Engines Stored Repairs Deferred

 Greetings All

Engines Stored, Repairs Deferred

I've recently started to notice that some of my aging 1:87 scale fleet looks to be reaching the end of its serviceable life span similar to their 1:1 counterparts needing some replacement parts or rebuilding of components if parts are available.

The term "engines stored, repairs deferred" comes from the 1:1 railroad practice of storing locomotives still being paid off in need repairs that are deemed too expensive based on severity of problem(s) and age of locomotive. Once the trusts have been paid off the locomotives become the property of the railroad and can be sold off to another road, traded in for new locomotives or for scrap. 

"Schellville Train Purgatory" by Jeff Boyd is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Sometimes a RR will switch road numbers from a locomotive sidelined in need of repairs to an active locomotive that is already been paid off with the blessing of the financier. You'll see something like engine #1000(2) which would indicate the 1000 has received a new number from the original #1000 locomotive in the fleet. 

"Alco's retired" by railsr4me is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The active locomotive would be earning revenue to pay the bank and the stored, repairs deferred engine would become the RR's property for whatever disposition they choose like scrapping or trading in for a new engine.

"Deadline" by Patrick Dirden is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The Bachmann Spectrum GP30 Conundrum

The combined family fleet of GP30s dates back about 25 years when the Bachmann Spectrum Line was introduced. Happy with the original purchases I added several more over the years. The original Made in China run of GP30s ran great and continue to do so all these years later. 

The Made in Hong Kong run of Spectrum GP30s on the other hand are way too noisy, don't run that well and suffered from cosmetic defects like peeling paint.

When swapping out motive power on the layout it came to my attention that certain GP30s in the fleet were just not performing well and had been stored in their boxes for a long time because of this. I took out the entire combined GP30 fleet and test ran them singly and in consists. 

The Results Are In

Empire Belt RR GP30s #2160 and #2161 were a used purchase and added to the roster in 2017 when I repainted them into the EBRR fleet. These unfortunately were made in Hong Kong and have become just too annoyingly loud to run on the layout. With no available replacement parts they are now stored repairs deferred.

B&O GP30 #6954 is an original run made in China new purchase and runs beautifully. The EMD Demo GP30 however is a made in Hong Kong model that is junk, pure junk (to quote Big Mike Bednar). It barely moves and is now stored repairs deferred.

PRR GP30s #2218 and #2204 are original made in China models and continue by be great runners seeing lots of layout time. 

Three Bachmann Spectrum Penn Central GP30s were painted in the Patti-O Paint Shop about fifteen years ago when the Penn Central bug took hold. Thankfully these are made in China models that are running well.

The PC 2189 is an old Athearn rubber band drive model that I painted and made a free rolling unit. This four unit consist M.U.s well and can often be found in mainline service.

Spectrum NYC GP30s #2188 and #2197 are original Made in China models that I painted on the Patti-O Paint Shop in 2010. They continue to run well and enjoy a lot of layout time. 

Troubleshooting the issues of the made in Hong Kong models I found the gears were one of the culprits of the poor running and loud noises. Note the Made in Hong Kong on the bottom of the fuel tank.

So what to do with these clunkers? 

Hard Decisions To Be Made

The solution I came up with was to remove the gears from the gear towers, the electrical pickups and driveshafts to make them free rolling units.

NYC GP30 #2188 leads UP #721, NYC #2194 and NYC 2197 with freight train thru Empire City, NY. The UP shell is riding on the EMD Demo chassis. The NYC #2194 is an old Lionel shell that is riding on the EBRR #2161 chassis.

The above consist is just one of several that came as a result of the un-powering of the EBRR and EMD Demo GP30s. When all were powered this consist would be noisy, not M.U. well at all even though they are all Spectrum models and would be pulled from the layout in disgust.

Final Thoughts and Comments

The older locomotives in the 1:87 fleet face the same challenges as their 1:1 counterparts in finding parts. The original GP30s are discontinued and parts are scarce. I have a search going for available reasonably priced Spectrum GP30s from the Made in China run to use for a power chassis swap or as a parts source. The key words here are reasonably priced.

Coming Up Next

In the next blog post we'll take a look at "Making the Case For Dummies, Non-Powered Locomotives That Is". 

Thanks for reading!!!

See you tomorrow!!!