It is freely acknowledged that I do not yet possess the skill to do this, BUT Are there any replacement can or other motors for our size equipment? I have seen advertisements for HO replacements, but never N scale.
Hello, Both Atlas and Kato sell replacement motors for their engines that can be adapted to other locomotives, providing they will fit. Also other motors are available such as Sagami (through NWSL), Canon, and Mashima. Some of the "can" motors are quite expensive, but you figure out the size you need and order the motor to fit in your space. I saw a posting in another forum about a week ago where someone had put 2 new can motors in a N-Scale brass locomotive, replacing the 2 originals because he wanted lower operating speed. Mark
I would suggest contacting Eldon Shirey, a.k.a. "The Motorman at motorman@micro-loco-motion.com. See his web site at http://www.micro-loco-motion.com/. Tell him what you want to do and he will suggest several alternatives. He has many motors and gear reduction units available. He has been very helpful to me in some remotoring projects. I don't know what his source is for motors, but he has some pretty good prices - maybe he buys up surplus or discontinued items, but they are high quality items. - Mike
I second the suggestion to contact Eldon Shirey ("The Motorman"), whose contact info was provided above.
Chris- this was just a question rolling around in my mind. I am nowhere ready to do a job like this but I thank you for the offer. I will look a the Shirey site presently. Thank you all for your responses.
How about the Helix Humper? http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/ [ October 30, 2005, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: sapacif ]
Mark: You also can replace older style Atlas fast speed motors with their new slow speed motors. Stay cool and run steam....
I too suggest the Motorman. Otherwise it's like hunting with a blindfold on. There's a lot of variety, and not many sources for advice on model railroad purposes. Now, if you want to buy 100,000 stepper motors, you'll have salespeople lining up with advice. Sagamis and other cans are usually designated by diameter and length: a 1220 is 12mm in diameter and 20 mm long. But others are not always cylindrical: it may be 10 x 12 x 20, or 10mm on the "flat" side, 12mm on the round side, and 20mm in length. The Mabuchi FFs are really inexpensive and thus fun to play around with. They are pretty good in quality, too. Their shaft diameter (another consideration) is smaller than many N motors, requiring a build-up (I use brass tubing).
Ditto the good comments on the Motorman. Eldon can fix you up with motors that range from a Chevy to a Mercedes, but all will work very well. I remotored an old Atlas Light Pacific with a Mashima 10 x 12 x 20 (this is the "Chevy" or perhaps a "Buick") and it now runs just great. Remotored a Mintrix Decapod with a small Swiss motor (Faulhaber 1212) and a 4:1 reduction gearhead installed by the Motorman (this is the "Mercedes") - it is my best running steamer and will creep at a steady 5 - 10 scale mph under load and has a really smooth startup (my Kato Mike is jealous). Top speed at 6 volts (the motor's rating) is about 25 scale mph - just perfect for drag freights). [ November 01, 2005, 12:54 AM: Message edited by: Big Snooze ]
Accurate Lighting lists several replacement motors in the Walthers catalog for many of the older steam and diesel locos. They do offer improved performance for many of the old mehano and rivarossi made products. They are a little pricey however.
