Removing The AWFUL Super Gearing From My Athearn SD40-2 

I'm 54. Been in HO since '75. A few things I remember. Ernst Gears have been around since the 1980's. They used to run small ads in the back pages of _Model Railroader_ when that was the only way to advertise "homemade" creations. Ernst products were far more professional than most products advertised there. Ernst Gears were sold to "make your Athearn run slower, cooler and more realistic" to paraphrase. As you found out, and I found out and many did, Ernst made them run too slow, too loud and forced you to redo all your engines if you wanted to MU. Yet, they sold. Sold enough to pay for years of those ads. Other small businesses that followed that model were MV Lenses, American Model locomotive window kits, Tichy Trains, NWSL and others from the days when kit bashing your Athearn was the norm. They're all fading or have faded away for "$$Ready To Run$$$$$" and while the quality of those models are great out of the box, $350 for one loco is killing this hobby. Adjusted for inflation, the $20 Athearn ($15 on sale) SD 45 I bought in '93 is $43 today and was made in America by Americans. Enjoy it while you have it.

I recall the enthusiasm for Ernst gears, especially for the SW-type switchers. Even at low speed, they screamed like banshees.

We repowered an Athearn or two with the Ernst gears back in the day. The idea was to turn the loco into a slow, more "powerful" runner by changing the gear ratio. I recall our experiments were successful for switchers which we wanted to run slowly. But they couldn't be run MU'ed with unmodified units, so, we abandoned the project after a while, just as you returned this one to stock here.

I was going to talk about super gear kits of the 70's but quite a few posted it. By the ways SMT mainline did a video 6 months ago with same thing, only he was made aware of it by the seller. Those gear kits may be wanted by some

Good catch and rework. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Saw a You Tube video on tuning up Blue Boxes. Lots of polishing surfaces and gears and what not. Really didn't do any good to improve performance. ( Classic Model Trains ) Keep it cleaned and lubed is the best.

Back in the mid-90's, when Athearn introduced their C44-9W's and then their AC4400CW's, I started taking notice of the Northwest Shortline (NWSL) ads in the magazines for their reduction gear sets and how they claimed that reducing the stock Athearn gear ratio would increase pulling power and improve running quality etc. I was very intrigued and very much wanted to regear my AC4400 so that it would be kind of like the prototypes, where the AC's would out-pull the C44's by a good amount. Well, because I didn't have a layout to run on, I never did make the switch, but I've always wondered just how much better of a puller my AC would have been. A real pulling test using the same train on straight level track would have been really interesting to see.

I had the Ernst "super regear kit" in my RDC's. They work but 1- Too loud and grindy. 2- they reduce speed to more "realistic" speed (more like an unrealistic snails pace). 3- In one of the RDC units, the gears actually ended up shearing off teeth after a short while. In athearn locos, it's actually best to stick to the stock motor and gear sets.

Dave, You are VERY welcome! Glad to have been of assistance to get this girl running properly. Enjoy!

Glad I've seen this video. Nearly bought one identical last week. . Wondered what Super Gears were and didn't bother as I had no clue what they entailed. . Do now 😁👍

Nice fix Scott, never heard of super gearing

When I first got into HO. I put a super gear set in an Athearn SD9. I also put a bunch of lead weight in it. The thing could pull tree stumps if you laid down rails.

Very Interesting I ‘ll remember how To Do That I’m Sure you can Do that to All Engines. Now You should try By Putting a Nice Set of Cars On it to See the Results.

It's a great feeling when we fix something that gave us issues in the begining. Congratulations!

Thank you for the video. One suggestion, replace the steel electric connector with wire. I will usually use a clip connection to the truck (sorry bogie) post. Makes removing the truck easier. I cut the ends off the steel clip and solder the wires to that, not to the copper clip on the motor. This also helps if you want to add constant and directional lighting. Retaining the 12 volt light requires running a wire to the original bulb. And if you knew all this, never mind.😁

Earnst super gears were designed to slow the engine down to switching speed. However, being spur gears instead of helical gears, they are extremely noisy. A precision can motor with flywheels will accomplish similar results.

If all else fails, read the instructions. 👍😅 Great work. I sometimes think that slow running has become a fixation of model railway modellers today. Happy Modelling.

"School Day" your learning curve just expanded lol

Not only for the slower speed and more power, but more realism. Sounded like they just needed a little more lubrication. Probably designed for those here in the States they want to run like the prototype(aka real railroads). I'm going to presume that gearing would work really well with DCC. They're still available so perhaps they've managed to improve them.

