# need help with loco



## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

ok . im playing with my army loco.Each truck has two conductive wheels on one side and plastic ones opposite.on a simple oval it works fine. then i put in switches that have a plastic frogs. then disconnect. i need suggestions on what i can do with this guy


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

it has an odd design. it has two sepearate trucks that clip onto the plastic body ans a large weight screwed to the plastic between the trucks.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Are you saying that the locomotive is stalling when it hits the frogs? This is not uncommon when you have only limited power pickup. By having the right pickups on one truck and the left on the other it is basically the same effect as a 0-4-0 steamer. If there are no flywheels to keep the motor going I am not surprised it may stall. The best thing you can do is keep the wheels and track as clean as possible. You will not be able to creep over the switch as some momentum will be needed to keep moving forward.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

ExONRcarman said:


> it has an odd design. it has two sepearate trucks that clip onto the plastic body ans a large weight screwed to the plastic between the trucks.


This is sounding like an old Tyco or Mantua design. Any pictures?


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## J.C. (Dec 24, 2016)

when you say disconnect you mean uncouple it might be the pins on the couplers hitting the frogs, Time Warp is much more familiar with this type of loco that me , hope he sees this and will give you some input.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Looks like a Cox!*

Could that F unit be a Cox make or possible a Varney...the side panels look different from a Tyco after checking on the Bay....interesting!!


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Yes the short wheel base is a problem. I suspect that powering the frogs is not an easy option and neither is putting 2 rail pickups on the trucks. If you're DCC you could wire in some "keep alive" caps to bridge the power outage as you cross the frogs. Some decoders are designed to easily connect a keep alive to, especially sound decoders.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Your loco is losing power when the metal wheels
run over the plastic frog. On most of today's locos
all wheels are used for power pickup. Even tho
most frogs today are plastic most locos will run smoothly
through.

The solution to your problem would be to replace
the plastic wheels with metal. Unfortunately, it would
be very difficult to do that on that old loco.

If, because of nostalgia, you want to run
this loco, you might consider
using a car (dummy B unit?) with metal wheels and power pickup wipers as a permanent attachment. Run a pair
of wires from that car to the loco innards. That
way you would have backup power when the
loco itself is on the plastic frog.

Don


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

MacDaddy55 said:


> Could that F unit be a Cox make or possible a Varney...the side panels look different from a Tyco after checking on the Bay....interesting!!


Definitely the COX. I have a couple of those. Eventually I'll re-power them only because they were the first trains I ever owned (given to me by my father when I was 5 years old.) They do stall on turn-outs and don't run that well, but I really don't expect them to as they are nearly 40 years old and have never been maintained.

I still have my entire Armored Attack Express.


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

not a bad idea Don. i could paint my non running shark nose to match. hmmm. juices flowing........

scott.. it looks like you have the exact same set as i do, but you have trucks and an extra flatbed. were these add ons, or part of original set?


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

Would that body with with and Athearn frame?


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

still to new at this. i dont know what an athearn frame is off the top of my head. ill research that idea. thanks


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

ExONRcarman said:


> still to new at this. i dont know what an athearn frame is off the top of my head. ill research that idea. thanks


I think he means a chassis.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

That is the old Cox with the Tyco style "Gimbal" mounts. They made a GP9 like that also. I would say you have a combination of issues because like was already stated , those wheels have got to be shiny clean to run well. My Tyco stuff is the same way, the wheels start getting a little dirty and the fun goes away right after. It's a pain in the keester.

If you want an Army locomotive, I would suggest you get a newer ARMY Model Power F2 with 8 wheel drive and 8 wheel pickup, they run great. There is a reason Cox quit making that style of drive.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

ExONRcarman said:


> not a bad idea Don. i could paint my non running shark nose to match. hmmm. juices flowing........
> 
> scott.. it looks like you have the exact same set as i do, but you have trucks and an extra flatbed. were these add ons, or part of original set?


Here is what came with the original set (the tan truck is a matchbox car.)

F-Unit 
Troop Car
Flat with truck
Flat with tank
Anti-aircraft car
Railgun
Caboose

My father purchased an additional F-unit at the time and I think one of those flat-cars (the one with the tan Hemmet) was purchased much later.

I don't seem to have any close-up pics of the caboose or troop car. Troop car is right behind the F-unit.

