Can motors for athearn blue box diesels?

ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.




1742157602513.png
 
I have a fairly good amount of Blue Box diesels, but most still have their original motors in them. I can usually get them tuned to run pretty smooth, just takes patience. This SD40t-2 and Alco PA1 just got an LED headlight upgrade, though. I also adjusted and painted the handrails and stanchions on the SD40t-2 since this photo was taken.
Athearn CM MT & SL 4000 (My model) (1).jpg
Athearn CM MT & SL 2002 (My model) (1).jpg
 
Last edited:
Kato motors with flywheels are still a good option. I re-motored a BB with one of those. I also tried re-motoring a loco without the flywheels... My advice: Get the motors with the flywheels installed.

I also re-motored a BB unit with an Athearn RTR/Genesis retro fit motor kit. They fit in the BB frame a little better if you mill the frame just a touch, but can be done without.
 


Well to actually answer your question, a lot of us are still using BB locos. They are inherently repairable, though parts for the older ones (thinking of the open frame motor era) are scarce. Athearn doesn’t carry parts for them, and the current staff doesn’t have extensive knowledge. (I was told by them.) I had to remotor one of these because the motor was failing.

If you’re planning to convert to DCC, be sure to get a decoder that can handle the current drawn by the older, less efficient motors. Some people remotor these as a matter of course, this gets you lower current drawn, better power output and a physically smaller motor for easier conversion.

For general repairs, YouTube and eBay are useful.
 
I also remotored my Athearn BB's with the Kato motor. DD35, U33C and an Genesis SD70. One of the advantages is that not only are they much quieter, they also draw less amps and my motors came with the plastic motor mounts and fly wheels. All I had to do was buy the circuit board from Kato and it became DCC friendly. I 3D printed the motor mount and glued it all in. The DD35 had the biggest effect as those two motors were power hogs.
 
Motor mounts for DD35 and Genesis SD70M. No modification needed to the Kato motor plastic mounts. No cutting or welding required. :)

One thing that I found out during these projects is how similar the Kato, Lifelike, Athearn mechanisms are. The flywheels all use the same size hex hole for the drive shafts. The biggest differences encountered were the drive shaft design. Some used a sliding collar with a keyed shaft and others just went with the simple shaft with hex on one end and dogbone on the other. It was easier to design and print the keyed shaft one... Went to A-line for the dogbone shafts.
 

Attachments

  • DD35 MOTOR MOUNT.jpg
    DD35 MOTOR MOUNT.jpg
    132.6 KB · Views: 99
  • SD70M MOTOR MOUNT.jpg
    SD70M MOTOR MOUNT.jpg
    109.4 KB · Views: 94
  • DD35 DRIVE SHAFTS.jpg
    DD35 DRIVE SHAFTS.jpg
    91.2 KB · Views: 95
Last edited:
Winn Dixie, wow haven't heard that in a long time. I think the last time I went to one was '86 in Key West. Or was that food lion? Ah, can't remember.

Are you remotoring as well? Those old BB motors sure pull a lot of amps.
 
Winn Dixie, wow haven't heard that in a long time. I think the last time I went to one was '86 in Key West. Or was that food lion? Ah, can't remember.

Are you remotoring as well? Those old BB motors sure pull a lot of amps.
The old iron ring BB motors can draw nearly 2 amps. The gold "can" motors introduced in the mid 80's draw considerably less.
Winn Dixie was acquired by Aldi. Many of them are being closed, others rebranded as Aldi stores, some left as Winn Dixie stores, depending on area.
Food Lion and its subsidiaries are holding on, after retrenching over a decade ago.
 






Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top