I have an S12 with the Ernst gears. It was given to me as a Christmas gift when I was 7 or so. My dad installed the gears so I wouldn't roll the freight cars off my 4'x6' under the bed layout. I did know any better, so I ran that locomotive all the time. As I got older, and acquired more locomotives, I used the S12 just to switch with, and over the years, I have run the gears in, and the S12 is much quieter, I put DCC in it, and it is still my favorite to switch with

if ya want to paint the chassis and truck frames on that thing grey rustoleum satin granite is a almost perfect match to the grey of the body

I certainly learned something new…

Gotta love the old blue box Locos. I have a couple myself, I remember getting an old SD-40 like this one in a CP scheme at a hobby shop that closed doen near me. I payed 45 dollars for it in 2011 and it runs like butter. A wee noisy sure but its a testament to quality of the time and I love how easy to work on they are. Plus their simple drive and pick up system makes them simple to Add DCC and sound. I did to mine. TCS Chip I found at a hobby show and soundtraxx cube speaker. Great locomotive to run for long periods of time.

So........Upset. Lol Gave me flashbacks of super gearing. Dealt with that for probably a month or so even tired changing the motor in one. Just to find out about it online.

Another mystery solved, another lesson learned, good work, Jimmy. I have a "spare" set of Super Gears should you need them. I love the SD40-2 locos too, have a few of them. To be true to prototype, the fuel tank should be Harbor Mist Grey and the wheel frames should be silver - please run that loco through the paint shop before returning it to general use.

What you have to realize is model trains are not model road racing sets. Switching locos in yards don’t normally run full out while road diesels run between distant stops as fast as the trackage allows. So, Athearn diesels have limitations. They generally don’t run very well at creeping speeds and run way too fast at full open speeds. I believe Ernst gears was designed to fix this disparity. The Ernst gearing works well for switching locos running at slow speeds. The regular Athearn gearing is better for simulating high speed running but not really maximum speed as most power packs feed too much current to run the model locos. But it still comes down to “it’s your railroad, do what you want to do.” The way I figure it, Ernst gearing in my switchers run well for the slow speed in yards and sidings. The Ernst gearing also works well for operating my big, heavy trains, like my Trainmasters pulling loads of coals. My road diesel have the standard Athearn gears for my F-7’s pulling my passenger and commuter trains. To each their own, but have a story for your railroad.

It looks like you figured out about how locomotives go too fast, and this was a solution to problem. This solution is not always desirable be everyone. Well, there is another quirk in the hobby that you need to know about. The wheel tread on all HO equipment is actually too wide compared to the proper scale width. There are modelers out there who have wheels with the tread of the proper scale width. These people operate under the Proto 1:87 name. While this all sounds good, the narrow tread wheels are sensitive to poor track, and they will derail on it if the track is not just right. Like the Ernst gears and scale prototype wheels, people will take things to the extreme to be closest to the real thing.

DCC has made slow running possible without changing gears.A smaller diameter wheel will lower gearing also.Nwsl had these I think.

Just be glad they (whoever did the gear change) saved the original gears so you could return it to stock. I've heard nothing but bad things about the Ernst gears and would never opt to use them. Cheers from eastern TN

When the S D 40 came out A lot of reviewers told everybody that they were too fast . At 18 volts

Great information I have never heard of the super gearing I will have to check my SD-40 engines I got in a lot online because they seem to run "slow".

EXCELLENT !!!!!

Save the reduction gears and add them to a designated switcher for heavier and slower trains. These gears are becoming extinct now and even finding them for switchers is near impossible. They're niche, but they do what they need to do.

While we are on about gearing. . Just got hold of a proto 1000 f3A and B set. Both powered. Supposedly Nos. All sealed but turns out the both have an axle with a cracked gear. Replacement options ? Ie. Athearn blue box ? I'm in UK so obvious options seem non existent to scarce 🤐

What a jigsaw puzzle mess. At least it is sorted and running better!

I got a sw7 with the super gearing it runs great but slow

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

I love Athearn Blue Box locos.

Before you get into the video.. I'm @ 2:49 in the video.. I have heard of super gearing or Ernst gears as I used to know them from.. and from my understanding it is extra gears fitted to make the loco pull better... like reduction gearing.. ill wait to see if I am right as I watch the video... @7:00 I was right.. reduction gearing.. whoo hooo yeah what a stupid idea they are.. but maybe for like I stated above.. reduction gearing for very steep inclines and better pulling of long trains etc ??

Since I’ve turned 50…I’ve been super gearing

Problem solved dave grand jobby

It's alive 😂

You wouldn't understand this because it's daft, but the Ernst Super Gearing was designed to make the BB SD40-2 run slower. BTW, what did you pay for it ? How's that JT working out as PM? Careful, he might have your bank account frozen!

do you use fleki track for you corners?

Food processor locomotive.

Today on youtube: “Man actually read a manual” Don’t miss tomorrow’s episode: “Man ask for directions” God I hate them metrosekshuals. You should be fighting bears in the woods bare hands to harvest fresh maple syrup…