It's all in the title. I know the old Mantua steamers I was just given are going to be a delicate clean and I have some guidance on starting (and a generous offer for more help), but I have a few diesels that look like it's going to be a matter of popping the shell. Basically, I'm looking for grading, cleaning, and care tips, that I can read instead of pestering with questions I haven't even formed. Thanks
It is kind of a "catch 22"" Marty... We could write a whole book on one engine alone inorder to cover all that is needed to clean everything that could be in and on the surfaces.
Wgere wuz I? It would be a good idea to have a row of several nails in your shop, to hang things on, like when painting, drying, dusting etc. Go hang the cleaned piece on one of the nails, and repeat all the same mistakes on the next few pieces. By the time you have finished cleaning this one engine, you will be able to finish the next one in less time, and become more self assured. Unless you are filthy rich, peel off the rubber gloves and leave them inside out until needed next time. (They will be easier to put on over the cotton inspection gloves, see?) Drop each rubber glove over an old Sodapop or long neck beer bottle The cotton gloves may be washed along with your sox and shorts. When the cotton gloves wear holes in them, cut them into small patches to use with tweezers to clean dust off your engines in tight places, under piping, etc. Then you can throw them away. Go ahead, its OK now.
OK, I understand the problem now. When the motor was switched, they did not mount the end of the motor shaft in the same position as the Rivarrossi motor shaft was. So, you have one of two choices: either fix it, or fix it. Let's take the first one, its easier. Carefully rip the thing apart so you can get to that pesky drive shaft. Look it over carefully and note how they mounted the new motor. If they just glued it in place, it might be flexible enough to come off in your hand, or come off by simply cutting it loose with a knife. If they did some surgery and drilled mounting holes for screws, then we may "have a problem Houston!" If this motor is powerful enough to suit you, keep it. That will help make this easy. Set the chassies on an 18" radius curve track and see if the end of the drive shaft touches the motor shaft, make a note of how far "if" there is a gap. Now set it up curving the other way, and note any difference in the amount of gap. The greatest gap is what has to be "fixed". ( the motor may also torque up enough to twist away from the drive shaft, allowing the shaft end to "wrench" out of the drive socket. Just re-glue it with a stiffer glue.) We are still not beat if none of this works. You will have to make a stiff sleeve to press onto the motor shaft, to lengthen the "reach" as needed, so the drive shaft can have a "pivot point" farther out away from the motor, see? That was the "easy" fixes. OR: ( Now we go to work) You can make the other fix: If you have a Lathe, Drill Press, hand drill, vice, and a set of drill bits, you "can" make the two stiff sleeves, and drive shaft now needed. Yes you can, it isn't that hard. We will use the hand drill, drill bits, vice and some pliers. You make two stiff sleeves, and use a ball and pin type "U" Joint at each end. Make the drive shaft out of about 1/8 inch (,125-ø") thin walled aluminum tubing. Put a very light coil spring in each sleeve to push on the balls on the ends of the drive shaft, to keep the shaft from binding against the sides of the sleeve. If it still wants to bind, I usually cut a bell mouth or counter sink just enough to clear the shaft. Delryn will make good sleeves, but if you choose to make the sleeves out of aluminum, use a tooth pick to wipe a tiny dab of 3-IN-1 oil in the sleeve hole before pressing it onto the motor shaft or tower shaft. It will prevent gauling onto the shafts. You can go to a Crafts Store, and get a couple of small wooden or plastic beads about 3/16 to 1/4-ø", any color you like. If you happen to find there is space to clear a larger diameter sleeve, then maybe you can find a bead with a hole large enough to allow the aluminum tube to slip inside, or with just a little filing or drilling. Once you have a bead on each end, cut two straight pin's heads off. Find a drill bit that will make a hole almost large enough for the pin to slip through, but wont. Lay the drive shaft down with the balls in place and drill as straight down through the center of each bead and the tube as possible. To prevent damage to the thin wall of our tube, stick the nose of your needle nose pliers into the end of the tube as far as it will go easily. Hold the pliers in place on your vice, with the palm of your left hand, while holding a pin point in a hole in the tubing wall with tweezers or another pair of pliers. Align the pin to pass between the jaws of your pliers. Gently tap the pin into the hole to spread the hole out enough to drive the pin all the way through and out the other sidev of the bead. Now use the side cutters to clip off both ends of the pin leaving enough sticking out beyond both sides of the bead to ride in the slots in the sleeves. Sleeves next -continued- Watash
I just found out that there are drive shaft kits available on the market, so it is not worth the time to make a set from scrap, just buy one to fit your shafts.
