Testing a Lionel GP-7
Today is a rather lousy health day for me so I am stuck in the house trying to find something interesting to do which will not make my health any worse. Since I have some model railroading trains sitting out and about after our annual train show in Springfield, I decided I would see why one of our Lionel GP-7's will not move in forward or reverse.
When I power it up, everything seems to work just fine including the sound. When I try to put it in forward or reverse, I can hear the twin motors whirring away so I know the motors run but the gears are not engaging.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the little gear that is supposed to be on the end of the motor driveshaft has broken off each motor. These gears were cheapo plastic gears that were somehow affixed to the smooth metal driveshaft (I have one of the broken gears in the bottom of the styrofoam box for the locomotive). It clearly was a poor design and I knew I would not be able to fix this problem without replacing a few things.
This is the beauty of the internet. It is so much easier find parts for things... any parts for anything! With a quick online search, I found someone else complaining about this same problem in a model railroading forum and there was some useful advice with a link to the Lionel exploded parts view.
I found that the new motors come with a brass gear on the end of their driveshafts instead of the original plastic gear design. This would work just fine! I quickly ordered two new motors and now I am eagerly awaiting their arrival.
In the meantime, here is a short video of this Alaska GP-7 diesel locomotive on a test track... doing everything but moving in forward or reverse!
When I power it up, everything seems to work just fine including the sound. When I try to put it in forward or reverse, I can hear the twin motors whirring away so I know the motors run but the gears are not engaging.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the little gear that is supposed to be on the end of the motor driveshaft has broken off each motor. These gears were cheapo plastic gears that were somehow affixed to the smooth metal driveshaft (I have one of the broken gears in the bottom of the styrofoam box for the locomotive). It clearly was a poor design and I knew I would not be able to fix this problem without replacing a few things.
This is the beauty of the internet. It is so much easier find parts for things... any parts for anything! With a quick online search, I found someone else complaining about this same problem in a model railroading forum and there was some useful advice with a link to the Lionel exploded parts view.
I found that the new motors come with a brass gear on the end of their driveshafts instead of the original plastic gear design. This would work just fine! I quickly ordered two new motors and now I am eagerly awaiting their arrival.
In the meantime, here is a short video of this Alaska GP-7 diesel locomotive on a test track... doing everything but moving in forward or reverse!
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