I have a few of these , but all of them had dead motors. The only thing i could do to re-power them was to build a floor and then mount those nwsl stanton drives. (10' wb with 40" axles). they are a tiny bit short in length (truck size) but they work well enough.
Super. P.S. If you mount six wheel power trucks under an ALCO C-430, wouldn't that make it an ALCO C-630? (C-630M, C-630R?) 🙂 Hello from the Tracy Mountain Railway in Colorado. 💙 T.E.N.
I'm new in model trains is there anyway you could show a little more detail on how you done it. Please did you have to modify the rear and have you do the wiring
I have read a couple of your blogs on some of the Tyco forums. Have you considered putting the 2 motors in the C630 instead, and then dual lighting it? I have done several C630s this way, since the PT C430 does not have rear light lenses. Also, the longer 630 body and tri-axle truck has better power pickup over crossings and turnouts. My MU-1 430s and GP20s also have dual lighting, as the red-box era had lenses at both ends. My current obsession is restoring red-box F7s, factory twin motor models especially. There is currently no way to twin-motor the red-box GP20, or C430, due to the style of the rear truck mount. It is, however, possible to remount the MU-1 motor in the plastic PT frame, if you want a better motor.
At this point, the C630 shell has already been modified to fit the Hobbytown chassis, but I probably will add directional lighting at some point. The C430 is running well though! :)
Makes sense, and also gets rid of the "vampire fang" side frames, lol! The C630 shell also has room to add resistors for directional lighting. Decades ago, I bought a new C630 that had factory directional lighting, and have done many restorations that way since. The new Model Power/Mantua GP20 is nice and smooth, but still has no rear lighting due to the Model Power Chassis design that blocks the rear lenses from inside. I hope you don't mind the "dissertation" length comment I posted on your PT Steamer video, I like seeing those run smoothly.
I haven't tested that, but considering I can get a regular one to pull 15 or 20 before it slows down the motor, I wouldn't be surprised if it could pull around 40. The traction is probably enough for over 100 thanks to the tires, but I think I'd burn out the motors!
I wired the grounded brush on each motor to the ungrounded brush on the other, so there's two wires between the trucks. The headlight is wired to the brushes on the front motor for simplicity.
I'm open to helping out with repairs and upgrades, and I try to do things for as reasonable of a cost as I can. If you send me an email at b.meyer90@mymetronet.net and let me know what you're wanting to have done, maybe we can work something out.
You might be able to take some material off the edges of the power truck. If you can see exactly what's stopping the movement you need, try filing off a little at a time until it can move around just enough to work.
The workbench is full of nearly complete projects that I'm trying to clear off, and I'm hoping to get back to the Arbour kit after that. I need the extra workspace to effectively work on it.
Be nice to see a more detailed video on the how 2 for us newbies. I'd like to do the same process on a few of my Tyco trains
I had one of those when I was 10 years old in 1972 , it was notorious for the wheels getting dirty and losing contact with the rails
you need to do a video to show us how many cars the revised Tyco can pull.
I have been motivated. Thanks! Love this project!
I have a few of these , but all of them had dead motors. The only thing i could do to re-power them was to build a floor and then mount those nwsl stanton drives. (10' wb with 40" axles). they are a tiny bit short in length (truck size) but they work well enough.
Super. P.S. If you mount six wheel power trucks under an ALCO C-430, wouldn't that make it an ALCO C-630? (C-630M, C-630R?) 🙂 Hello from the Tracy Mountain Railway in Colorado. 💙 T.E.N.
I'm new in model trains is there anyway you could show a little more detail on how you done it. Please did you have to modify the rear and have you do the wiring
i have the same exact train
Nice. ♡ T.E.N.
I have read a couple of your blogs on some of the Tyco forums. Have you considered putting the 2 motors in the C630 instead, and then dual lighting it? I have done several C630s this way, since the PT C430 does not have rear light lenses. Also, the longer 630 body and tri-axle truck has better power pickup over crossings and turnouts. My MU-1 430s and GP20s also have dual lighting, as the red-box era had lenses at both ends. My current obsession is restoring red-box F7s, factory twin motor models especially. There is currently no way to twin-motor the red-box GP20, or C430, due to the style of the rear truck mount. It is, however, possible to remount the MU-1 motor in the plastic PT frame, if you want a better motor.
At this point, the C630 shell has already been modified to fit the Hobbytown chassis, but I probably will add directional lighting at some point. The C430 is running well though! :)
Makes sense, and also gets rid of the "vampire fang" side frames, lol! The C630 shell also has room to add resistors for directional lighting. Decades ago, I bought a new C630 that had factory directional lighting, and have done many restorations that way since. The new Model Power/Mantua GP20 is nice and smooth, but still has no rear lighting due to the Model Power Chassis design that blocks the rear lenses from inside. I hope you don't mind the "dissertation" length comment I posted on your PT Steamer video, I like seeing those run smoothly.
Bad Ass train
Haha
Nice
How many cars will it pull?
I haven't tested that, but considering I can get a regular one to pull 15 or 20 before it slows down the motor, I wouldn't be surprised if it could pull around 40. The traction is probably enough for over 100 thanks to the tires, but I think I'd burn out the motors!
Too bad they didnt do this from the factory..
How did you wire power pick up for the return side?
I wired the grounded brush on each motor to the ungrounded brush on the other, so there's two wires between the trucks. The headlight is wired to the brushes on the front motor for simplicity.
I see. Thanks for the response!
Do you do commissions? I got a lot of Tyco locos that need upgrades like yours.
I'm open to helping out with repairs and upgrades, and I try to do things for as reasonable of a cost as I can. If you send me an email at b.meyer90@mymetronet.net and let me know what you're wanting to have done, maybe we can work something out.
OK then
@@tsitracommunications2884Just checking, did you send an email? I haven't received anything, so I wasn't sure.
not yet Been busy with family issues
I'm having troublebw my rear power truck having enough turning radius on the armature side in the narrow 425 body, any idea how to fix this?
You might be able to take some material off the edges of the power truck. If you can see exactly what's stopping the movement you need, try filing off a little at a time until it can move around just enough to work.
how is the steam project coming
The workbench is full of nearly complete projects that I'm trying to clear off, and I'm hoping to get back to the Arbour kit after that. I need the extra workspace to effectively work on it.
DarthSantaFe keep us posted. good luck