Eventually I'll just put these bodies on top of a more modern chassis to make them reliable.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Awesome!!*



sstlaure said:


> Definitely the COX. I have a couple of those. Eventually I'll re-power them only because they were the first trains I ever owned (given to me by my father when I was 5 years old.) They do stall on turn-outs and don't run that well, but I really don't expect them to as they are nearly 40 years old and have never been maintained.
> 
> I still have my entire Armored Attack Express.


When our son was in 1st grade he wanted an Army Train with Soldiers & Tanks....now this was years ago...so...we searched Ebay, Garage Sales and Swap Meets for every conceivable Military based rail car or loco you could find....hours of play later...its now waiting for a Grandchild to use it...just don't have the heart to part with it...have US ArmyMantua F3 as our loco and I'm reconditioning an AHM 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific as our motive power. Have a slew of Roco Mini Tankvehicles, Tanks, Army men, you name it....At the time everything was dirt cheap but now WHOA..Just keep that set and don't part with it...Classic!! Ian still wants me to incorporate a Godzilla or some other Dinosaur on the Layout as a Ode to the 60's Monster Movies!!:thumbsup:


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

MacDaddy55 said:


> When our son was in 1st grade he wanted an Army Train with Soldiers & Tanks....now this was years ago...so...we searched Ebay, Garage Sales and Swap Meets for every conceivable Military based rail car or loco you could find....hours of play later...its now waiting for a Grandchild to use it...just don't have the heart to part with it...have US ArmyMantua F3 as our loco and I'm reconditioning an AHM 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific as our motive power. Have a slew of Roco Mini Tankvehicles, Tanks, Army men, you name it....At the time everything was dirt cheap but now WHOA..Just keep that set and don't part with it...Classic!! Ian still wants me to incorporate a Godzilla or some other Dinosaur on the Layout as a Ode to the 60's Monster Movies!!:thumbsup:


When I get back to working on the layout there is a plan to have a military base on layout with a siding and parking for this train.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Those ARMY trains are keepers for sure, both of you guys should hang on to them. Thanks for sharing.:thumbsup:


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

then my set is missing the truck, tank and a flat car. ill look for them, but to be honest im happy with what i got. Just saying


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

ExONRcarman said:


> then my set is missing the truck, tank and a flat car. ill look for them, but to be honest im happy with what i got. Just saying


Here's what the package looks like. The outer box is long since gone, but I have all the individual boxes for each engine/car

Wow.....these things may have gotten more valuable.....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Cox-Armo...256123?hash=item465afd3bfb:g:4DcAAOSw2xRYXH46


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

one guy on ebay asking 150 for a Hodge podge set thats beat to hell. some people think their stuff is rare therefore expensive i guess


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

ExONRcarman said:


> one guy on ebay asking 150 for a Hodge podge set thats beat to hell. some people think their stuff is rare therefore expensive i guess


You can find these cars at train swaps fairly cheap if you look hard enough.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

ExONRcarman said:


> one guy on ebay asking 150 for a Hodge podge set thats beat to hell. some people think their stuff is rare therefore expensive i guess


Not an uncommon occurrence on eBay. Know what the value should be BEFORE you buy.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

On the other hand, one man's treasure is another man's junk.....and these pieces wouldn't be something I would call treasure, but that's just me.....


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

no train, no matter how beat is junk as far as im concerned. But i wont pay better than new prices for busted up stuff


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

you could add a large capacitor to help keep the motor spinning over frogs. You'd lose the ability to stop on a dime though.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

You could add sliders on each truck to pick up power from the rail opposite the metal wheels, that would extend the power pickup of the whole engine and would not be too noticeable. Just a little extra wiring and some mechanical know-how.


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

thanks, both ideas worth investigating.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> On the other hand, one man's treasure is another man's junk.....and these pieces wouldn't be something I would call treasure, but that's just me.....


Funny story -- we were cleaning out our Boy Scout Troop's shed and had a bunch of stuff that we thought someone could use, so we had a yard sale / tag sale / garage sale / rummage sale (whatever you call it in your neck of the woods). We had about 2 dozen unclaimed trophies that were in various states of disrepair / damage. I was going to throw them out, but one of the other leaders thought we could get good money for them. He was right: we made over $150 on them!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, of course they'd sell.....they're trophies!

Surely you know it's easier to buy yourself a trophy than earn/win one.....?

:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## ExONRcarman (Feb 7, 2017)

Well thanks for the input guys., i think this one will sit on the shelf for now. It will be revived when the time is right. thanks for the help


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