Joe Elastic & His Rubber Band

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N

NH Mike

CEO & Wheel Cleaner
Work continues on bringing the Lobuc Valley out of its 20+ year coma. Yesterday I found a real hard core train only hobby shop only 1 town away. :D This afternoon I excavated one of my dinosaurs, an Athearn RDC, out from under 1/2 inch or so of dust and ran it through the back shop. Now she is all nice and clean and wheels gleam bright and electrically she is ready to go back in service except for one minor detail. The rubber bands that drive the trucks have turned to stone or at least what is left of them. They sure aren't anything unique to Athearn so does anyone know of a generic replacement that might be found at an office supply store? I don't even have one complete enough to use as a sample to go looking.

Thanks again
 
Thanks, that's good to know. The RDC was so low down on my work list that I never even looked at it until today. I'll check with my new found hobby shop this week and see if we come up with them.
 


You can also get a motor and gearbox replacement from Athearn for the RDC if you'd rather do away with those drag strip starts. :)
 
Thanks Jim. I still have a lot of catching up to do as far as what is still available and what sort of upgrades are possible. For right now all I am doing is getting things back in operational status and painting up 3 undec Alcos that had never even been out of the box. Rubber power will suffice on the RDC for a while longer. I'll just change the lights on the signal bridges to an NHRA Christmas tree whenever the RDC is used.;)
 
RDC part numbers ?

Jim, Would you happen to know the Athearn part numbers for the RDC motor and gear case replacements that you mentioned ? I have acouple I'd l like to re-power. Thanks, Joe
 
Nice to know others have an interest in the RDC's. As a kid the NH ran them in commuter service on the Needham Branch and the tracks passed within a few blocks of my house. Once in a while we'd ride them into South Station in Boston instead of the cheaper MTA public transit.
 
Joe, I wasn't clear in my post. You can get repowering kits from NWSL or Ernst. I don't know the part numbers offhand but I'm sure you can find them on the web. The issue is one of cost. When Athearn made the only RDC, the repower kits made sense. Now that you can get an Atlas P1K RDC for less than $50 with a modern motor, drive, and better detailed shell, it's not too cost effective to convert an Athearn model unless it's a labor of love.
 


NH Mike wrote: "does anyone know of a generic replacement that might be found at an office supply store?"

I have an OLD HO scale rubber band drive (don't know what brand). It's from the 1960's or earlier. It used to chew up the rubber bands on a regular basis. I discovered that the small rubber bands I used on my paper route were about the right size replacements. The newspaper supplied the rubber bands free, so I had a ready supply. I don't know what size the rubber bands were but they were readily available and came in a bulk pack box (seemed like there was a million of 'em in one box!).

I still have the old loco! The motor still runs but the rubber bands are shot. To replace them, I'd measure the approximate distance between the bottom of the drum roller on the axle and the top of the drive rod shaft. Go to the office supply store and search through the rubber bands looking for one that measures a little less than your measurement. That should get you in the ballpark.

As others have stated, new locos are much better built and detailed. Replacing the loco wouldn't be all that costly, and it will run MUCH better than the old rubber band drive unit. In my case, I'll eventually restore the rubber band drive for reasons of sentimentality.

Hope that helps.

Darrell, quiet...for now
 
We have had success replacing them with dollar store hair elastics. They were black in color and were like a black rubber/stretch vinyl material... worked well and as I recall we got 100 for $1.00
 
Thanks for 2 more helpful tips Bob and Darrell. At the hobby shop yesterday they pointed me towards the local chain store type pharmacy for the elastics used on dental braces. They come in a couple of sizes or so I'm told and have a round shape rather than the usual office type that are flat. Also supposed to be of better quality rubber. Haven't had a chance to check those out yet. The ladies hair elastics sound good as well.

Since I never ran this RDC in regular service and still won't in the future I have no plans to upgrade the drive beyond what it is. Its more of an "I had to have one because.....", and that's the way I look at it now.
 
Oh the power of suggestion is a dangerous thing! All this RDC discussion led me to drag mine out. Then I found rubber bands that fit in an assortment bag! But I run DCC, so guess what was next?:confused::rolleyes:

Yes, I put a decoder in it and like a "Louie Lionel", I've been setting land speed records in the basement!:D

Thanks guys!:rolleyes:
 
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