How to Burn Down Your Model Railway | Train Motor Meltdowns 

That was very interesting Sam, and clearly shows that despite the wonderful detail achieved in today's models, without powerful and reliable motors, then it all a waste of money...Bob

Me: Anything can be a smoke machine if you operate it wrong enough. Sam with that motor: *S t o n k s*

5:57 smoke from the cab windows, you say you sure it broke down? driver and fireman might just be on a overly long smoke break, it'd explain the smell ;)

How to burn down your model railway: 'they had is in the first half, not gonna lie' Good video Sam!

The 14XX was just trying to go thermonuclear like Godzilla 😂 This was both fun to watch and interesting, keep that railway safe my friend ^^

No one: Not a single soul: Sam: *HOW TO BURN DOWN YOUR MODEL RAILWAY*

As somebody who's been inspired to potentially start my own model railway collection some day, your channel definitely is useful for things like what models to avoid and maintaining the ones I do get, given they require a lot more maintenance than I would have initially thought. Excellent work!

I thought I was going blind because I couldn't see any smoke. But then I realised my brightness was low so I turned it up. Very interesting and handy video Sam thanks

Me at the end there: this seems really stupid and dumb Sam: "let's leave the rag there and see it it sets 🔥" Me: oh wow Sam has gone mental

Sam is the only one that can keep me entertained while he fixes a train

One of my Bachmann 2-8-0s was running and it stopped on a curve and I saw smoke coming from underneath the drivers and turned it off right away luckily I was able to replace the motor and get it working again but then a week later the side rods got messed up while it was running and I’m not sure how to fix it so I was thinking about sending it over to see if you could fix it. Great video by the way. Thanks, Rails Of The East Coast

Me: *looks at the thumbnail* Also me: NOOO! OLIVERRRR!

Great video Sam I have had a couple of motors break on me

When Sam says meltdown you know it’s good to pay attention to him

Loved the video, thanks for uploading I’ll be careful in future - Ollie

Very enjoyable.....I had a similar experience with my first train set.....dad was not pleased...haha

Great video Sam 👍 I like the investigation into why it happened And of course the fact you’re not frightened to have ago Or try things out Keep it up👍😊

Great video Sam! I just found your channel and subscribed. Very nice instructional video. Love your train collection, it's awesome! 👍

my hornby triang mallard started smoking today! It was terrifying but luckily I could turn everything off before stuff got serious.

Yeah even my Bachmann FT once smoked then 3 years later the gears cracked. I decided to junk it, I kept the chassis for a future metal casting project.

SAM - Great experiment ! interesting results. You should do a video on how to add a mini fan and heat dissipation fins ! Keep up the great videos, you do more for us than just review the new products !

As I've just bought a second hand class 58 I found that VERY interesting! Thanks Sam top job.

I once over-sped a pannier and it blew up. Thing is it was a really old and unclean Mainline engine. Luckily I could salvage the engine and now it’s a motorless shell on a display shelf.

The closest I had was decoder burnout due to poor wiring and soldering from Hornby. Was surprised that your experience has seen bachmann with more motor issues. Very interesting to watch and most enjoyable. Most of all hobby safe Sam. Clint

Thanks for the video sam didnt know too much about the open motors learned a lot

Spectacular stuff Sam, could almost smell that 'cooking' from here! Great video, many thanks.

Hi Sam. Good video as always. I've had a lot of problems over the years with hornby motors hence now all my locomotives are bachmann. I do however have a good tip. When oiling the motors I use a sewing needle to dip in the oil when lubricating the end bearing. That way its almost impossible to over lubricate and no risk to the commutator. My oldest locomotives are sixteen years old and still on original motors including the brushes. Keep up the good work. Chris.

Liked that, nice to learn why these are always failing. Great video Sam 👍

Weirdly enough I actually my Triang class 37 had the same issue with what look liked blimmin thermite. I had sent you an email about it but this answers my question very nicely!

