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I may be interested in some figures. My layout will be 1900 to 1915

Can I see what electronic components need it! In Ho scale?

OK, where did you get the belts? I have tried everthing😢!

Excellent tutorial, thanks. Question to all: At 4:02 in the video there is talk about lubricating the front truck's gears, can anyone tell me how to access those gears? Thanks in advance, RobertR

Try using a small piece of scotch tape to hold everything in place. When you put in the screw, lift the tape half-way off.

ive been buying the ones sold on ebay that "dont work" and fixing them. so far each one that "didnt work" just didnt have the plastic gear superglued onto the metal rod where wheels are lol. now i have 4 working ones.

I cleaned mine recently and now it seems I may have reversed polarity on motor. It runs in opposite direction of my other locomotives. What did I do wrong?

Cool! Thanks for sharing.

Great as real life trams are usually dull......but have lots of advertising and name places on the front and back....

When I was in first grade I had an Athearn Hi F drive F7. I don't remember mine being so loud. I'm an old man now and I have more HO trains than I can count.

Watch those wheels!

Don't run it too much the wheels will fall off... I'm being serious...

I'm laughing WITH you. I'm in the same boat! I feel your pain.

That is not an original Athearn motor and drive system. Someone custom fit that beast of a motor inside the frame. And kudos to them for pulling it off. I'm sure if solves a bunch a Hi-Fi band drive problems. Like the much thinner drive rods that hold the bands. Very cool, I've never seen one with that motor before.

Nice update Rob. After seeing your doodlebug update I got out my Pennsylvania Doodlebug and got it running. I also added DCC decoder to it. All thanks to seeing your video. Looking forward to seeing more of your posts. Stay safe - Larry.

I've got an old REA (Railway Express Agency) coach that I illuminated with LED strip lighting and a keep alive circuit. I made my own wheel pickups out of some thin copper strips I salvaged from an old computer. Only problem I had was that I ordered bright white LED strip which made the lighting a little too white and bright. So I took it apart and painted each LED with some yellow acrylic paint and now it looks more period correct. Why would you buy couplers from Bachmann? I would have changed those couplers and used Kaydee couplers. I've changed out all of the horn hook couplers on all my engines and rolling for body mounted Kaydee couplers. When using an LED for the headlight you have to have a current limiting (ballast) resistor. If you don't want that flash when you go into reverse, you should use a diode on the LED so it won't receive any voltage when going into reverse. Diodes usually don't conduct in the reverse direction and that flash is caused by the reverse current. One simple diode will do the trick. Cheers from a 73 years old modeler in eastern TN (I remember Bryllcreme).

a dremel with cutoff wheel attachment you can take a certain part of a certain kind of ink pen the retractable kind inside there is a part that resembles the drive shaft connector that has split and cracked usually because of time and getting hot and cold. you can modify this part to do the job of the original connector. not all ballpoint pens will have the part nor will the hole be the right size it might be to big if so can't use but if to small drill it to the size of the shaft preferably a tad smaller than the shaft so you get a tight fit without having to glue it.

I have a war bonnet version with a cracked drive gear. I cant figure out how to get to it to replace axle.

Not gonna lie...i bought a bunch of those cowcatcher/pilots and side frames for various projects. Starting off with converting some 34' Overton coaches and combines into a kind of mini doodle bug w/trailer coaches and some freight motors.

Nice job. I have a Bachmann/Spectrum Doodle bug as well. The one time I ran it it had a slight clicking noise. Seeing your work has made me want to open mine up and see what is going on. Thanks for sharing this. Stay safe - Larry.

Thats a very cool idea.. I have a Gandy Dancer but will look for another as I think all model train sets need a few different trains from time to time to run around the track.

Pretty darn cool layout

Well done!

Nice steam locomotive just like my 462 light Pacific ho pere Marquette from mahano models

you are doing WRONG!

Looks like a good find 🙂👍

Great work. Thank you for. Posting.

I'm still trying to build up the courage to build mine,lol. (3-truck variant)

I have one but it's the other variant w/o the pin striping and the pilot is different.

Use a guitar pick to separate the body

It sounds like a hammer drill

Thanks for this video. Have you tried using UV resin for the windows?

The one i have is very clean and well maintained but it runs stop and go and qont maintain a steady speed

I have an athearn rubberband drive too there not badrunners.

Rob, does anyone make new wheel sets for the Athearn RDC?

So here I am one year later to tell you that I ordered some of the K&S "music wire" on EBay because I have acquired two more Athearn RDC's that have the coupler spring missing. Somehow I remembered that you listed the make and size on this video! Thanks for the great info! My latest is a B&O that will be a Great Northern RDC 3. GN only had one in its fleet. This one is different as the support posts for the band drive rods are drilled and not slotted. It is also hard wired and it looks very factory original. Does not have the steel strap connector from the trucks to the upper motor pick-up. Maybe an older model? It is running now but took a lot of motor work to get it to run. Very quiet now as well. Thanks again for the great info. Big help!!

Very cool! Great job so far. I’m just getting into ON30 and have had trouble finding info on HO conversion techniques. Thanks for sharing!

As they always say, they sure don't make them anymore. I like athearn products but, my only gripe is that the plastic motor mounts don't age so well over time they tend to rot then fail. i wish there was a third party company that makes after market parts for athearn.

Reminds me of the engine used in the Casey jones tv show

I have a whole fleet of athearn diesel rail cars from the blue box era.

I grew up with the RDC. My dad was a Budd Red Lion layout instructor. He worked at "Budd's" from 1940 until 1960, The heyday of Red Lion. He was involved with the RDC program and loved the car! He said they would last for 100 years. Some are still running. I remember the Budd Family Day picnics back in the 1950's. Of course I have several Athearn and Proto RDC's. One Athearn has a Northwest Short Line powered truck which runs well. Another has a Ernst gear drive that is not so great, The band drive is not great, but definitely fun and nostalgic. Even though the Athearn units are not scale, they certainly do look good. They were modeled after post 1956 RDC's that had the extended fluting that ran around to the front; or rear if you will. Have fun with them! Post some additional video as you get them going!

Can't wait to see

Congrats on that find! I have 5 of these - 4 from eBay looking for just one without cracked axle gears and have not gotten lucky yet. Thanks for sharing - Rick

Very nice survey and presentation

I used to have one of these years ago. They are awesome little pullers!.

Very nice. I just got a set and getting ready to run them. Mcguinness scheme.Your layout has great modeling.

That is a beautiful locomotive wow is this a roundhouse engine

i had this exact one when it came out. Wonder if my dad gave it away...

That is a beautiful locomotive. Are you going to change the couplers? Thanks for sharing.