nice presentation. well narrated and photographed. zamack is an alloy which, like any mix of metals, can be contaminated. bad zamack will crumble to dust. it's the impurities that cause the problem, not zinc. a lack of quality control in the smelter is the culprit. Chinese "steel" of the 1950s also suffered a similar fate. backyard steelmakers pooled their production and that "steel" found it's way into many skyscrapers. eventually those buildings were no longer skyscrapers.

That Pittman DC-91 is a legendary motor. Combining that with the heavy metal body and 8-wheel drive made this one of the most powerful HO scale diesels of all time, and Model Railroader had nothing but good things to say in their review back in the early 50's. I added an extra lead weight to my E7 just for the fun of it, and I think it could pull the track off the layout if I'm not careful!

@ROBERTN-ut2il

11 ай бұрын

Pittman motors are bulletproof!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I have no doubt, it seems way over engineered and I love it.

Always loved the f and e units. They are also almost always dirt cheap

Lot of work but you have a nice vintage train. Thanks for the video it all way good to watch.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...is there any locomotive you CANNOT fix????? This one, sir - was extremely impressive!!!!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I've been defeated many times but this wasn't one of them

Im a lifelong tinkerer mechanic and model railroader, and you never cease to amaze me as you never seem to fail to resurrect the seemingly impossible. My friends always asked me over the years why do I keep all the bits and pieces and your video show exactly why -- you never know when or why you may need something but some parts are near impossible to get new and this is why building a stock of used parts and pieces is key in fixing things --- even faced with zinc pest and a hopeless frame you saw the obvious solution in the B unit not only fixing the powered unit but the B unit as well. There are many who would have given up before they started.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

My grandfather grew up on a farm in the 30s. They never threw anything out in order to keep the place running. I try to salvage as much as I can before recycling a locomotive and it's saved my bacon on these projects countless times.

Wow SMT. I thought this one was a goner after the chasis literally split in two. I'm always so scared about zink pest or mazac rot I have a lot of trains that date back to the 50s and 60s, but I take care of them every 3 months and so far nothing has developed yet. Your idea of using the dummy's chassis was something I didn't think of and even when the old chassis broke again, you glued it back together like it was nothing. Hat's off to your skill. Seriously, you're truly the train doctor. I watch all your vids and you help me understand how to do basic electrical work on a non running loco and now I already got 10 engines going again.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I was pretty sure it was done for too. I wouldn't worry too much about your locomotives if they've gone 50 to 60 years without showing signs of it.

@WinterroSP

11 ай бұрын

I use a 3d printer if the chassis has succumbed from zinc pest. There are PLA filaments that are 95% metal and actually have some weight to them. I think 3d printers are absolute game-changers in the model hobby, if you do not have one you should get one.

Good call on swapping the frames. That has the large DC91 motor. Built for O scale of the era, and has loads of power! If nothing else, the crumbling frame caught on camera makes good entertainment value!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

It's nicer to watch in retrospect then it was in the moment. I didn't know if the frames were actually the same or not lol

You must always feel a sense of accomplishment when you tear an engine apart and are able to put it back together I'd be totally lost I like watching your videos and overcoming the detriments of these engines

Another great rescue Harrison! Keep'em rolling partner!

I would have said make a mold of the dummy chassis first, then you can cast new ones in Diecast, pewter whatever soft metals you like. That dummy unit was pristine and is a prime candidate for making the mold. Great video!

@22763344

2 ай бұрын

Completamente de acuerdo, porque seguir pegando o usando cosas ya en mal estado, no sé.

Mammoth job well done, can't get over the size of that motor 👍

I have never heard of zinc pest before. Thanks for the info, and the presentation

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I learned about it years ago after my grandmother's 1951 Rivarossi Hiawatha became a victim of it. Luckily they still make replacement parts for them.

Hopeless Cases chapter of the SMT manual. Great effort Harrison 🚂🇨🇦🎨

I am impressed Harrison, you live up to the name I call you. THE WIZARD . 👌👍😇

Great repair! Good thing you were able to get both running, it sure makes quite the pair to have going around on your layout :) Excellent video as usual!

