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Post by DelmarJct on Mar 11, 2013 12:56:15 GMT -5
Hey guys, I'm running into some trouble. I have an old Illinois Central SW7 (or SW1500, depending on what you want to call it), and it needs a new motor (it's more of a sentemental thing). I don't know much about these, but I want to put something else in it than the worn out 15 year old dinosaur that's in it now. So I've been looking around, and do any of you guys know if I can put a new Genesis MP15 motor in it or a Stewart/Kato engine? If so, where exactly would I find one?
Ryan Osmolski
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Post by icghogger on Mar 11, 2013 20:02:33 GMT -5
Ryan, you can check A-Line/Action Hobbies for a replacement motor.
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Post by iomalley on Mar 12, 2013 9:56:20 GMT -5
The Aline motor designed for the "Athearn SW" doesn't fit, not even close. It is a large armature motor with smaller tapered flywheels. (not sure why they didn't use their small armature GP38/40 motor with the small tapered flywheels) The SW7 frames have a low depression in the fuel tank area to fit the athearn motor and get the driveline down low, but in clearing material with a dremel to fit the Aline motor, you can come close to compromising the frame strength if you remove too much material.
Not to mention the Aline motor w/ flywheels is very expensive.
I ordered an Atlas S4 motor to use, but it was too long and when I tried to remove one flywheel, proceeded to destroy the drive shaft. Those flywheels do NOT come off!
I opted to use the original athearn motor, hardwired to the trucks. You can use a newer slimmer Athearn motor to replace your old version. With proper shimming and maintenance, your Athearn motor will run just fine.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 12, 2013 12:27:05 GMT -5
The Athearn motor isn't really all that bad. The big problem has always been the worm gear, connection to the flywheels, and the gears in the trucks being somewhat sloppy. The new motor/shaft design addresses a lot of those problems. A little work on the gears in the trucks (filing off burrs, shimming them, and putting the proper amount of lube in the truck assembly) and they run fairly well.
Not Kato quality but definatley better than what most people assume an Athearn will run like.
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Post by Mark R. on Mar 12, 2013 14:22:01 GMT -5
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Post by iomalley on Mar 13, 2013 9:01:41 GMT -5
I found the switcher worm drives with the 4 'nib' couplings are not as bad as the keyed shaft of the bigger athearn locos. I normally keep them because they work well in tight spaces.
I've installed Ernst gears in some of my switchers, and they work really well, but your switcher is forever doomed to the yard because it will never run with enything else. (except other Ernst-equipped locos) It will pull alot more cars too. Not sure if you can get Ernst gearing anymore, but I'm sure they're still floating around.
I've used surgical tubing in my Kaslo S13 to join the motor to worm, and it works well, but will 'bounce' back and forth if the motor stops quickly.
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Post by jakeloyst on Mar 27, 2013 18:18:19 GMT -5
If you can find an older, but not too old, sw7 there is a gold case moter that will fit right into the same rubber mounts as the one you have. Not sure if the Athearn website still shows them as availaiable. They might be on e-bay, but I think I have only seen the larger ones. If you dont have any luck let me know, I think I have a few lying around somewhere in boxes.
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