The Worst E7 Locomotive, Seized & Full of Zinc Pest - Will it Run? 

nice presentation. well narrated and photographed. zamack is an alloy which, like any mix of metals, can be contaminated. bad zamack will crumble to dust. it's the impurities that cause the problem, not zinc. a lack of quality control in the smelter is the culprit. Chinese "steel" of the 1950s also suffered a similar fate. backyard steelmakers pooled their production and that "steel" found it's way into many skyscrapers. eventually those buildings were no longer skyscrapers.

That Pittman DC-91 is a legendary motor. Combining that with the heavy metal body and 8-wheel drive made this one of the most powerful HO scale diesels of all time, and Model Railroader had nothing but good things to say in their review back in the early 50's. I added an extra lead weight to my E7 just for the fun of it, and I think it could pull the track off the layout if I'm not careful!

Lot of work but you have a nice vintage train. Thanks for the video it all way good to watch.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...is there any locomotive you CANNOT fix????? This one, sir - was extremely impressive!!!!

Always loved the f and e units. They are also almost always dirt cheap

Im a lifelong tinkerer mechanic and model railroader, and you never cease to amaze me as you never seem to fail to resurrect the seemingly impossible. My friends always asked me over the years why do I keep all the bits and pieces and your video show exactly why -- you never know when or why you may need something but some parts are near impossible to get new and this is why building a stock of used parts and pieces is key in fixing things --- even faced with zinc pest and a hopeless frame you saw the obvious solution in the B unit not only fixing the powered unit but the B unit as well. There are many who would have given up before they started.

Wow SMT. I thought this one was a goner after the chasis literally split in two. I'm always so scared about zink pest or mazac rot I have a lot of trains that date back to the 50s and 60s, but I take care of them every 3 months and so far nothing has developed yet. Your idea of using the dummy's chassis was something I didn't think of and even when the old chassis broke again, you glued it back together like it was nothing. Hat's off to your skill. Seriously, you're truly the train doctor. I watch all your vids and you help me understand how to do basic electrical work on a non running loco and now I already got 10 engines going again.

I would have said make a mold of the dummy chassis first, then you can cast new ones in Diecast, pewter whatever soft metals you like. That dummy unit was pristine and is a prime candidate for making the mold. Great video!

Good call on swapping the frames. That has the large DC91 motor. Built for O scale of the era, and has loads of power! If nothing else, the crumbling frame caught on camera makes good entertainment value!

You must always feel a sense of accomplishment when you tear an engine apart and are able to put it back together I'd be totally lost I like watching your videos and overcoming the detriments of these engines

I have never heard of zinc pest before. Thanks for the info, and the presentation

Mammoth job well done, can't get over the size of that motor 👍

Great repair! Good thing you were able to get both running, it sure makes quite the pair to have going around on your layout :) Excellent video as usual!

Hopeless Cases chapter of the SMT manual. Great effort Harrison 🚂🇨🇦🎨

Man, if theres a broken train out there it can be fixed only by the legendary SMT Mainline. Keep up the good work!!!

Another great rescue Harrison! Keep'em rolling partner!

I love to see how much you’re progressing with the layout and running longer trains on it!

Without a doubt, Harrison comes thru with a miracle again. Zinc Pest, gotta love it -- Not. Diaphragms between passenger cars are still available if you need some. You do need a real wheel cleaner though. Thanks for sharing. 👍🐾👍

These locos get worse and worse but your work and videos only get better. I laughed out loud when the chassis broke, then laughed again when it broke again. Am I bad person? Great job as always.

I am impressed Harrison, you live up to the name I call you. THE WIZARD . 👌👍😇

A very intricate repair. The only hobbytown I have is an Alco RS3. It runs good. I always enjoy your repair videos, thanks😎😏👌👍!

Great save! Thank goodness you had that dummy train frame! Someone should invent zinc pest bug spray! 😜🤣🤣🤣

Harrison MacGyver does it again. Using any available parts on hand. Well done, from Texas.

This was probably your biggest project since the Yellowstone Sir!

The nyc paint scheme is one of my favorites. Glad to see it working

Nice work! After I watched this video, I had to take my (much newer) Bachmann NYC E7 for a run. It ran good!

Nice i like it! Yeah i had a zinc pest problem too with my 1978 life like p&le gp38-2 the original chassis shell was so bad i had a spare one and it worked pretty good pretty much a runner. I'm Glad you got these restored here man!

Nice work recovering that old loco Harrison. Might I suggest instead of applying CA to the broken ends of the frame maybe use a popsicle stick or similar and fasten it with epoxy along the length of the inside of the frame. This will give it a lot more support. I think it's time you got a 3D printer!

I like watching your videos, some of the locoomotives you get and work on are good stuff

Wow! What a fabulous restoration. So nice to see these beautiful E units back up and running again. I'm sure they will look beautiful next to your Dreyfus Hudson as well!

That was quite a challenge, SMT!