Great job getting it running again to enjoy for more years to come. A great conversation piece to boot.

Man, if theres a broken train out there it can be fixed only by the legendary SMT Mainline. Keep up the good work!!!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

The nyc paint scheme is one of my favorites. Glad to see it working

The king of tinkering and repair

This was probably your biggest project since the Yellowstone Sir!

Another great repair, Harrison! Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to the next video!

That was quite a challenge, SMT!

A very intricate repair. The only hobbytown I have is an Alco RS3. It runs good. I always enjoy your repair videos, thanks😎😏👌👍!

Harrison MacGyver does it again. Using any available parts on hand. Well done, from Texas.

I love to see how much you’re progressing with the layout and running longer trains on it!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks, I've been trying my best to improve the layout, basement, trains and video quality lately so it means a lot to hear that.

@aceact9883

11 ай бұрын

@@SMTMainline If you keep it up you might have to expand your basement 😂

Always, great work. There is a certain "Feel Good" feeling when you get the old ones restored and running. Nice job.

Without a doubt, Harrison comes thru with a miracle again. Zinc Pest, gotta love it -- Not. Diaphragms between passenger cars are still available if you need some. You do need a real wheel cleaner though. Thanks for sharing. 👍🐾👍

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks David, this I felt in over my head on this one.

@davidztog9011

11 ай бұрын

@@SMTMainline good thing you had donor parts, buddy. It's always smart to have a Locomotive Graveyard. Plus there's never a doubt you can get anything back in working order and riding the rails.

im always glad to see old trains revived and saved from the scrap pile, to me they are pieces of history and worthy of being saved.

These locos get worse and worse but your work and videos only get better. I laughed out loud when the chassis broke, then laughed again when it broke again. Am I bad person? Great job as always.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I got pretty worried when it broke the second time, It wasn't clear if the dummy had the correct replacement lol

I always love your videos and learn something every time, thank you

Nice i like it! Yeah i had a zinc pest problem too with my 1978 life like p&le gp38-2 the original chassis shell was so bad i had a spare one and it worked pretty good pretty much a runner. I'm Glad you got these restored here man!

Great save! Thank goodness you had that dummy train frame! Someone should invent zinc pest bug spray! 😜🤣🤣🤣

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Zinc pest-b-gone

E8 in any scale is an impressive loco. NYC Lighting stripes are well suited to this engine. This is a beautiful consist.👍👍

Wow! What a fabulous restoration. So nice to see these beautiful E units back up and running again. I'm sure they will look beautiful next to your Dreyfus Hudson as well!

Other than CraftyFoxe, you are my favorite HO scale youtuber, good job on the Locomotive!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks 👍

I can’t believe smt is about to hit 100k on KZread I remember I been watching him before 10 and seeing every single video that he has posted on his KZread.Awesome video smt

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I'm amazed it's got this far.

@mrrailfan95

11 ай бұрын

@@SMTMainline It has been a journey you are just my favorite you tuber

Happy for you Harrison

Really nice job improvising. Can't wait to see it in a live stream

Great work nice to see a classic loco run again

WOW!! Great video Harrison. I do not have the patience or expertise that you have to repair these locos, but I do enjoy watching you perform your magic. Once again congratulations on another fine effort, and I look forward to watching more of your videos.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks, this one was a little more tricky than I'm used to.

I love the NYC f units paint scheme

Thank you for these rebuild videos. It has inspired me to slow down on buying new RtR at $$$ and finding the old & compromised units for ¢¢ on the $ and bring them back to life. I find it so rewarding to get something old running again, and I don't think I would have gotten their without you providing the inspiration and detailed 'how to'. Thanks again for helping me up my modeling game and bring life to old units before I pass them on down to the next generation of hobbyist some years from now.

@SMTMainline

Ай бұрын

I'm glad you found them helpful.

I enjoyed and learned something new again on your well edited video! Thanks!!!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

Love it how you fix it all and get it working good on you SMT

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks!