Should have titled this “how to tell Hornby to use good motors “ lol :) love your vids Good video

Thanks Sam! I was dying for a tutorial how to burn down my railway. This helped! Lol 😂

Oddly enough, the exact same thing happened to my 14xx earlier on this afternoon, probably for the same reason. Not totally burnt out though, it still runs but intermittently. I've sent off for a replacement motor and I will check out the old one to see if it's repairable. Nice video. 🙂👍

I'm not there yet. however i did " visit" a loco hobby shop. i learn a lot watching your video. your very easy to listen to. i connect to your style of explanation.. it works for me anyway.... 👍

Sam. Great video. Don’t know how I missed it before. Anyway, very interesting. Can’t believe half an amp could do that. Keep up these great videos. Even if a few/most don’t cause sparks.

Interesting video! I once had a dcc blanking plate melt on my Hornby K1 had to send it back for repairs smelt awful lots of smoke!

Excellent video Sam,my Hornby Q1 caught fire because the link rod below the smokebox detached itself from the motion and caused a short circuit.This was spectacular as there were flames and smoke in seconds which melted the locomotive body on that side. I removed the locomotive and put the fire out,luckily the mechanism and sound chip were ok.This was a brand new locomotive so this should not have happened, I fitted a new body to the locomotive and did not refit the link rod as the earlier models did not have it.

Sam you are so helpful. My dad has died now but my earliest memory is sitting up in the attic with my dad as he cleaned and ran his huge 00 gauge. My mother making and painting buildings. I love all sorts of railways real and model. Love your videos and have subscribed.....Jayne😊🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

My Bachman Thomas has a similar open frame motor, and when I went to service it, it had this green gunk in it! Even stranger, the loco had been running fine with it there for who’s knew how long, and after I removed most of the goo, it still ran perfectly!

As of your question of if there was any smoke when the motor failed, there wasn't but there was sparks! (Locos was Tri-ang Jinty from garage sale before being oiled)

1:06 I spy a classic which was the one that got me to buy MY Triang 3F and subscribe to your channel ;) Really glad to see that the fail didn't originate from one of those, I know they get a bit of a rep for 'looking' dangerous with the Back-to-the-future arcing on the wheels when running sometimes. Great video, Sam!

Sam great video as usual I have only one problems with your videos they are to short I wish they were longer a lot longer . They are so entertaining and I learn a lot about my favorite hobby it is nice to see others so interested in this hobby. Keep up the great videos.

Me: Just casually taking my Class 350 for a spin and sees this video. Me: Class 43, you're gonna have to become the man of the rails.

My nephew managed to set fire to my Hornby First Great Western barbie HST when he was 2. The powercar roof melted, then immediately burst into flames.

I love the X03 X04 motors. They are so Easy to maintain. Even I know how to Fix that motor..!! Dad taught me..! Good video. Oldie but a Goodie..!😎

AHHH it seems my problem with my Hornby B12 is solved. This same motor was factory fitted to my B12 when I purchased it well over 10 years ago. It ran well for nearly a year then due to life getting in the way it was packed away in the original box in a plastic storage tub with the rest of my loco's. A while back I decided to build a layout for my Grandson and, lo and behold when the B12 was placed on the track and power applied it would not run and instead it sat there and emitted an acrid smell and smoke. So not being that confident to strip the loco and motor down and, only this week after watching and getting inspired by your videos I pulled the loco down and dismantled the motor. I thoroughly cleaned everything and what did I find the brushes gone as with your motor but not as bad. In fact I could find no evidence that there ever were any brushes. The only contact with the commutator were the brass fingers that would have held the brushes. All I can deduce from this is that the materials used to make the brushes was so sub standard as to be absolutely useless for the purpose or a very poor quality control issue allowed this model to slip through. I had previously purchased a new motor ( Poweline P1232A ( mk3) from E Bay which was not cheap and will now fit that. I did manage to get the original motor to run again but without the brushes it is totally useless as a spare. What I can't figure out is why did Hornby put these pathetic substandard motors into the B12 and not something more robust such as an XO3 or similar??? At least I can buy XO3's in bulk quite cheaply. So unless I can find a mount to take an XO3 or similar I will be stuck with paying $18.95 or 9.47 English pounds each so quite an expensive exercise. This will now ensure this loco does not get much running time as it will end up being to expensive to maintain. I will contact Hornby to see what they can do but am not hopeful of any sort of positive outcome other than a note saying they received my E Mail.

