Ed is correct on this one, just occasionally old world technology is
still the best. Case in point, I obtained a AF Hudson that had the
Nimco conversion drivers installed. It so happens that I found a better
shell to put over it and we dug into converting it to those drivers
(older solid frame vs newer split frame). The axles and drivers were
automatically quartered with notched axle ends--all we had to worry
about was the gauge itself. A spline'd axle would be very helpful for
those plastic gears and probably wouldn't hurt with the metal ones either.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
On 4/8/13 2:29 PM, Ed wrote:
> > At this point, I'm considering dumping the entire mess on eBay and
going back to HO or O scale
> > Matt Hogan
As plastic ages, it outgases, becomes brittle and cracks quite easily.
Happens all the time when plastic parts are press-fitted to metal
parts. Happens in all scales even on expensive imported brass models.
Usually it happens five or ten years later -- you just got it sooner.
Perhaps you got an old model that had been sitting in the warehouse
for many years.
Or, perhaps a bad batch of plastic pellets were used to make the gears
in the first place. Who knows? Lotsa possibilities.
AM is good about fixing problems and it would be worthwhile giving
them a chance.
The saddest part of all this is that the problem is totally
preventable by using splines or flats on the metal shaft. The extra
cost to do this is minimal and should have become an industry standard
30 years ago.
Good luck....Ed Loizeaux