The one thig that I don't like about some of those cast zamac locos of that era was the lake of provision for mounting a coupler on the pilots, not just steam, but also some diesels.

Smt, I think this has been the best vid yet. Great camera work!!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Serenity! We have a runner! Cheers from eastern TN

I always love watching you do repair videos in f units

Nice work! After I watched this video, I had to take my (much newer) Bachmann NYC E7 for a run. It ran good!

Such a talented lad mate well done

Amazing video love all types of trains either bad or good love f and e these are pretty cool models I have an f7 and I love it!😁

Really enjoyed this episode with aloha

Nice work recovering that old loco Harrison. Might I suggest instead of applying CA to the broken ends of the frame maybe use a popsicle stick or similar and fasten it with epoxy along the length of the inside of the frame. This will give it a lot more support. I think it's time you got a 3D printer!

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

That probably would have helped. I'll keep an eye on the current frame to make sure history doesn't repeat its self.

That was a rough one Harrison, But I didn't doubt for a minute that you would come up with a solution even if it meant turning the dummy engine into a runner and tossing the dummy unit. but glad you salvaged both. Very well done...

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks, I tried not to let anything go to waste.

Excellent video as always. The piece you took of the dummy engine fits into the body shell. It holds the frame and body together, it's on the dummy body. I have a extra frame if wanted.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I think I'll just roll with what I have but thanks for the offer

Beautiful train. Great job figuring something out. That dummy engine is basically a Marx train now. Never heard of a frame coming apart like that.

Try some silicone vacuum line at your local auto store. They have a very small hole in the center.

Silicon Rubber Tubing might be a suitable replacement for the drive shafts - it comes in various sizes

On my modern HobbyTown loco the shaft is supposed to slip back and forth between the front/rear truck 16:16 as the trucks swivel around curves, the rear truck depends on the shaft from the front truck (all wheel drive) and there needs to be a little back and forth play with that shaft between trucks

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

There is a splined second in the middle (the 1inch brass bit) which does this. They might have just used the hoses on older models but I imagine that would have caused issues.

@chrisdaniell2990

11 ай бұрын

Oh okay, so long as it works and there's no binding, then you're in business. Really crafty repair, SMT. Well done.

Way to go Harrison, you brought another one back to life. I did the exact same thing you did with the broken chassis. I have 2 N scale Atlas SD24 locomotives. They were both powered. But unfortunately one of the chassis broke. I was only able to salvage it and make a dummy by gluing the parts that hold the trucks on into the shell and I glued the fuel tank on as well. I'm amazed at your ability to make something run that is on its last leg.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I'm glad they choose to use identical parts or this probably never would have worked.

@David-yo5re

11 ай бұрын

@@SMTMainline that's true.

Very cool!!! Nice work on that restoration.

I like watching your videos, some of the locoomotives you get and work on are good stuff

looks sweet love any type of old ho scale locomotives love to fix them nice job keep them coming 👍

That is an awesome job and great looking 🎉

REALLY enjoyed this vid, very satisfying!😊

@SMTMainline

6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed!

Persistence gets it done once again. Way to go Harrison.

I like the creative solution on switching frames to make an operational locomotive along with the solution for the dummy locomotive. It's great to see a pair of old HobbyTown's ride the rails again.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

Thanks, I try not to let anything go to waste.

Remarkable rescue!👏

I love the F And E units too I got those two in n scale in broadway limited which is a good brand for n scale high detail runs quite good but instead of the dummy E unit I got a b unit for it it runs good but the coupler broke on the powered E unit sadly but I’m going to fix it 😮good restoration Harrison.

You should fish plate those fractures. Place some really thin plates across the fracture then screw them on either side. Put the plate on which ever side causes the least interference.

Another job well done

Great tip on using fiberglass pencils; bought a 3 pack from Amazon and they work great for cleaning inside and outside of rails.

@SMTMainline

4 ай бұрын

I like them for cleaning commutators. They are theoretically better for cleaning track since they don't contain rubber like the track brights although I use them sparingly since I hate glass fibres.

if i could do what you do i would be one happy soul! you work magic on those old trains.