I'm 35,000 miles away and eight months in the future and yet I can still smell the motor burning... Oh wait that's just my dremel

I bought the Airfix version of the 14xx recently, exclusively for a replica "Titfield Thunderbolt" train, and because it didn't cost too much - The motor seems alright, though the mechanism squeals quite badly in reverse. The motor failure on your more modern one is, er, definitely something spectacular.

Goodness gracious me. I've actually got several loco's with that motor luckily I've never experienced such events. Very interesting and informative :D

I didn't have any motor fails on my railway and I had it for 7 years.🚂 Nice video.

You know what they say Sam... once you let the smoke out it never works the same again! Interesting video though. Good job.

Hi Sam I am relieved to see you didn't hurt yourself. You are very brave!

One of mine started sparking while still running, then failed

Hi Sam, Nice review , Thanks for the demo , Will keep it in mind not to overload things , Would it happen on DCC ????, All the Best Brian 🤗

Me: **reads the title** Also me: What kind of dangerous yet creative antics is our Sam up to now? 😂 Nice vid Sam, time for me to binge watch all of your crazy experiment videos 🤣

I have five locomotives that had motor burnouts. Two happened during normal operation, one happened when the plastic drive shafts jammed, and two were from just trying to get the engine to move again (like you did, but these locos haven't burned out previously). All of them were used models except for one Bachmann diesel I got new back in 2011 Most of my motor burnouts happened with "pancake" motors from various manufacturers and various ages.

Takes me back to "tuning" slot car motors back in the 60's, many similar problems albeit subjected to much heavier abuse !!!

It’s amazing that is all it took to cook that motor, a short stall. Will that kill bigger ones that are not open frame? Maybe even brushless types of motor?

This was only recently but I was running in a spare Hornby Thomas chassis, it made it round the curve for the 10th time and as soon as it hit the points it just snap crackle popped and spat smoke everywhere in a comedic fashion! Doesn't seem to run but tries to, I think a fault was one of the brushes was bent wrong

It'd be interesting to see a video on the few of us that get burned out on model railroading. I packed my locos and layout up awhile back and I just haven't had the drive to restart. It seems to be a common problem anymore, or it is here stateside.

I have an old 70's 00 gauge Kays kit in white metal for the Bayer Garret with the rotary coal bunker. What is the best motor for it and where from please ? Also the drive wheels are plastic. I need some metal replacement ones but where from ?

Another great video, Sam. Thank you.

I like your new intro! It must have been a hell of a job animating that!

I know I you feel Sam. I’m from America and I have a dock switcher made from a company called Lionel I got it on Christmas Day I believe it was 2017. I was running it around my Christmas tree, it was only pulling about like 2 cars. But then I realized it was slowing down. I shut it off and it smelled really bad. Turns out that the motor and the reversing unit was burned out. My dad tried to find new parts but he could not find the motor. It hasn’t ran since. 😔

Just got a used Broadway Limited Imports Pennsylvania GG1 last week, it stopped running a few days after I got it. I opened it up today and found out the pick up wires on one side of the engine have fried. Working on replacing them now, hoping it works out.

Your videos are brilliant and you should see and smell what happens to a full size diesel- electric loco after a traction motor or the resistor failer it goes Bang in a Big way ! Lol I was in a class 73 electro- diesels engine room when we had this happen once , keep up the good work .

