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Atlas/Athearn BB Repowering Locos and rolling stock
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MRH Author 421 posts bobmorning MRH Author 421 posts
bobmorning

First off, Happy New Year to all.

I have been perusing MRH, A-Line/PPW, and NWSL sites for cross reference guides on what replacement motors work best in the older 1970/1980 Atlas and Athearn BB locos.

What combo of motor and flywheels have worked for you?   In particular I have a series of Atlas/Roco Yellow Box GP and SD units where the motors are simply worn out.   No amount of tinkering in JMRI with speed tables or pulse width modulation will get them to run quietly and at low speeds.

I also have some older Athearns that I superdetailed years ago.   I am happy with the shells but again the Athearn Jet motor are beyond servicing.

I just did a conversion of a RTR Athearn with a Genesis motor, there was a significant amount of chassis grinding required and the older Athearn couplings versus the Genesis hex couplings were another obstacle.

I was hoping to find a conversion table that would allow quick reference (if one doesn't exist, I'm willing to start one).    I was thinking of a structure like this with sample data:

 

Make/ModelGenerationNew MotorFlywheel UpdateCoupling UpdateNotes    
Athearn U30C1980's BBGenesis ATHG63842YesYesFrame grinding required, use A-line drive conversion kit 12032
Atlas SD-35Roco/AustriaKato 956030NoNoDriveline needs shortening

  Thoughts?   Does this have value?  

Bob M.

 

 

 

Bob M.

Modeling the Western Maryland in the 1980's at http://wmrwy.com

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arbe Frequent poster 574 posts
arbe

Athearn re-powering mostly for me

Most of what I did was back in the 90s and early 2000s.  My standard was Mashima motors and A-line flywheels.  I didn't fool around with th Athearn motor mounts, I just used silicone adhesive caulk to set the motor/flywheels inplace after soldering leads.  Helix Humper and ALCO Products motors also worked well.  I did repower a Athearn switcher chassis project with a kKato motor that worked out excellently.

I don't believe Mashimas are made anymore, last I looked they were going for pretty expensive prices.  I would look at using the Kato motor/flywheel setup.  MB Klein had these going for around $30.

Bob Bochenek   uare_100.jpg 

Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific Railroad     
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Don Mitchell donm Super User 874 posts
Don Mitchell donm

MB Klein/Kato motors

Second the suggestion to use Kato motors from MB Klein.  Outstanding service, and good motors.

Don Mitchell

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Read my blog
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Patrick Stanley Frequent poster 592 posts
Patrick Stanley

Also Second the Silicon

I have used silicon to mount several motors in Athearn BB. I used sagami's from NWSL at the time. Works like a charm.

Espee over Donner
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Andy Hauser Drewrail Regular poster 410 posts
Andy Hauser Drewrail

Silicon Motor mounts

Good evening,

A quick message about using silicone to secure your re-power motors.  Just don't use any silicon use a brand made for installing gaskets.  Permatex (use any brand you choose) is the one I have used for 30+ years and have never experienced an heat related issue.  Its designed to withstand the heat of a motor so it works wonders for this.  Also, if you have to install resisters for your locomotive lighting put a dab of this on the shell or the weight and you wont have heat related issue.

Have fun and stay warm.

A Hauser

Minooka, IL 
Andy Hauser
Minooka, IL
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arbe Frequent poster 574 posts
arbe

I have used GE brand silicone

The bond has been reliable in some cases for decades until I had to take out a motor for decoder installs.

Bob Bochenek   uare_100.jpg 

Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific Railroad     
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