Sad Days Indeed - Intermountain Frame Rot

David has closer to 2000+ locomotives. Around 300 of those are IM's....Just sayin...

 

I do not think Kato makes there frames with Zink. as I have Kato engines over 30yrs old and no frame rot

 

I no longer own a single loco that isn’t a KATO.

 

THIS.

I did not alter direction entirely, simply cut back on what was really too ambitious and complicated. This did result in my selling all of my Intermountains except for some B&O F-7 A-B pairs. I did not need eight pairs of B&O FTs. I always did like the MTs better anyhow, so I sold all of the IMs and one or two of the MTs. I am glad that I chose to stick with the MTs. I did sell some IMs in other road names that I had decided to stop running.

I never bought any IM steam as I do not run big steam.

It is too bad about the zirmac rot on these. You would think that these manufacturers would have learned about Zirmac by now.

 

As I noted in an earlier thread on this, Atlas still shows the SD50 frame halves as available. The IM frames are a variation on it from what I have see published in the past. Probably not 200 available though.

Have you had contact with IM since your first discovery of the issue?

 

Did anyone contact IM about this? What are they doing about it?
I would think they should refund everyones Money!

 

Definitely. The initial post was on Friday April 1st. If this is an April Fools joke it is a poor one at best and could be actionable in civil court for defamation. So let's see some pictures of this problem to serve as evidentiary proof.

 

Sharks initial post on this matter was 20 February regarding his SdD45T-2s. As he noted, he has been looking into his other inventory since then. It's not an April 1 joke.

 

Zamac is basically a zinc/aluminum "alloy" (it's really more of an amalgam), not just zinc. Other metals get into the mixture, too. When these metals corrode or separate from the main two metals, it causes cracking and swelling. If the formula is correct, the casting will last indefinitely without deterioration.

Zamacitis, as I call it, has been a problem for many, many years and not just on April 1st.

Doug

 

That information was not included in his post of April 1st. Given the number of April Fools pranks perhaps it should have been referenced or the prior post resurrected to the current time. The timing of the post, coming as it did on April 1st, was unfortunate. Still, photos of this phenomena would be helpful to those who never experienced it so they can identify it if it happens to their stuff. I, like probably many others, thought this problem was a thing of the past but since most of our stuff is made in China, the same place where toothpaste containing lead was produced, maybe not.

 

A quick search here about 'zinc rot' shows posts from as far back as Jul 6, 2013 and as recent as April 2022.

 

In the other thread a member posted a pic of one of his that had the problem

 

Good pics here https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/broken-frame-is-this-at-all-common.125832/

 

If OP is anything like me Apr 1 is just another day on the calendar until the clowns make an appearance and do their things lol.

There is plenty of information on the net about this problem if you search "zinc pest" or even more specific "intermountain zinc rot". I was completely oblivious to this issue till just a few months ago but after digging in to this I found that so far 2003-2005 production runs have numerous postings about this problem. Here is a 2019 post from Sumner and his SD45T.

I own a few IM locos but they are all more recent runs. Cross fingers things in manufacturing got sorted by then but considering these reports of 2003 runs didn't start cropping up till around 2016 that means over a decade of blissful ignorance and only time will tell if these younger locos will suffer the same fate.

I recently received a notification from a dealer who I've pre-ordered a couple of IM locos and was informed that IM has put their loco production on hold. Not sure if this was for just the models I ordered or if across the board and if it has anything to do with this problem.

Interesting excerpt from an article on the interweb:

 

Like I wrote, if the formula is correct, the casting will last indefinitely. Not all Zamac castings deteriorate.

Doug

 

Getting IM to replace 300+ frames may be a stretch ! My understanding is that trying to get the shells off the swollen frames is the problem. It wouldnt do much good to get new frames if you cant save the shells ! JMO

 

I wonder if it is regional.
I'm in the southwest, (Sunny and mostly dry So. Cal). I have not had this issue. I have a lot of IM units

Just a thought.

Sorry, to read about your issues.
Wolf

 

My old Atlas/Rivarossi 0-8-0, from about 1969, developed the problem within 5 years and I loaded the cracks with super glue and filed the frame back to as close as possible to original and it's been hanging in there for all these years hence.

I have also repaired some of the old E8 frames and C-Liners.

Doug

 

That aspect has been discussed many times, too, and, although no definitive answer has been forthcoming, it would seem that higher humidity would be more conducive to the metal deteriorating just like with most other metals. Chemical reactions are quicker with more moisture.

Doug