Lima engine advice needed


I

ianc

Member
I've got a Lima 0-4-0, of uncertain age. The motor runs pretty well, but one wheel is higher than the other three, so it doesn't make contact with the track. When there are only two contact wheels on each side, you really need all of them to contribute. Before I take the thing apart, does anyone know if this is common, and/or is there a fix?
 
It may be the frame is warped. Put the engine on a piece of glass, and look carefully at how it sits on the glass.
If it is warped, you may be able to disassemble the engine, and carefully bend the frame back into true.
 
I've removed the screw at the front of the chassis, and the body is loose at the front, but the back is held by a tang, and I'm reluctant to force it too much. Anyone had one of these apart?
 
Does the engine have a tender? If so, the pin the drawbar connects to probably also holds the rear (cab) area in place. It MAY unscrew. Look to see if the pin has a slot in it, like a flathead (slotted) screw.
 
It does, and I removed that screw, but it didn't do anything. There was a very small screw at the rear bottom of the loco that holds a small shell on, and it's off, but the body doesn't want to come off. It's odd - the chassis seems to be one with the firewall, with the boiler, cow catcher, etc separate. I can almost get the tabs out, but I'm stretching the plastic to a considerable degree.
 
Well, with more study and prying and wriggling I got it apart, and it's no wonder it doesn't run very well. The wonder is that it runs at all. The chassis is plastic, and very flexible. I don't see what's supposed to keep it stiff enough to keep the wheels where they should be. And I sure don't see what to do about it. Thoughts?
 
The trick is to introduce some springing. You couldnt spring the axle with the gear. So you work the other. Your cover plate that holds the axle in place, is it thick or thin? Made of metal or plastic? Tomar pickup shoes are springy, you can bend them to make a springy thing to do some springing pressure at the middle of the axle. You would have to look at your mounting situation to see how you can make it fit. The cheat is to file the axle support deeper on both sides but keeping the correct width. You would have to look at how you can mount the Tomar shoe (since I do not have your engine in front of me) super glue would be simple. I have done this to an old rivarossi 2-8-4.

A warped frame isnt good, it has to track right or its also a derail issue. The next bit to try is to add pickups to the non-powered wheels on the engine and tender.
 
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