None of my locos have ever done this, but I do have a 'pocket rocket' style 0-4-0 that sparks like anything on my second hand track, no matter how much track rubbering I do. I am always a bit nervous of using it!

About a year ago, I bought a loco from the 1980’s from a train fair, and it was in good physical shape, but at higher speeds its wheels would spark like crazy. I stored it somewhere and I haven’t run it since.

I got opposite experiences with little DC motors in model railways (scale H0) or construction kits. In case of a blockade they consume always their maximum of current, but did not exceed 0,7 A. Common and intended use leads to not more than 0,3 up to 0,4 A in maximum. The small motor type you tested in your video I rather found in N scale models. When voltage applied gets too high and the motor runs freely without any load especially the smaller types begin to make a squeaking noise after a short time and have to get replaced. It is a very bad idea to get "plenty of oil in the bearings" of a motor. E.g. brass bearings have an internal structure allowing them to keep lubrication for a long time due to capillar effects, these types of bearings work a bit like a sponge. If you apply too much oil the lubrication just flies away quickly and make the bearings running dry. The manufacturer of my model locos (H0) (and many others) advises his customers to apply not more (!) than just one small drop of recommended oil on each bearing, for the newer motors they do not want to have any lubrication at all. If the oil reaches the brushes the (always present) arcing converts it into a mixture of coal and tar. Coal conducts electricity and can short the commutator, tar isolates and can prevent the motor from any movement electrically or mechanically.

Hi Sam. Great video once again! What soldering iron do you use? - 9.50 min. GWR

I have the exact same 14xx and the same thing happened to mine. It was fairly new as well.

I like to know how many tank steam engines compared to tender engines do you have?

Very interesting Sam, Thanks.

It's a shame the smoke wasn't coming out of the chimney 😅

Hi sam, i recently got some motors from amazon, they’re made by acompany called utax, they’re small enough to fit inside a locomotive, they run at 24000 RPMs, will they work for my projects? They only came with a plastic mounting bracket, how do i put them in a locomotive? Do i have to do any soddering to make it work?,i’m trying to avoid using a sodering gun because i can’t see, so the risk of being burned is very hi for me, is there a way to make the motors run without using heat?

There is a component of the drive force which pushes the worm away from the drive gear which can deflect the motor axle which also will heat the bearings.

I ran my Hornby set so much and one day when I was younger the motor soon smelt of burning and stopped working. It went in bin.

Hi Sam, Those tiny motors remind me of the Faller AMS racing cars from the 60's.. Way too small for a loco.

just had to replace the intermediate drive cog on my Bachmann class 45. but not a spectacular failure, the problem I would guess with the motor appears to me either the bearing or its overheating and jamming due to expansion. most of my Hornby are the older ringfield type and I have so far had little problems with them, they do smoke occasionally but thats usually oil getting inside or arcing

does anyone know if you can DCC fit that kind of hornby 14xx?

Hi Sam One of the reason can be your pulse power supply. Those motors were not designed for the power what you supply can deliver ( PWM or just a thyristor chopped 50 Hz). Most of the pulse power packs always deliver in pulse with modulation (PWM) the maximum power to the motor. This method overheats the commutator and the coils ( the commutator has to interrupt and turn on always the maximum voltage from the power supply. ). This method is even more dangerous for coreless motors because of lower heat dissipation capacity.) In old fashion filtered DC power packs the maximum voltage is present only at maximum power ( when you run your trains at maximum speed - how often is this the case? ).. One of the possible solutions is to reduce the voltage what goes into your power packs. ( in DCC for eg to 10-12 V). In your GM power pack it is more complex issue. Just an example. The commutator on a 6000 RPM 3 pole motor interrupts the power 200 times per second (200 Hz) only on highest speed. Every interruption creates a spark and heat. When you use a pulse power supply from GM it adds another 50 or 100 interruption independently from the motor speed, on top of that always with the highest possible voltage ( power). This overheats the commutator and the coils, and finally kills those simple motors.

