Ever have a project that just didn't go how you wanted it? If not, you probably aren't doing much modeling!. Some years back I bought this little Westside T-28 ten wheeler. I really wanted small steam, and I already had all the Northerns, 2-10-2's and articulateds I needed. I wanted small steamers for pike sized trains. Pike sized. There's an old term! It was going out of use back when I was a youngster, but, I digress again! Small steam that can take tight radii, and pull a respectable train for a smaller layout, say one that fits in half of a two car garage. So I bought this thing and it wasn't what I expected. Though it was brass, and prototypically accurate, it lacked a lot of what I considered important features. Crude details, no sprung drivers, and it had a Tyco style drive. The worm was soldered right on the Pittman motor shaft and meshed with the worm gear in the middle driver axle. I had DCC even then, back when basic decoders were a little pricey. The under $20 decoder was still several years away. The Pittman had to go. This meant a new gear box was going to have to go in too. The bottom cover plate just had a small slot for the little worm gear, not big enough for a gear box. I was starting to sweat bullets at this point as I had never done a lot of this stuff before, but it was modify or make it a shelf queen, so away we went. I installed a 28:1 NWSL gearbox, which meant cutting out the cover plate for clearance. That made me nervous, as I didn't have the skills I do now, but I managed it. Not a beautiful job, but functional, and you cant see it anyway. Then came the motor. I had a Sagami 16 x 30 that fit in the space but the existing mounting bracket was decidedly unfriendly to it, and there were issues with the shafts meeting squarely. I fashioned an adaptor bracket of sorts and got the motor mounted and the decoder installed. It ran but not well, and the screws holding then motor in kept coming loose. I finally got frustrated and put it in the box, and forgot about it. There's always another project, right? Fast forward to today. With the pending loss of NWSL I have been looking at these small can motors on e-Bay. Most are surplus and come and go. They are all pretty cheap. A fellow over on one of the Facebook re-power pages recommended a little 15 MM square motor. Good RPM, hi torque, and small size. Cheap too, which is nice after paying $30-40.00 a pop for Canons or Falhubers, or whatever A-Line has in stock. Here's what I tried: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-Mineb...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
At that price even if they exploded I figured they were worth trying. They worked very nicely. Here's the install:
The speed range is very good, and the mechanism is nice and quiet. I have a few things left to do. Some touch up painting and replacing some older crude detail parts, and she'll be ready for service. I have in mind a short passenger train, maybe a baggage and a pair of coaches, but it's a heavy engine and should pull well for its size. Ten Wheelers lasted on the SP just about to the end of steam, so it'll be right at home.
At that price even if they exploded I figured they were worth trying. They worked very nicely. Here's the install:
The speed range is very good, and the mechanism is nice and quiet. I have a few things left to do. Some touch up painting and replacing some older crude detail parts, and she'll be ready for service. I have in mind a short passenger train, maybe a baggage and a pair of coaches, but it's a heavy engine and should pull well for its size. Ten Wheelers lasted on the SP just about to the end of steam, so it'll be right at home.