# Two to Tango Completed (Almost)



## Sagas (Dec 13, 2013)

This is just a followup to a previous post some months ago (December) and they are now functioning as they should, flying around the track. Most linkage and some wheels were replaced with NOS I already had but the hard part was to obtain the remaining pieces at a reasonable price, especially the wheels since they are different between the two models and are not as readilly available as the large engine parts. Reproduction rims are available but do not compare to the originals. Only a few things left to do on the 342, mainly the tender herald and name but at the moment ordering parts from the US will cost one and a half times as much with the exchange rate so not viable right now. They are not going to be pristine examples and I did toy with the idea of repainting them but decided against it siince the majority of real switchers I've seen tend to be the roughest and dirtiest engines in a rail yard so a good cleaning and touchup is fine for me.


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## kvlazer22 (Jan 27, 2020)

Awesome....they look great!


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Those are nice engines, worth the effort.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

They look very nice to me. I got a 342 last month. I have not done anything with it. I have a few locomotives ahead of it in line for the repair shop. I knew the switcher wheels were different than the larger engines but I did not know 342 and 343 were different. Good to know. Congrats on the additions.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

343’s have PullMor so the wheels are different.


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## Sagas (Dec 13, 2013)

Yes mopac, I did notice you had received one and appears in very good condition. Mine has a date stamp of May 53' which is most likely part of the last production run before the change to the 343. One tip I can give you when taking apart the linkage is to make sure the X-Head rods are marked left and right when you remove them. They will go back reversed but will not be correct. Some photos and the odd original flyer catalogue "artists conception" images have shown them reversed. Barry


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Sagas, I have never seen nor read about any documentation of a 342 made in 1953. That is very interesting. Gilbert did not do a run of one, so there must be at least 100 of them. The 1952 342 was used only in the 1952 5004 set. I wonder if there are 5004 sets that were made in 1953 or if that run of 342’s was separate sale only.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks for info on linkage. I have enough trouble with the eccentric linkage without putting wrong side on.

My 342 is Dec 1952.


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## Sagas (Dec 13, 2013)

The 343 originally had them Tom but were a tacky mess so replaced them with two NOS I had. Some photos I've seen for the 342's show the engine to have a "nose down" effect which is more than likely caused by replacing with thick banded PullMor's. The rim reveal for the 342 front wheels are thinner than the 343 since it was not meant to have them. The 343 reveal is thicker so the engine remains level with them. For the front wheels, one has to make sure that they are correct for that model even if the parts diagrams for both quote the same part number. Quite the learning experience! Barry


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## Sagas (Dec 13, 2013)

Tom, in Greenberg's Guide 1991 under Variations page 63 there is a photo of a 52' with white smokestack and red plastic tube which mine has. The link on the tender was replaced so I have no other way to date it. Its also possible that it was a replacement shell for the original that was damaged. Other than that I have no other reference material. Barry


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Right, the 5 wire 342's were cataloged and made in 1952, they have white stacks with red plastic tubes. I have two of them. Per the post above yours has a May 53 stamp. Suppose it could be a replacement boiler shell but it sure looks original 1952 production.


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

Sagas said:


> This is just a followup to a previous post some months ago (December) and they are now functioning as they should, flying around the track. Most linkage and some wheels were replaced with NOS I already had but the hard part was to obtain the remaining pieces at a reasonable price, especially the wheels since they are different between the two models and are not as readilly available as the large engine parts. Reproduction rims are available but do not compare to the originals. Only a few things left to do on the 342, mainly the tender herald and name but at the moment ordering parts from the US will cost one and a half times as much with the exchange rate so not viable right now. They are not going to be pristine examples and I did toy with the idea of repainting them but decided against it siince the majority of real switchers I've seen tend to be the roughest and dirtiest engines in a rail yard so a good cleaning and touchup is fine for me.
> 
> View attachment 542515
> 
> ...


Nice pair Sagas! 

Kenny


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