I see three gears, a small nylon one on top followed by
two larger brass ones. Sure enough the smallish plastic guy is split.
Bob Werre
Gents..
Brother Roberto' has just stumbled onto one of my pet peeves about this
hobby - split plastic parts press fitted onto metal shafts. Coincidentally,
I was speaking with an avid HO guy a few days ago and he was complaining
about the same thing on a recent HO diesel purchase. So this problem dates
from the late '70s to the early '10s at least. His assessment of what is
happening follows:
Plastic shrinks with age. Contained within the plastic is gas which
outgases from the plastic over time and causes the plastic to shrink. It
shrinks tighter and tighter and becomes brittle and eventually splits or
breaks apart. This has been a problem with PBL Shays and other S locos over
the years. It would appear that nobody cares enough to get the problem
fixed once and for all.
The fix, according to my HO buddy, is to use a splined shaft (easy press
fit) or a shaft with a flat (set screw). In the case of splines, the
plastic still shrinks but it oozes down into the area between the splines to
release the stress. Thus, it won't split under these circumstances. In the
case of a flat, a set screw holds it in place and the plastic can ooze down
into the area over the flat and will not split.
So if that is all true, why is it that we (all model railroaders) are still
being subjected to inferior design of these products? The HO world seems to
be complaining loudly about the inability to get spare parts. My buddy
wanted a 10 cent gear, but had to purchase a $15 truck assembly to get it.
He knows when he is being taken advantage of and does not like it one bit.
Athearn, he says, has gears that never seem to split. But even with
Athearn, you cannot simply buy the gears any more. But that shows the
problem is solvable - in a technical sense.
Just my pet peeve for the day. Had to get it off my not-so-hairy chest.
Happy New Year to all....
See you next year.Ed L.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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