I have a very general question; at what point do you decide that your little z scale locomotive is unrepairable? I think I am correct (?) that AZL, MTL and Marklin do not sell chassis, so perhaps you save the shell of the broken one and buy a new locomotive of the same model - now you have two shells and one working loco? Is this common practice in z scale?
When you get a new better running loco, then park the old one on a siding near it's repair shop or roundhouse. Later you can experiment with opening access panels and placing figures there working on it. In other words, the loco now takes the role as scenery. I have lots of broken locos. Most I can repair if I needed, but a few just sit there.
Some are harder to work on than others. I've tried to clean some successfully and some not. The unsuccessful ones get replaced.
I save the parts from broken locomotives and use them as spare parts. I've actually built a "new" locomotive from spare parts from other locomotives.
I only right a loco off as unrepairable when it is cheaper to buy a new one than to buy or make the parts needed to repair it. Not completely true. --There are some parts available to repair some Loco's, --AZL direct had complete chassis available for their GP38-2 as well as some various parts for several of their other loco's, Send Rob at Z track a email to find out if what you need is available, --Check with Frank at Zscalehobo.com for Marklin parts. --And contact MTL For MTL parts. --You can also ask on the various forums if anyone happens to have the spare parts you need --search eBay There are always listings where someone is selling a non running loco for repair or parts. --I've sourced parts from all of the above, as well as made many of my own replacement parts from scratch. yes. As others have said we save unrepairable loco's and rolling stock for that matter and use them as static models sitting on a siding. And if its too rough to use as a static model i still keep all the parts in a small box for future needs and/or to help someone else who may need a part. So if you need a particular part post a list, maybe someone here will have a parts you need, It never hearts to ask. David
I bought an AZL SD70M ( UP 4003) that was a complete basket case. The previous owner had tried to 'improve' the pick-ups to no good effect. and had pretty much destroyed the chassis clips at either end. Anyway. I've taken the motor and gear shafts out, taken the pick-ups off and re-assembled it as a free rolling dummy. this now sits in the middle of the big intemodal train as a mid train helper and looks very effective I just need to tell guest operators not to put it on the front of a train and expect anything to happen! Kev
Don’t buy parts when you need them. Buy them when they are available, because it’s not going to be available when you need them.
A while back I bought some AZL trucks as spares ( SD70M, GP7, E8 etc), I think they were from Zscale monster. they have been a godsend when one of the locos has gone down, usually due to a bust coupler in the middle of a show. Got the process of replacing them down almost to the level of a Formula 1 pit stop ( Maybe not quite 2.4 seconds though) What I should have stocked up on was spare AZL freightcar trucks as well! Kev
Check for Marklin parts and manuals: https://www.maerklin.de/en/service/...submit&cHash=61ef6cdd6bb2402346830894cfa533e2 Matt
Oh so true. When they Marklin Mikado/Pacific can motor replacement parts were available I bought 10 of them, and good thing too cause they quickly ran out of stock. These parts only get re-stocked every several years, usually when a re-release of the loco is ran, and it's been some years since a new US style Marklin Mikado or Pacific has been released. If you see it...
I remember long ago, there was a guy on the old Atlas forum that would buy N scale locomotives, and run them continuously until they died, and would report on how many hours they could go for with just periodic cleaning to keep them going. It was usually measured in months of continuous operation. At the time, many manufactures were converting to can motors, and alot of times the thing that finally killed the engine is that the motor communicators would wear down, and in a can motor these are not replaceable. People have claimed that you can wear the wheels out on model trains, with the old wives tale that you should run trains the opposite way on a layout to wear them down evenly. I have never seen this. I have only seen motors die from actual wear and tear, or burning out from high voltage or load. I have two other types of dead locomotives. 1: I broke irreplaceable details, like handrails, and can't get replacement parts. 2: Failed kit-bashed steam engines or NN3 conversions. In N scale, you can assume that one of the manufactures will eventually re-release engines, likely even in the paint scheme you want. In Z scale we don't always have that luxury (Except for modern 6 axel diesels from AZL). So if you have a good locomotive shell, painted in your favorite scheme, it's likely never going to get re-released. You either buy two of them to keep one going through the years, or buy a second hand locomotive in any paint scheme just to get the donor chassis. Parts are not always available. For Marklin engines you just have to get comfortable using a gear puller to replace the motor. For the 0-6-0, and 2-6-0s, they seem to always be available, so you could just replace the chassis. As it says in Robs signature, "If you see it, get it, for tomorrow it will be gone!"
