trouble with old tyco mantua gp-20


N

n1vets333

Member
I just got my hands on an old tyco mantua gp-20 with the blue and yellow santa fe paint scheme, the engine was never run that much, I could tell by the wheels. I was considering putting a decoder in it, so before I made any modifications, I tested it to see how it ran analog. When powered the light comes on but the engine wont move and in a couple of seconds smoke starts emerging from where the motor is mounted. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? Could it be that since it hasnt been run in ages, the smoke im seeing is dirty brushes smoking, if so how do I clean them as it doesnt looks as though I could reach the motor, it is incased using rivets and not screws. The closest I could get to the motor is the electrical contacts. Any help would be greatly apreciated. Thank you.
Stevin
 
Well I hate to say it but I think the problem is that it's "an old tyco mantua gp-20".
Sorry, couldn't resist ;o)
Best you can do is try to clean up what you can, maybe get some contact cleaner into the brushes. Maybe remove the trucks & drives and make sure they are free and clean?
 
You can try to pop the rivets to get at the motor or clean everything up the best you can. A little grease and oil could do the trick . Is it worth the effort ?
 
Repower with a different motor and drive. If you are going to need some torque out of it you should use a NSWL repowering kit.
 
put it on display in a park with some HO scale kiddos climbing on it.

i've got one just like it ("Hey, I've got these old trains from my brother who passed away, would you like to have them?") and fixing it will require more $$ than it would take to buy a new Life-Like/Walthers GP20.

and it will never look nor run as good.
 
Unfortunately, I agree with Ken. The Tyco GP-20 was not prototypically accurate and the motor and drive system was abysmal, even by the standards of however long ago it came out. It was aimed at trainset customers, who would run it for a few weeks after Christmas and then lose interest, which is a good thing, since a few weeks is about how long they usually lasted. I certainly wouldn't waste the time or money making it run on DC let alone blowing up a decoder or two trying to make that work.
 
I'd put the old geep in the lead of a multiple unit lash up and throttle it up to notch 8 just to watch that donkey smoke!!!! :eek: :eek:
After she burns up her prime mover, put it on the dead line as a static model or send her into the shops to become a dummy unit.
Old motive power always smokes the most. :D
 
You could probably do the same thing I did with an old Tyco F unit. Pitch the chassis and remount the body on another chassis. I remounted my F units body onto an Athearn F7 chassis with only a small amount of modification.
 
The other alternative is to rip out the guts and the gears in the trucks and turn it into a dummy loco. You can even make it a lead unit if it weighs enough for the rear loco to push without it derailing.

Kennedy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top