Help Help! brass halmark SD40-2 and oriental E1A 1st run

[u18b]

As many of you good folks know, I'm still moving forward with a book on every Kumata N scale brass loco made.

There have been several interesting threads related to that.

Well here is a follow-up.

Bottom line (for bottom line people who don't like to read a whole post:

I need ANY and EVERY person who has a brass Halmark SD40-2 made by KMT in 1982
and/or  the Oriental E1A from the first run in 1982 to please pull the shell and tell me how the trucks are retained.

Headless screw?
or regular Knock-out Pin?

I don't need a photo, just a report back here.

Here is what the headless screw looks like:

 
Notice the SLOT on the left.  THAT is what you are looking for.
The slot for a tiny screwdriver is only on one end- the other end is solid.

So since the trucks on these locos are REVERSED, at any given moment when you look at the side of the loco,  ONE gearbox will show the SLOT and one won't (ie, one headless screw is facing you and one is facing away.

Sooooooo.  If there is NO headless screw, then you have two oldfashioned knock-out pins.  There will be no slots.

Please report back here what you find.

And as always, thanks.

[u18b]

Oh.  And for those who don't know how to tell a FIRST run E1A from a SECOND run, you just look at the motor.

If the motor is OFF-CENTER toward the nose, then it is FIRST run.

If the motor is centered, it is SECOND run.

There are other differences, but that is all you need to look for.

We don't care about the B unit.  None of this discussion applies to B units.

[u18b]

OK.
Here is the longer story.

I have been able to study almost every KMT loco made-- thanks to some wonderful people on this board.

EVERY KMT loco I had studied up to a point (covered next) has headless screws.

Also, I read through all old BLW newsletters.  And Pete Postel at one point warned people about reports of people damaging their loco by trying the knock out the headless screw.  Warning- don't do that.

So now you know my thinking.

OK, about the only locos I had not been able to hold in my hand and study was the first two:  SD40-2 and E1A.

So a wonderful person on this board says-  hey.  I have an SD40-2.  I'll send it to you.

When I got it- it was awful.  No headless screw.  It had "knock-out" pins instead and they were bent and mangled.
Obvious conclusion- someone did what Pete warned about 30 years ago-  did not know what they were doing and almost ruined this loco.

So since the owner REALLY likes this shell for sentimental reasons (knowing Kato makes a great SD40-2), he bought another one off ebay as a parts supplier so that I could repair his other.

Oh  cr@&^%&^P!  Someone has knocked the headless screws out of this one too.  What bad luck!  (or so I thought).  It wasn't mangled like the first, but no headless screw.  Project on hold.

Now, two days ago, I get an E1 first run.

What!!!  No headless screw.  What!!!!!

And this loco is in almost mint condition!  Only a little wear on the wheels.

Sooooooo.......  either someone replaced the screws with knock-out pins and did it VERY professionally....... and I'm having a LOT of bad luck with knock-out pins replacing screws......

or, the FIRST two locos from KMT did in fact have knock-out pins!

So I need more people to pull their shells and help.

signed-  one very confused researcher.

[u18b]

And by the way, since I have your attention.

Once this dilema is resolved-  I only need ONE more loco to finish this project.

The NJ Brass Silverliner

Any help would be appreciated.

[u18b]

Well, even though there have been no responses, (so far    )

I think I can with moderate certainty say that I was wrong.

I had said in a thread a month or so ago that all Kumata locos had the headless screw.
I even corrected Spookshow.

Time to eat crow.

It appears that almost all KMT locos did have a headless screw EXCEPT the first two.

The problem is--- it's not a typical "knock-out" pin.  You can't just push it out easily with a small screwdriver.
In fact, you can't get it out easily even with a pair of pliers-- and if you try, you will most likely damage your loco.

The reason is because the pin has been stamped with about three tiny ridges so that it will wedge into the hole of the geartower.

To remove it, you must remove the gearbox around it first.  Then hopefully you can get the whole truck out of the loco frame.  THEN you can work on the bad-boy pin.

So the SD40-2 and the E1A first run have this pin.

Thankfully, Kumata figured out this pin was bad news if you ever had to deal with it and went with the headless screw with other offerings.