Anybody else here run older brass diesels?

[malletman]

For some reason, my diesel fleet, while small has gone almost all brass. What plastic I have is either for sale or sitting in the dead lines. My old Alco Models GP38-2 with the better Samhongsa drive will outpull my pair of Atheran RTR GP38-2's with ease. The brass one is a lead brick for weight, and it came that way. My old Hallmark/Kumata Baldwin VO1000 is slow and steady runner, has upgraded 8 wheel pickup, and even has real glass lenses in the headlights. I just silvered the reflectors on the old Baldwin and added 12vt bulbs. I picked up an Alco Models SW1500 with issues at the monthly train show in Chicago for a very low price. I have it mostly fixed, just waiting on new axle gears from NWSL to get it running again. It will get working lights, and extra weight. I am working on aquiring a couple more brass diesels. The first two I listed are natural brass, clear coated, decaled for my Turtle Creek Central shortline, lighted, working beacon on the GP38-2 and get run weekly. When not running, they look very nice in the display case on the mantle. I have under $100 in each locomotive, well under that in most. The Kumata drives are a bit noisy, but so are real engines. Seems most modelers pass over these older brass diesels, leaving them affordable price wise. Most are easly fixed if you tinker with your models. NWSL offers replacement axle gears and tower gears for the ones that have split like the recent P2K diesels have. Guess I just like old school models, but I bet I am not alone! Cheers Mike

 

[Cjcrescent]

Mike;

Although I no longe have them, I used to own 4 brass diesels.

One was a Westside E-8 that I had painted into Southern, the rest were Tenshodo GP-35's (2) and a Sd-9. The 35's got done up into L&N, while the 9 was Southern. All had brass gears, and sounded like old sewing machines. The detail wasn't that good on them either.

I did replace the old motors with nice, substantial Sagami's. I also got after the solid metal gears with Jewelers Rogue. These engines ran very well, and while not silent, they were alot quieter than they originally were. Each one was stuffed to the gills with lead, and they could easily pull over 70 cars each.

I sold them all eventually, getting about 3 times what I paid for them because of how they were painted and how well they ran.

I occasionally wish that I had the SD-9 back.

 

[malletman]

Yepper, they are definatly "coffee grinders", but most ran well otherwise with a little tuning. So far mine are all Alco Models or Hallmark brand diesels. Most of the Tenshodo's I have seen were very poor in the detail dept or in really bad shape. I do want one of that brand eventualy though. Mike

 

[stationmaster]

I have three brass models, but they are steam engines. A 2-8-2, 4-8-4, and a 2-6-2. Just missed picking up an 0-6-0 on eBay last week. They are beasts and when pulling long consists are in a league of their own.

Bob

 

[Cjcrescent]

Yepper, they are definatly "coffee grinders", but most ran well otherwise with a little tuning. So far mine are all Alco Models or Hallmark brand diesels. Most of the Tenshodo's I have seen were very poor in the detail dept or in really bad shape. I do want one of that brand eventualy though. Mike

Oh yes the detail was very crude on the Tenshodos. The SD-9 had grabs that came out to almost 4 scale inches in diameter. It dated from the early 1960's. The GP35's were from the mid 1970's and they looked a lot better. The E-8 was from the late 1970's and ran the best, as well as looking the best, but that SD-9 just couldn't be stopped!

 

[UP2CSX]

I have waht's probably a pretty rare beast, a Gem F-9. I bought it in 1969 for the astounding price of $19.95! The body is made in Japan and the detailing was top notch for the era. It has about the best bulldog nose in brass I've seen. Only one little problem. To compete with plastic models, Gem used a Bachmann chassis and motor. This was back when Bachmann was still made in Hong Kong. The mechanism was absolute junk. It hardly ran at all and sounded like a corn binder. I replaced the gearing and motor and finally got it running halfways decent. It's one of the few locomotives I saved from collection of 40 years ago and I haven't had the courage to power it up again. It's one of those projects on the to-do list which isn't moving up with a bullet.

 

[malletman]

That old Gem F9 would be awsome with a Stewart/Kato drive under that brass shell, they she would run as good as she looks. I have a chance to get an Alco Models SP SW1500, but the drive has been gutted. I would need a gear tower with gears, drive shafts and the worm gear shafts for the trucks. Anybody have a junker or have some of the drive train items in your junk box? Mikie

 

[UP2CSX]

I've thought about getting a Stewart chassis for it since it looks like the measurements are almost exactly the same. I'd have to rig up a replacement for the screws into the Bachmann chassis that holds the shell on but I'm sure I could come up with something. It would be nice to get it running again in DCC. Right now, converting it would be a nightmare since motor and the metal gear towers are solidly connected to the metal frame. Back in 1969, I didn't consider what problems that would cause in DCC. Oh, wait, we didn't have DCC then.

 

[Cjcrescent]

I've thought about getting a Stewart chassis for it since it looks like the measurements are almost exactly the same...

I remember that loco. Gem also had out a GP-40 with the Bachmann GP-40 frame under it as well. One of our club members in Mobile had them and was never happy with how they ran. The mechanisms had adequate weight, but the motor was fair to poor. I solved his problem by getting him a Hobbytown chassis for each and filling the bodies with lead. They turned from borderline engines to outstanding performers with those changes.

 

[UP2CSX]

CJ, now that you mention it, I did replace that chassis with a Hobbytown model. It ran much better but I should have added more weight like you did. I'm going to unbox it one of these days and have another go at it. Gem had an interesting concept for the time, much like Broadway Limited's "Hybrid" models of today. If they had just chosen a better chassis, like making a deal with Athearn, I think they would have had a winner. As it was, I don't think they sold very many and Gem went belly up soon afterwards.

 

[malletman]

You will have to take some pics when you get the old unit out of the box. I am slowly getting my basket case SW1500 running. Gears are on order to fix the split ones and the shell is off at the custom painter that I found here on this site for painting into the MRS scheme. Thier fleet of switchers that take care of the beer industries in St Louis are very striking. The paint scheme is similar to the Southern Railway's green scheme. I took care of painting the chassis and trucks silver on my own. I should have the power chassis running good by the time the shell comes back to me. Hopefully I can pick up a couple more older diesels soon. Mike

 

[bnsf971]

I wonder if you could substitute an Athearn or Overland frame/drive in the SW1500. I know Overland imported drives for people that wanted to standardize their plastic with their brass. I put a Mashima can motor and flywheels in an Athearn SW1500, which turned it into a terrific running engine. I did something similar with a Tenshodo SD9, the gears on the back of the motor were split, and the driveshaft from the rear truck to the front truck was broken. I chopped up an Athearn frame and drive assembly, and crammed in into the Tenshodo. It turned into an excellent puller with off-the-shelf parts availability.

 

[malletman]

I have the gears coming from NWSL, its an easy fix. I prefer to keep the original drive to preserve the value of the model. I have a second Alco Models SW1500 I could buy cheap, but the drive has been gutted from the engine and it was made into a dummy unit. Mike