Overview
As it stands the mechanism of the shunter is its best feature. Simple, rugged and reliable. They are DC, but can be, with some simple work, converted to DCC. The body is large enough for sound should you wish to go down that path as well.
Out of the box, all four of my locomotives ran well. With a few hours running in they’ll be even better.
You will need to disassemble, clean, oil and reassemble the motor, and geared wheelsets. Like most models, they appear to use thick grease to lubricate the mechanisms. Some light work on cleaning the cogs and other mechanical parts will pay dividends down the road. Use a light oil for models to ensure slow crawling and smooth starting.
Stripping down the loco
To begin this process, you’ll need to remove the body from the chassis. There are lugs holding the body down.
- A little work with a flat-bladed screwdriver, and the body will come away.
- Next, you’ll remove the motor from the chassis block.
- To achieve this you have to remove the retaining plate for the wheels. This is just six screws.
- Then you can unscrew the two screws in the base of the block that holds the motor in place.
- With the motor out of the chassis block, you can either desolder or cut the wires leading to the pickups located behind the wheels.
- , and all electrical connections removed set the motor in a safe place and remove the wheelsets. Store these also. Replace the keeper plate and reseat the screws.
With all of the electricals set aside, it is now time to move on to the meat of the project: the body. Here the project forks into two streams:
Clicking the links will take you to the next stages depending on your interest.
The Martin Family 