate759]

If you are going to use DCC, add a hefty keep-alive.  They work wonders on old steamers. 

[peteski]

Did the B&O intentionally build this to look like the whole thing is slanted backwards? To look like it was fast? Wow ... look at that underside- everything screwed together. Talk about retro design!!

Not sure if you meant that tongue-in-cheek or seriously.  Have you never seen N scale brass engine? It looks like pretty much any N scale brass engine I have seen.  Maybe since they are not really made anymore, you consider it "retro"?

I assume there'll be no DCC installed. Maybe put in a few keep-alives...

There are no keep-alive circuits for DC engines.

[wm3798]

I was able to add a fair amount of weight over the drivers tonight.

Nice thing about those streamliners.  Plenty of room under the hood for lead.

I managed to get a few laps with a short train in, but it's apparent that some of my trackwork needs attention to accommodate this fine piece of machinery.




The preferred route will be the outer loop, which I have cut up a bit to provide access to the yard, and to add a siding over by the PawPaw depot.  These aren't the problem.  But there are a couple of spots where the rails are off by just enough that the little princess just stops cold.

The worst offender is strangely the broadest curve on the layout, the outer track through the station.
But look what might fit as a replacement!



Things that make you go hmmm.

Lee

[turbowhiz]

You might want to have a good look at the screw on the #3 driver on the engineers side. Sure looks like its backed out to the point it's ready to be lost somewhere along the right of way followed by some cursing as the drivers jam up.

It doesn't match the bolts on any of the other drivers, so it seems like this might have happened before at some point in its history.

[wm3798]

Right you are about that screw!  Thanks for spotting that.  It was literally wobbling on its last thread.
I've applied a dot of loctite and drove it back in.  Hopefully that will be a long term solution, since my favorite thing to do is turn a train loose and let it run for hours without much thought...

Lee

[mmagliaro]

Lee... do not try to pull drivers off those axles or swap them to the other side to get the traction tires all on one side.
In brass locos,  each metal axle has two metal drivers pressed on.  How does it not short out, you ask? 
The outer "tire" that is pressed over the metal wheel center actually has a super thin sheet of wax paper between it and the wheel center.  That is the only thing insulating it.  And generally, these wheels are pressed onto their axles super tight.  It's nothing like getting a commercial plastic-centered wheel off an axle.  It can be really difficult, even with a wheel puller.

If you did manage to pull wheels off and swap sides to get all the traction tire wheels on one side, you'd have a short because one of the non-insulated wheels would end up on the insulated side.

[Point353]

I don't want a smooth running engine tha can barely pull itself around the layout.

Wait until you get the matching passenger cars: http://www.spookshow.net/passenger/keycincy.html

[wm3798]

Thanks for that insight Max.  That was the information I was looking for.

As for the full set of cars, I'll be sticking with my ConCor foobies.it was all I could to justify the expense for the engine.  Another grand would have me and my trains out in the yard!

Lee

[OldEastRR]

Thanks for that insight Max.  That was the information I was looking for.

As for the full set of cars, I'll be sticking with my ConCor foobies.it was all I could to justify the expense for the engine.  Another grand would have me and my trains out in the yard!

Lee

Isn't somebody here building or 3Ding that car set?