You said be proud 🎉

Eh mazak rot, not new to me, fixed two hornby 31 chassis with this Issue and they run as well as the day they were made, they even still look the part. Shows that even some new locos are more robust than the old ones :D

Great job on that one!

Very inspiring for a beginner in the hobby

Wow that was a tough one. Nice job. BTW, I believe Nick at Hobbytown of Boston still sells parts for some of those old locos.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

That's good to know.

This video was made on my birthday, what dumb luck!!

Love the unboxings

The company Dorfan, which made O and Standard Gauge trains in the prewar era, made a number of locomotives with bodies made entirely out of diecast metal- almost all of them have been ravaged by zinc pest. And yet, there's people who have managed to repair and restore some of them. Sometimes, diecast products manufactured in east asia suffer from poor quality control in the metal and it's possible for trains made in recent history to have zinc pest issues. Although a rare occurence, some postwar Lionel trains have come down with zinc pest- saw a pretty badly ruined 682 at a show one year that was missing something like half its parts, and the frame was totally destroyed by zinc pest. You always have to be very careful when buying stuff, zinc pest can be very unforgiving!

Great job! That almost looks like a drill motor in there. It might be possible to 3D print a chassis for that. I did it for a Bachmann one time. Impressive restoration.

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I'm gonna have to buy one. There are just too many choices

Great video.

Thanks for the great video ! (NZ).

The HUGE motor is a Pittman DC-91 - considered to be an O-Scale motor at the time - that Hobbytown modified to fit. With that motor and its weight it could pull paint off the walls.

nice work getting that running

great video!!

I have had an issue like this on a varney where the zink chassis crumbles I have seen it happened on diesel's I have yet to see it happen on 1 of my steam locomotives

You might be able to epoxy or solder that crack. On solder, your gun probably won’t work. Use the iron you got.

There is a bad storm coming in to California now. You are best person who can help with Something that I cannot find now. STATE FROMS was going to send me some money for the stuff lost on the boat never gotten it yet it been over 10 days now, I did got some one to clean Jon's house today 8-19th I went to Train club I ran a S.P TRAIN for Jon's 78 Birthday U50 and 2 ALCO RS32 and1 RS11 and a GE U28C pusher on the end

Well done

Very nice repair. I think its neat that they have helical gears . I wonder why they stopped doing that because to me its really cool and seems to be more efficient vs gears you see in modern locos. I noticed the lighting in the video is actually alot different then the iphone camera. It actually looks really good. Added benefit too you can take pictures without having notifications etc messing with the camera being its not a phone. Very nice man very nice

@SMTMainline

11 ай бұрын

I'm guessing it's a cost thing but who knows.

@mercuryoak2

11 ай бұрын

@@SMTMainline yeah I know maybe. Just I think was a great idea. But probably made manufacturing slower because of having to make sure the wheels are going the right way

Again a remarkable resurrection. I agree it is fun to watch yur layout details show up. But do you have any video or pix of yur layout befor starting scenery

The chassis frame of the dummy can be swapped for the powered unit since it isn't broken. The lead horseshoe weight can be coaxed off and silicone glued to the dummy chassis. From there it is just a drivetrain swap. You will need the weight to pull a train. The brass wheels are the achilles heel of these engines. Oxidation will be a problem when it comes to smooth running with that nice and heavy motor. Runs good for now. Consider adding a LED headlight and paint touch up to make it great A A set Harrison.

12:16 Love me a classic structural delete LOL

@SMTMainline

3 ай бұрын

Yeah, who needs it lol

Good save!!!

Been waiting for a unboxing video

Really impressive work 👍🏻 I think, everyone else (including myself 🤪) would have scrapped this nasty piece of s%#& at latest when the frame broke apart 🙈 But you saved this thing 🤩

Hobbytown and pennline I believe we’re both made in Philadelphia, my grandfather actually used to go and buy straight from the factory back in the 60s , and I got the chance to convince my than girlfriend to stop at bowser in montorsvilie while we were up that way for a ski trip , I collect all these kit brands as they hold history very close to where I live