Can We Make it Run? Seized Athearn GP40 Locomotive 

Train Limbo with Harrison - - "how low can it go?" Nice revival of the Chessie. When you have it apart, you may as well clean the wheels too. Good job troubleshooting the seized wheel bearing. Finally putting the precision screwdrivers to use? Thanks for sharing. 👍 👍 👍

Got a blue box gp9 a year ago, it didn't run. Tried cleaning and re greasing. Still didn't run. Left it for dead. A year later, revisited the motor. Found this video. Checked the gear bearings. One was seized! Works like a champ now! Thank you!

These old Athearn blue box locomotives just won't die, especially under SMT's watch! Plus it's a Chessie System unit, guess that means it's the year of the cat!

Nice diagnosis from Dr. Harrison. I would not have thought about bearing freeze. I'm too lazy - I would have replaced the wheel sets with sets from a dummy loco... Now would be a good time to solder a 18-20 gauge wire between the tops of the trucks to the top of the motor clip. This will make your electrical connection solid and not reliant on the partial connection between the trucks and the motor clip (these things do get out of alignment after a while, and it causes sparks - not a good thing). And removing the rust from the motor clip would be a good idea as well. That being said, Dr. Harrison...great job, and great video!

Good job and good use of the WD-40. Those Atherns have a lot of parts but I like to work on them because they run great when finished. I usually replace that metal rail at the top with a piece of wire for better electrical contact.

I’ve actually taken apart all my engines thanks to your videos, no need for me to send them in. Just watch videos folks and follow instructions

Every locomotive I own is an athearn bluebox. I have no modern locos. Still running DC as well. Never had the money for DCC. Very great locos and fun to work on

Still my favorite brand of Locomotives, yes that's a bias and there are better ones but Athearns will always be near & dear to my heart. Easy to run, repair, diagnose and maintain. Virtually bullet proof and in my experience of 40 years of running trains the most reliable and consistent. Great video as always SMT!!! P.S. You may have a rare one there check out the articles on Chessie loco's and the WM could indicate a rare paint for a certain style of Locomotive.

Awesome job getting that Athearn running. I never seen seized bearings like that. We-40 La Silicone eh . silicone is a good lubricant the original wd-40 your absolutely right its a great penetrant and water disperser but for plastic I don't think good because a petrol based. Anyway as you say Serenity! Also that shows me the difference between my Athearn to this. My trucks have I think a rivet holding it to frame unless the same and a non exposed commutator . very interesting indeed

YES WM, THIS AMAZING That is a GP40-2 that came from the Western Maryland btw

That is a GP40 because it has 3 fans at the rear a GP38 has 2 fans at the rear nice job at getting it running.

Athearn DC blue box are some of my favorite locos. Easy to work on and with a little effort the details and handrails can be modified too. Thanks for the video.

Hey SMT I love your videos and I find them really helpful. I decided to start my own channel on Ho scale trains and Railfanning!

I have that exact same Engine, and a second one I renumbered 4258. A easy trick to free up seized worm gear bearings, pop off the lower truck cover and soak with cigarette lighter fluid... preferably with the body shell off. The fluid evaporates quickly and it's cheap..... you also want to check the axle gears, which are proned to crack.....

I love the gp-40 and sd-40, idk why but i love this desing

I am a big fan and I am so happy I live so close to you I live just over the river in cumberland

Well done harrison! Love the Athearn BlueBox products! They were built tough!

Harrison, that is an unusual repair for an Athearn, as the axle bearings aren’t known for seizing. When you were disassembling this, I would have bet on carpet fibers being in the gears. Older LifeLike/Walthers Proto locos use a clone of the Athearn drives and those seize the worm gear bearings and sludge up really bad. I would have just replaced the wheel sets, but it’s great to see you take everything apart and repair it old school.

the last "true blue box" locomotive offerings were the final run of SD40-2's introduced in 2000 or 2001, but I believe they stayed on many store shelves until the late 2000s. By the time these were made, Athearn was putting the 5-pole "hex" drives in them rather than the old 3-pole and plastic handrails on sprews instead of the old durable metal ones. The earliest "Ready-to-Roll" locomotives were essentially identical with the handrails and couplers pre-installed from the factory.

