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Friday, October 21, 2011

To FB-1 or not FB-1

The repair shop has tackled another long awaited project, the repair of four Walther's Train Line HO scale Alco FB-1 units. In real life these locomotives were made by Alco in Schnectady NY and sold to various railroads to compete with the EMD F series of locomotives. In HO scale they were offered in several runs by Walther's and at some point the quality assurance people were asleep as the frames of the B-units were bigger than the plastic shell causing the shells to break apart. These frames were so big they would not even fit on the larger shelled A units.Originally having 5 of these locomotives I tried to grind the frame down on the first one about a year ago however the pot metal frame came apart in my hands. So the units were put back on the shelf. While they do run they looked ridiculous so they remained out of service and went to the back of the line. Yesterday was their turn again, Here is how I achieved success
1, Removed shell, not an easy thing to do with the over sized frame.
2. Removed all components from the frame leaving the frame absolutely bare. Pay special attention to drive shafts as one is a bit shorter than the other.
3. Broke out the trusty hacksaw and cut about 1/2" from the front to the frame.
4. Ground all for corners on the grinder. Test fit until shell fits over frame easily.
5. Reassembled  units.  

 

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