Using Newer Transformer With Older Trains

[mapper65]

I typically collect G Scale but I just bought an old General Hobbies Camel Back HO train that I thought was pretty cool. It was new in the box and I'm guessing from the late 40's to early 50's. I have a small Bachman HO set that I use from time to time so I setup the track and transformer and tried running the Camel Back on. Prior to running it, I lightly lubricated it and opened up the gear cover and scraped all of the dried up grease out. The gear seems to move freely. The thing runs but acts a little sluggish like it can't get enough power. It's an old open frame motor. The power supply is a 1000ma/16VA. Is that enough current for an older motor like that or is there something else wrong?

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Those old open frame motors take a lot of power. It's no wonder it's acting sluggish with the Bachmann trainset quality power pack. What you need is a MRC power pack that can whip out 2 amps or better. Don't even THINK of putting a DCC decoder in this loco. The decoder will die a quick and gruesome death.

 

[UP2CSX]

As Jeffrey said, I wouldn't be surprised if that locomotive is drawing near the rated amps of the powerpack. One way to tell is how hot it gets when trying to run the old Camelback. I suspect it gets pretty hot. You will need a power pack that puts out at least 1.5 amps or 2 amps if you expect to run any other engines with the Camelback.

 

[Cjcrescent]

I typically collect G Scale but I just bought an old General Hobbies Camel Back HO train that I thought was pretty cool....

The loco needs disassembling to really be cleaned. After removing the 3 screws, 1 under the cylinders, 2 under the back of the cab, clean the motor's commutator, and oil the bearings on the ends of the motor shaft.

Reassemble, and then attach one of your G-gauge powerpacks to the track. It has the amps to drive any HO gauge loco. Just watch the voltage.

I've seen these locos, and ran a couple of them many years ago. If you want to use this as a regular locomotive, Buy a can motor, and a NWSL gearbox. That old motor isn't worth the material it's magnet is made of!