Your fixing videos are awesome

Nicely done, impressed with your expertise!! Trainster in Erie, PA USA!!

great video 🚄👍

WELLLL Sir, Awesome video. Quebec Maple.

For my locomotives I use a mixture of 50% steam oil 25% light machine oil and 25% rapeseed oil or canola oil (same thing) it penetrates really well and sticks to the rods of live steam locomotives and electric much better than just light machine oil. Another plus is that its much cheaper than labell oil.

Old school Athearn BB. Simplicity at it's best and so easy to maintain.

Great Work SMT!!!! Wish I had the same luck on my old Walthers Proto 2000 F units. The gears were locked up and worthless on my railroad.

why is it so pretty, i need Athearn engines in me collection.

Honestly you’re good enough at it where you could do it as a profession.

SMT: okay, were gonna give it a little bit of power Also SMT: Literally turns the knob almost all the way

And yes it did sit in a box for a long time

One thing I've done with Botchmann and Tyco motors to improve low-end response it to really polish the crap out of the comms. I start at 400-grit emery sticks (Sally Beauty Supply) and go up to 1200, higher if I have it. The idea, especially with the Botchmann & Tyco motors, is to eliminate that "waffle" pattern from the underlying circuit board they're cut from. That gets a smoother surface for better current transfer, less resistance (and heat), and better voltage response. I've heard of guys doing the same to Athearn motors, but I'm not sure what the improvement might be since they're already pretty decent motors to begin with. The extremists, I hear, even set the motor shafts on razor blades to balance the armature lobes. The one documented experiment I did with a Bachmann as a proof-of-concept, I lowered the starting voltage on the motor, an old pancake motor trolley, from 7.5 volts to 2.5 volts. Needless to say, that helped eliminate or mitigate the jack rabbit starts.

What causes that problem is that the old oil based lubes made back before the rules changed back in the 2000's, they often Jammed the Gear Boxes after sitting on shelves for a while, a problem that could've easily be prevented if the user applied a different lube, I had similar problems with 3 Mantua steam Locomotives, and a Life Like Steam Locomotive back in the Early 2010's.

I have that locomotive also.Awesome if you have these .Paint the handrails & put decals on number boards & this improves the the appearance making it look top notch

Great job again. Just got cpl new ones myself. Got a Jupiter, Amtrak switcher, finally got an Alaska engine. Love it. Even cheaper then the ones i missed out on. There's few n scale pieces to. Needed that as well. Getting stuff around to begin building a 4x8 layout using n scale in center. Outside... Ho.

Great Job

Nice vid!!

Your lucky smt I repair my own engines it good people believe in you

Chessie System HO scale. I have Chessie System Athearn blue box, GP40-2. Work to 100% to run in the modular layout, 3 Centurias. Good job in repair the locomotive GP40-2 Chessie System. Where is you 🐱 ? Scooby Doo is a good dog. My best friend. Scooby Dum is a nice dog. Scrappy Doo my pup.

Great video! Athearns are awesome! Before the video started a Frozen ad was on!😂

Blue box was discontinued in 2009

I love the Chessie System

I like ur a vids a lot i cant get enough ;-; there so cool

This is a fairly late one, the body attachment points are inside the fuel tank, and the side frames on the trucks are plastic.

I believe it’s actually a GP-38-2 I could be wrong but close enough

Sometimes they just stick, galvanic corrosion maybe, although it can be as simple as dried lube or the axle is pushed too tight into the gear. I've had a few do it on the worm gear bearings too. Once freed up they run fine.

