I bought a toy at a garage sale that is a "American Classic Express"
toy railroad with about 8" large cars etc. It is a bunch of rails,
cars etc, big in size etc. Very good appearance.

This is for my own kids.

The engine is broken. It makes a tooting sound, shakes a little but
does not move.

I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

As a side note, I am really ****ed off by the disconnect between great
appearance of this toy railroad, and really cheap construction
thereof.

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

I would think that the "quick" answer is...maybe.

2 ideas come to mind. First, you might be able to drill a hole thru
the gear and shaft and place a spring pin to lock them together. This
depends on the pins you can get and the size of the gear and shaft.
Second, and I know this is scandalous to say here, but, since this is
for the kids to play with, have you considered epoxy?

Both of these methods will prevent you from having to machine a new
gear.

Hope this helps,

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:39:47 -0700, wrote:
I would think that the "quick" answer is...maybe.

2 ideas come to mind. First, you might be able to drill a hole thru
the gear and shaft and place a spring pin to lock them together. This
depends on the pins you can get and the size of the gear and shaft.
Second, and I know this is scandalous to say here, but, since this is
for the kids to play with, have you considered epoxy?

I would love to use epoxy if I could. The problem is that the gear
looks like it was made from the kind of plastic (like polyethylene)
to which epoxy would not stick under these conditions.

As for drilling a through hole, it is rather difficult, considering
the size involved. But I could try, esp. considering that I have a
nice Albrecht chuck for tiny drills, where you guide the drill by
hand.

It is similar to this ebay item 110147169045:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALBRECHT-KEYLESS...QQcmdZViewItem

The drill bit would have to be about 1/3 mm.

i

On Aug 21, 12:46 pm, Ignoramus2170
wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:39:47 -0700, wrote:
I would think that the "quick" answer is...maybe.

2 ideas come to mind. First, you might be able to drill a hole thru
the gear and shaft and place a spring pin to lock them together. This
depends on the pins you can get and the size of the gear and shaft.
Second, and I know this is scandalous to say here, but, since this is
for the kids to play with, have you considered epoxy?

I would love to use epoxy if I could. The problem is that the gear
looks like it was made from the kind of plastic (like polyethylene)
to which epoxy would not stick under these conditions.

As for drilling a through hole, it is rather difficult, considering
the size involved. But I could try, esp. considering that I have a
nice Albrecht chuck for tiny drills, where you guide the drill by
hand.

It is similar to this ebay item 110147169045:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALBRECHT-KEYLESS...D-DRILL-CHUCK-...

The drill bit would have to be about 1/3 mm.

i


You could file a flat or 2 or 3 on the shaft, and file/scratch a few
'keyways' on the gear, and use epoxy or loctite sleeve retainer.

If you put a good flat on the shaft, and line that up with a flat/
keyway in the gear, and maybe file a small groove around the shaft, or
file the flats so that they ramp the right way, it wouldn't matter of
the epoxy stuck to the gear or not.


Dave

Ignoramus2170 wrote:
I bought a toy at a garage sale that is a "American Classic Express"
toy railroad with about 8" large cars etc. It is a bunch of rails,
cars etc, big in size etc. Very good appearance.

This is for my own kids.

The engine is broken. It makes a tooting sound, shakes a little but
does not move.

I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

As a side note, I am really ****ed off by the disconnect between great
appearance of this toy railroad, and really cheap construction
thereof.

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

penetrating loctite? /mark

Iggy
welcomw to the real world!!!!
just this Christmas past got that feeling of nostalgia and went and bought a
lionel train set for the kids not cheap either chinese made of course what
a POS. it lasted exactly 1 1/2 days i was supervising transformer went; got
nothing but a raft of **** from seller and ignorant response from
manufacture they sent me another transformer like it was a matter of routine
have'nt tried it yet... Lionel is a chinese word that means "cheap **** sold
at high price" as an after thought it should documented of all the american
manufacturers that went belly up because of new age thinking starting with
Bridgeport, and south Bend batw







"Ignoramus2170" wrote in message
...
I bought a toy at a garage sale that is a "American Classic Express"
toy railroad with about 8" large cars etc. It is a bunch of rails,
cars etc, big in size etc. Very good appearance.

This is for my own kids.

The engine is broken. It makes a tooting sound, shakes a little but
does not move.

I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

As a side note, I am really ****ed off by the disconnect between great
appearance of this toy railroad, and really cheap construction
thereof.

