Monday, April 09, 2007

Salvaging my AL6


My first N-gauge loco was the Lima AL6 (now class 86), probably around 1971, for £3.75.

It stopped working many years ago and I never found out why.


The big blob in the centre is an early attempt at adding weight.


I don't even remember what I was trying to do with those wires.

But not to worry. Once I've removed the motor bogie it's very obvious what the problem is.


The wires from the pickup bogie are soldered to the brass blocks. The springs transfer the current from the blocks to the motor terminals. One of the springs has got displaced.



Amazingly, with the spring adjusted the motor starts to turn for the first time in over 30 years.



Of course there's 30 years of dirt to be cleared out.



And the chassis is a write-off. Looks like it melted while I was weighting it down with solder.



But the pickup bogie is interesting, with its sprung axles. With a good clean-up this has potential .

Puttting it all back together the chassis runs fairly well. With extra weight over the pickup bogie it's better, but I don't know how much longer the plastic gearwheels will last.

So, what to do now? I'd like to try a simple scratchbuilt body and chassis if I can find a prototype...

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