Amazing 😮

Definitely a GP40

You make it look like you did this once or twice before hahah! I would need a list of where everything was lol.

This vídeos should be consideres therapy, is so relaxing seeing them.

I have the same train at home! Mine works but the control that I got with it has a broken part in it. It is made in Slovenia by Mehano.

Perhaps cleaning the commutator on my Athearn FM H24-66 could help improve its performance, as it got rather sluggish after being in a flood. (That occurred a couple months after I bought the model. ) it still runs, nonetheless

I love Chessie System my favorite railroad

Good ole Chessie

the real one is now CSXT 6158 in Dark Future scheme(Aka B&O livery)

Nice! The athearn blue box chessie GP40s are hard to find.

have you expanded the layout, I would have installed a place for all those locos and cars...would be a safe place for such great loco's, wish I had kept mine

What are you using for lubricant? I'm digging that needle point applicator. I use Wahl's clipper oil (recommended) and DuPont Molycote for grease. They seem to work well, but the application leaves something to be desired. I'd rather use a needle point like what you have, but I'm not sure where to find something like that for my bottles.

Hey that’s my locomotive when did you get it in the mail

SMT, I am going to paint my ho scale Atlas FP7, and Stewart F7A and F7B units in Chicago and Northwestern paint scheme

That locomotive is actually a western maryland locomotive in chessie paint

I have a blue box from a house fire and it still works lol

Motor: **seizes** Locomotive: “Why must you... hurt me in this way?”

Did not see you check the wheel gauge. The axle gear has a little slop and they will still turn but can be out of gauge. Thanx for your video. Hal

I have a custom painted and detailed KCS white version of this locomotive

Hey Smt plz Do the all your electric train or can you get a Japanese train if you do you are the 10/10 train RU-vidr you cool bro

Muy bien 😊👌👍👏

I really enjoy watching SAR Mainline (she’s a runner)

Yay

Something you should try whipping up is a motor with a gear attached to the shaft to test gear boxes.

Clean the Wheels! Firts! Principiantes!!

I hope that you can superdetail the unit and paint it in CSXT Dark Future scheme that the real unit(6158) wears now

Thats a GP40 Same as Exeter Centeral 00 gauge model railway by nicholas Woa You have a long name dude

Name it Nerf Cat

I think thats a wd40 not a GP-40..😜 Keep up the good work love ur vids!👍

Can use the lighter fluid trick on axle bearings as well....

SMT WHY DID YOU POST AT 1 AM??? GO TO SLEEEP Great video tho

Where did you get your DC transformer from? It doesn’t seem like there are many good options online. Not even on eBay.

i have a train with the same insides as this one but am not sure if its a Walthers are an Athearn train, its a high hood GP7 8 or 9 not sure they look the same to me. also do you know where i could get some window parts and and some plastic light insert's for the body?

Smt blue box was last made in 2005 and athearn sold the last of the stock in 2008

It's an Athearn. I knew the answer was "yes" before I clicked on the video.

Harrison got some Important detail about athearn blue boxes I believe they’re made until I believe early as 2008 I don’t know for sure By the way Chessie looks better

GP40 as it has one stack and three radiator fans

What conductive lube is that?

Please do more O gauge stuff

Yes

Can you make a video on how to send stuff because i got something for you.

Good job fixing nerf cat's brand.

To me it looks like a little bit of Loctite got in there to me it looks like a little bit of Loctite got on that bearing to me it looks like a little bit of Loctite got on that bearing

It's a GP40-2, not a GP38.

Gp 40-2

Can you do a video on a hornby class 87 in intercity swallow livery

Wow

What type of oil do you use on you trains?

Well i understand i had an engine to fix but ill wait like you askef

I have had the same isue but it was a drive shaft and now nothing from the motor

SMT: spawn of fixing model locos

What kind of oil and lube do you use?

i plan on going to a train show how do i know it runs by looking at it

Did you get the two other locomotives

have you heard of athearn genisis