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:20:17 -0600, batw wrote:
Iggy
welcomw to the real world!!!!
just this Christmas past got that feeling of nostalgia and went and bought a
lionel train set for the kids not cheap either chinese made of course what
a POS. it lasted exactly 1 1/2 days i was supervising transformer went; got
nothing but a raft of **** from seller and ignorant response from
manufacture they sent me another transformer like it was a matter of routine
have'nt tried it yet... Lionel is a chinese word that means "cheap **** sold
at high price" as an after thought it should documented of all the american
manufacturers that went belly up because of new age thinking starting with
Bridgeport, and south Bend batw

I share your feelings 100%, but what happened with Bridgeport?

i

It is my under standing that it taken over by Hardinge i heard this about
2 yrs, ago just as south bend was taken over by leblond. i.m pretty certain
that it was hardinge i'll look it up for you later if you want batw
"Ignoramus2170" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:20:17 -0600, batw wrote:
Iggy
welcomw to the real world!!!!
just this Christmas past got that feeling of nostalgia and went and
bought a
lionel train set for the kids not cheap either chinese made of course
what
a POS. it lasted exactly 1 1/2 days i was supervising transformer went;
got
nothing but a raft of **** from seller and ignorant response from
manufacture they sent me another transformer like it was a matter of
routine
have'nt tried it yet... Lionel is a chinese word that means "cheap ****
sold
at high price" as an after thought it should documented of all the
american
manufacturers that went belly up because of new age thinking starting
with
Bridgeport, and south Bend batw

I share your feelings 100%, but what happened with Bridgeport?

i

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:24:21 -0500, Ignoramus2170
wrote:

I bought a toy at a garage sale that is a "American Classic Express"
toy railroad with about 8" large cars etc. It is a bunch of rails,
cars etc, big in size etc. Very good appearance.

This is for my own kids.

The engine is broken. It makes a tooting sound, shakes a little but
does not move.

I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

As a side note, I am really ****ed off by the disconnect between great
appearance of this toy railroad, and really cheap construction
thereof.

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

The plastic gear is probably made of nylon. Loctite will stick to
nylon after a fashion. Not as well as it does to metal, but perhaps
well enough for the train to work if there isn't a lot of torque on
that gear.

Knurling the shaft would help but you'd need a very fine knurl on a
1mm dia shaft. Laying the shaft on a flat surface and rolling it with
a fine file and heavy pressure might produce enough of a knurl to
help.

Ignoramus2170 wrote:

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

Gorilla Glue? Is there room to put a blob of glue on either side of gear to
catch the edges of teeth?

Small collars locktited on both sides with a cross pin through the gear.

A picture with gear meshed would be helpful.

Wes

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:43:56 -0400, Wes wrote:
Ignoramus2170 wrote:

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i

Gorilla Glue? Is there room to put a blob of glue on either side of gear to
catch the edges of teeth?

Small collars locktited on both sides with a cross pin through the gear.

A picture with gear meshed would be helpful.


I will try to take a picture tonight.

i

Ignoramus2170 wrote:
I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

Welcome to the modern world of "quality". You might be able to solder
a metal disc to the shaft, and then pin the loose gear to the disc.
I've done things like this a few times to fix stuff that was horribly
designed.

Jon

batw wrote:
It is my under standing that it taken over by Hardinge i heard this about
2 yrs, ago just as south bend was taken over by leblond. i.m pretty certain
that it was hardinge i'll look it up for you later if you want batw


Yes, it is Hardinge. But, to my distant knowledge, they have not moved
production to a junkyard in China, and have no intention to do that.
Our shop hasn't bought any new Bridgeport gear since the sale, so that's
why I can't say anything more than an impression of what went on there.

Jon

wrote:

You could file a flat or 2 or 3 on the shaft, and file/scratch a few
'keyways' on the gear, and use epoxy or loctite sleeve retainer.

If you put a good flat on the shaft, and line that up with a flat/
keyway in the gear, and maybe file a small groove around the shaft, or
file the flats so that they ramp the right way, it wouldn't matter of
the epoxy stuck to the gear or not.


Dave


Just putting in my two bits in favor of the Locktite sleeve retainer!

Cheers
Trevor Jones

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:24:21 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus2170 quickly quoth:

I bought a toy at a garage sale that is a "American Classic Express"
toy railroad with about 8" large cars etc. It is a bunch of rails,
cars etc, big in size etc. Very good appearance.

This is for my own kids.

The engine is broken. It makes a tooting sound, shakes a little but
does not move.

I took it apart, there is a geared transmission system with a bunch of
plastic gears stuck on metal shafts. One of the gears (5mm diameter)
that was supposed to be firmly stuck on its metal shaft (1 mm or so),
is now rotating around the shaft, therefore this system is not
transmitting rotation.

As a side note, I am really ****ed off by the disconnect between great
appearance of this toy railroad, and really cheap construction
thereof.

Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

My friend, Terry, makes replacement teeth out of a a kit with powdered
nylon and some sort of resin. The output is quite strong. I don't
recall what brand he uses, but you can try something like this:
http://www.whitehorsepress.com/produ...oducts_id=4123

--
Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other
men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life.
--Jesse Lee Bennett

devcon plastic adhesive epoxy will fix it - don't bother with regular epoxy,
and degrease carefully first



Anyway, I would like to know if there is a simple way to fix this
(other than making a replacement gear from metal, which is a PITA in
this size).

i



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

This guy may have something in stock that works
http://www.odometergears.com/

--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty