Ever wonder why that loco does't run well anymore?

[nsc39d8]

Do you ever wonder why that old Blue box locomotive does not run well anymore?
Wonder why that Proto 2000 with the Athearn clone trucks does not run well?
You wonder why the motor went out in your favorite old Loco??

You might want to take a closer look at the trucks. Yes the trucks, why you ask?
Well a lot of guys say their locomotive is starting to get slow or just won't run any more even though the motor is trying to turn
the trucks just won't move. We might check the worm gear to see if it is free but have you ever thought of checking this part?

Which part you ask? Well how many of you have taken apart the trucks and cleaned them? You know that old recommendation from PPW/A-line
in their old how to Athearn book. I even went and found the toothpaste(Pearl Drops) to use as well.
Now I will give you the WHY! I recently got an old Athearn Blue box S12 for a slug project, will not get a motor just a dummy.
Well the trucks were not to free rolling. I soaked them in Dawn dish detergent several days and still no luck. Today I got around to opening them up
and well I tell you I know why she won't run. Just take a look below.



Yep all that gunk is the old grease packed and now solidified. I just wanted to pass this on to everyone to help you in
diagnosis of why your loco won't run anymore or is drawing high current and heating your decoder.

I hope this helps everyone in a future project.

[edwardsutorik]

That's a GREAT picture. In a really BAD WAY!

Yikes!!!!


Ed

[riogrande]

Yuk! Looks like you need to clean it out with an Exacto knife blade.

[slowfreight]

I used to use my spray can of Trichloroethylene 1,1,1...worked fast, blasted the crud out, and didn't attack plastic. But it was outlawed many years ago. One of the citrus cleaners might work as well with scrubbing, but no spray can...brake cleaner unfortunately attack some plastics, and tuner cleaner leaves an oily film by design.

[nsc39d8]

All it took was some hot running water and a little bit of Dawn dish detergent and a toothbrush and they cleaned right up. Hope to get them lubed tomorrow. The wheels will more than likely get replaced
with NWSL sets.

[Gary P]

Wow! A picture is worth a thousand words!

[oldmuley]

Thanks, I hate it.

[kentuckysouthernrwy]

Funny place to hide the peanut butter. Even new some of the Proto trucks had way too much of that stuff in them.

[lvrr325]

I was about to ask what they used for lube, Jif or Skippy?

I bought a pair of Proto 2000 Reading GP30s about five years ago, NOS still taped sealed inside.  All the gears had cracked, but also one truck was locked right up for the same reason, the grease had turned into paste in there.