Would anyone know of a supplier for Concor's Steam Hudson's Rods and siderods. I have lost these plastic pieces to the unknown and would like to replace them with shinny polished metal instead of the ConCor plastic gray. Thanks Jeffthumper
My earliest recollection of the Hudson was that the ones with the metal side rods would short out and not run. Best to stick with the plastic drivers. Maybe some of the other steam runners recall differently? This was the early Concor/Kato version.
Jeff: Con_Cor usedthe plastic rods and siderods because the metal one's short out as Flash stated. I keep about 2 dozen sets of plastic rods and siderods to keep one Con-Cor 4-6-4 operational. After 2-3 hours of running the plastic siderods disintegrate and parts disappear never to be seen again. I just replace the entire gear when this happens. Even if you have all the disassembled parts, they never can be properly re-installed. You can get the plastic gear from the Con-Cor parts department. Stay cool and run steam.....
Did ConCor only import the Kato built version of this loco? If there were others, how do you tell the difference? I have one that I got from a local guy who was changing scales. It runs just ok but it's extremely noisy. I'd rate it a 5 or 6 of 10. I've read here that this was and still is considered by some to be a very nice running loco and always felt that a different loco than the one I've experienced was being discussed. Are there ways to tune it to run better? Jim
Jim: I'm running the Con_Cor 4-6-4 with DCC. It isn't a smooth running loco at all, and I can't seem to improve it's performance. I think the plastic valve gear and rods play an important part in the loco's poor performance. as they need constant replacement at the first sign of wear. Stay cool and run steam..... I only rate this loco a 5 out of 10.
The original Hudsons (made by what is now Kato) have "Japan" or "Sekisui" (the original company name) stamped on the chassis - I don't recall which. As for the metal rods - I remember seeing sparking where the rods touched the cranks or pins on the wheels. There is nothing to short-circuit there. I attributed the sparking to intermittent contact between drive wheels, which never conducted current very well. Once I added electrical pickup on all the tender wheels and wired the tender to the locomotive, the sparking disappeared and the locomotive performance improved greatly.
I have one of the original run-the wheels are diecast and spark quite a bit. I should add tender pickup, but it's not high on my list as the PRR didn't have many Hudsons.
There is nothing in the basic design of the revised Kato Sekisui Kinzoku / Con Cor or China / Con Cor J3a Hudson 4-6-4 that would prevent the siderods from being replaced by metal ones....but... The original design Hudson sparked because the drivers were live, not because the siderods were shorting out. On the revised unit, the driver centers are plastic and, as long as the mounting pins/screw/post doesn't contact the driver wheel disk behind the center, there will be no electrical contact. Even if there was, the only concern would be to keep it away from the opposite side frame half which would be hard for the siderods to reach. The original plastic valve gear works the best of any loco...very few returns of the Kato-built Hudsons while I was repairman at ConCor, and none for valve gear problems...... I would replace it in kind rather than fool around with trying to etch new parts and then figuring out a way of attaching them to the drivers, piston rods, etc.... Charlie Vlk
From the Con-Cor website (www.all-railroads.com): Call our Toll Free Order Line 1-888-255-7826 . This is staffed Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 Mountain Time. Note: Toll free number only works for domestic Lower 48 states +DC. calling. Regards
