Hi I have an N scale SD-45 Spectrum which someone kindly gave me. It's currently not running, and I would love to try and repair it. The issue is with the pickups and I know this is a common problem with these. On one truck the brass wiper has complete sheared off and on another it loses contact on the slightest of corners. Unfortunately parts are not available, otherwise I would just replace the entire truck assemblies. I thought of buying a donor loco, but so far I come across any that might be suitable. Would love to hear any suggestions as to a more cost effective DIY repair, especially if you have had the unfortunate pleasure to also possess one of these. I would much rather this beauty is pounding around my layout rather than idling away as a static display.
Sad to say spares for some brands isn't good. I scour ebay for cheap non-runners to part out for certain makes for the models I run. As I only run Kato's SD45, I won't have these parts, but am spending three days running trains from tomorrow at my club, so will ask around.
So you just need one truck? I have a non-runner also that I could sacrifice one truck off of........gotta keep the other as a spare for my running ones. Do you have a pic? There were several versions of that chassis.
In the Forest of Dean,UK. In an old Masonic lodge - grain hauling , intermodal and general freight mainly...
Thanks for the all the awesome comments and assistance! Here's an (average) picture, with me holding the well and truly toasted truck. The other one isn't in great shape either to be fair, as someone has tried to fix it unsuccessfully. I think the biggest problems with these are the bits of copper(or whatever it is) that the axles are supposed to sit against, once they get out of shape, the actual wipers don't seem to sit properly anymore. Again, thanks again everyone!
I put a picture up on a previous post, but as I mention in it, I think this will be a two truck replacement job, one might work and I might be able to salvage enough bits from the replaced one to fix the other, but probably not as I don't really have any faith that the bits will all go back together well. I really think the design of this truck is the biggest flaw rather than the parts. Thanks for the suggestion though
Looking at Bachmann I see no parts for the trucks or trucks listed for either model of the SD-45. Looking at Ebay I see one listing for an SD-45 at a reasonable price and that is up for bid. The rest are outrageous prices that you could get a brand new one from another manufacturer for less money.