Mantua Catalog MANTUA's catalog, that cost five bucks twenty years ago, has exploded, labelled, drawings (some with multiple images for given loco). This was to facilitate parts orders, but accordingly also showed assembly. There are pages dealing with motors, and their care- and so forth. They may be available from MODEL POWER, that is on Long Island and acquired the MANTUA line. For what it is worth Charley Pittman built the first motors for Tyler when he started MANTUA, at the town of the same name in South Jersey, seventy years ago. They allowed reliable 'HO' scale locos to be built because it fit in them. Earlier locos had to use larger out of scale bodies to fit the existing small electric motors. This is why HORNBY, when they created "Dublo" trains that introduced mass marketted small scale trains to the world - produced the bastrardized scale known today as "OO/HO" that is standard in the UK. This 1:76 scale equipment running on 1:87 scale track came about because no reliable small motors at affordable prices existed. Subsequently, what happened is that people liked the appearance, and even when motors of appropriate size were available the odd scale persisted. If you remember that UK equipment is smaller than NA rolling stock, because of the size of the transportation prism along their rights of way, you see that HORNSBY's problem was more acute than MANTUAs. They had no Wootton system Reading Atlantics, Pacifics, or Camelback 0-4-0s that John Tyler and Pittman used to make the first MANTUA 'HO' locomotive kits. So, "viva la difference " ( even if the French are rigid devotees to scale, having a larger percentage of fine scale modelers than any other country in the world)! In any case the Brits have the "Scale Four Society", and other rivet counting afficionadoes of correct dimensions today, who watch balefully over the doings in the UK Regardless , MANTUA's vertically mounted motor power truck assembly originally had a Pittman motor. PITTMAN motors, still exist combined with famous name pioneer electronic suppliers like ROTRON FANS in a conglamorate. You can GoogleUp the Pittman Motor Division site. Pittman's high quality, pricy motors are the basis of almost all 'O' scale loco scratch builds ( and their are no cheap ones if you want new motors from anyone else). In the links section of the YAHOO " Brass Loco Builders" group, there are many click on URLs for model train motor and drive components if you wish to find more info on all parts of steam loco model making. I should point out that NORTLANDZ, and the CITI BANK layout locomotives, that run for hours daily when operating, all have MANTUA drive systems, because NO OTHER ready made DE drive can take the conditions and duration of operations. That has nothing to do with crawling along , it simply is flat out endurance. So getting a new PITTMAN , and gears from MODEL POWER if needed, and following lubrication instructions from the latter, will result in a loco that will out live you , if that is a goal. Good-Luck, and Happy New Year -Peter Boylan
THANK YOU PETER !!! Clap hands etc... Finally someone comes to my side! My Mantua 8-Ball 2-6-0 still has the same original Pittman motor, and is still running!
As far as cleaning diesels goes, it depends on who made them. Athearns are pretty easy to take apart and put back together again (in working order, too!). There have been a couple articles in Model Railroader, but they were printed a number of years ago and may not be easy to find. Some of the newer models take a little more care (watch those thin handrails!). You'll find that once you get an engine back together, it's pretty easy to strip them down, clean them and assemble them again the next few times.
Be careful cleaning diesels with LPS !!! I have NOT tried cleaning inside nor outside of a diesel shell to see if LPS softens or washes the paint or letteriung off. It WILL remove DUST ( weathering ?) I just don't know.
Ohhhh Kaaayyyyy.... I have learned I need to phrase my questions a bit better. I've learned I need to, but not how to Anyway I will call Mike at Model Power after they finish inventory, maybe I can get qa catalog. I've opened enough n scale and O. These just look more daunting, I guess.