Are the brushes fragmenting and shorting out the armature? I'm in North America, and I've seen that style of open frame motor in a lot of slot cars, but not model locomotives. (20 years working at a toy and hobby store.)

I tried an old triang 0-4-0 not realising how old it was. it cause the track to spark, and at the moment it started smoking I took it off the track straight away, I never used it again. But I still have it on my shelf next to my fireplace ( rather ironically )

so how does this motor perform compared to a basic can motor of similiar voltage?

Excellent video Sam. It does seem, in general....that the smaller the engine....the smaller the motor....but you would think they'd be a little bit more powerful and durable than that. Interesting failure....and yep, there's an old saying...it's not the voltage that kills you...it's the current. It's almost as if they should place "recommended" pull--loads in the manual (i.e. 5 cars, 8 cars, no more than 10 cars for any long duration...etc.). What is interesting is that on your layout, you don't have any major inclines for the locos to go up....so truth be told, your locos have a pretty decent "lifestyle"....especially compared to some of the other big layouts with hills , etc. I've seen on RU-vid.

I to had a similar issue with the old hornby terrier. Bought it from the bluebell railway and straight from the box it was smoking

Yours must be the only model railway channel that needs Smelly Telly to fully appreciate it. Loved it when you said "it's tatered" (not sure how you spell that). Not heard anyone say that since was a kid!

I've always wanted a motor that would fail with passion. Now I'll actually have fun seeing the motor fail.

The first train you showed the grey one I have that and it has problems too :(

I was fixing a Mehano USRA pacific recently and found that the engine was... for the lack of better words, superheating some parts of the driveline to the point where they were glowing. I don't know why it did that, and I have no idea how to fix it. Send help

Occasionally, the motor on my bachmann n scale u36b will start glowing bright yellow like a light near the motor brushes. She's old and sat unused with a missing brush spring for almost 20 years, it doesn't have too many hours on it.

My hornby class 58 almost suffered the same demise today i was running it noticed a wierd smell burnt myself on the motor after taking to bogie out of the body no fire or melting but wow i have recently fitted a new motor to it and it was running unloaded apart from 25g weights i added

I have an old Triang 0-6-0 saddle tank engine and after I bought it I noticed a smell, but I put it down to not being ran for ages, then I saw smoke coming out the cab, I investigated and its a part of the commutator is where the smoke is coming from, I didn't run it, so it wouldn't ruin the motor, I'm hoping to get it checked out at my model railway club :)

Thanks again for the information, I learned something new again. I seen you had 5 coaches and a brake van when the disaster happened, I have a Terrier with two plank wagons and a Van. If I purchase three or four more wagons to add on, do you think that would be overloading the locomotive. I also took the time to learn to spell a word you used "Effervescence", A good learning day all the way around.

Good news is, my only loco I now have with one of these is my pacer and that only has its second coach to pull :)

I recently bought a 30 year-old Hornby Black 5 from Ebay. When I was first trying it out, the loco started to smoke quite heavily. However, after a few minutes, and the smoke had disipated, I tried it again, and found that it actually ran BETTER - much more responsive to my controller, and much faster.

When motors over heat, the insulation on the wires that make up the windings in the motor softens or melts an electrical short usually develops, sometimes with an exciting show.

I had the same problem with my old one luckily It didn’t go as extreme I have an old pannier tank and it just kept sparking when I was running it and then I just decided to put it in the siding and that was last of that train

Hey, guess what i had a problem with with one of my deasles, my deasle was on full power and it started going like 1/4 of its speed.

This happened to me today, was testing a hornby minitrix 9f that somehow ended up in canada and the motor caught fire, i can still smell the burning smell

My Hornby Terrier ( Chinese but 20 odd years old) says on the box "Designed for shunting and not for long running." Are those Hornby motors Sam or can you get cheaper versions?