Excellent video as always. The piece you took of the dummy engine fits into the body shell. It holds the frame and body together, it's on the dummy body. I have a extra frame if wanted.

E8 in any scale is an impressive loco. NYC Lighting stripes are well suited to this engine. This is a beautiful consist.👍👍

Another great repair, Harrison! Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to the next video!

I always love your videos and learn something every time, thank you

On my modern HobbyTown loco the shaft is supposed to slip back and forth between the front/rear truck 16:16 as the trucks swivel around curves, the rear truck depends on the shaft from the front truck (all wheel drive) and there needs to be a little back and forth play with that shaft between trucks

Amazing video love all types of trains either bad or good love f and e these are pretty cool models I have an f7 and I love it!😁

Really nice job improvising. Can't wait to see it in a live stream

Beautiful train. Great job figuring something out. That dummy engine is basically a Marx train now. Never heard of a frame coming apart like that.

The one thig that I don't like about some of those cast zamac locos of that era was the lake of provision for mounting a coupler on the pilots, not just steam, but also some diesels.

Serenity! We have a runner! Cheers from eastern TN

That was a rough one Harrison, But I didn't doubt for a minute that you would come up with a solution even if it meant turning the dummy engine into a runner and tossing the dummy unit. but glad you salvaged both. Very well done...

I can’t believe smt is about to hit 100k on RU-vid I remember I been watching him before 10 and seeing every single video that he has posted on his RU-vid.Awesome video smt

Great work nice to see a classic loco run again

Other than CraftyFoxe, you are my favorite HO scale youtuber, good job on the Locomotive!

I love the NYC f units paint scheme

The king of tinkering and repair

I always love watching you do repair videos in f units

Wow that was a tough one. Nice job. BTW, I believe Nick at Hobbytown of Boston still sells parts for some of those old locos.

Silicon Rubber Tubing might be a suitable replacement for the drive shafts - it comes in various sizes

Thank you for these rebuild videos. It has inspired me to slow down on buying new RtR at $$$ and finding the old & compromised units for ¢¢ on the $ and bring them back to life. I find it so rewarding to get something old running again, and I don't think I would have gotten their without you providing the inspiration and detailed 'how to'. Thanks again for helping me up my modeling game and bring life to old units before I pass them on down to the next generation of hobbyist some years from now.

I enjoyed and learned something new again on your well edited video! Thanks!!!

Way to go Harrison, you brought another one back to life. I did the exact same thing you did with the broken chassis. I have 2 N scale Atlas SD24 locomotives. They were both powered. But unfortunately one of the chassis broke. I was only able to salvage it and make a dummy by gluing the parts that hold the trucks on into the shell and I glued the fuel tank on as well. I'm amazed at your ability to make something run that is on its last leg.

Smt, I think this has been the best vid yet. Great camera work!!

Always, great work. There is a certain "Feel Good" feeling when you get the old ones restored and running. Nice job.

Love it how you fix it all and get it working good on you SMT

Great job getting it running again to enjoy for more years to come. A great conversation piece to boot.

Such a talented lad mate well done

WOW!! Great video Harrison. I do not have the patience or expertise that you have to repair these locos, but I do enjoy watching you perform your magic. Once again congratulations on another fine effort, and I look forward to watching more of your videos.

Try some silicone vacuum line at your local auto store. They have a very small hole in the center.

looks sweet love any type of old ho scale locomotives love to fix them nice job keep them coming 👍

Really enjoyed this episode with aloha

Happy for you Harrison

You should fish plate those fractures. Place some really thin plates across the fracture then screw them on either side. Put the plate on which ever side causes the least interference.

Eh mazak rot, not new to me, fixed two hornby 31 chassis with this Issue and they run as well as the day they were made, they even still look the part. Shows that even some new locos are more robust than the old ones :D

Great job! That almost looks like a drill motor in there. It might be possible to 3D print a chassis for that. I did it for a Bachmann one time. Impressive restoration.

im always glad to see old trains revived and saved from the scrap pile, to me they are pieces of history and worthy of being saved.

I love the F And E units too I got those two in n scale in broadway limited which is a good brand for n scale high detail runs quite good but instead of the dummy E unit I got a b unit for it it runs good but the coupler broke on the powered E unit sadly but I’m going to fix it 😮good restoration Harrison.

I like the creative solution on switching frames to make an operational locomotive along with the solution for the dummy locomotive. It's great to see a pair of old HobbyTown's ride the rails again.

Very nice repair. I think its neat that they have helical gears . I wonder why they stopped doing that because to me its really cool and seems to be more efficient vs gears you see in modern locos. I noticed the lighting in the video is actually alot different then the iphone camera. It actually looks really good. Added benefit too you can take pictures without having notifications etc messing with the camera being its not a phone. Very nice man very nice

Great tip on using fiberglass pencils; bought a 3 pack from Amazon and they work great for cleaning inside and outside of rails.

That is an awesome job and great looking 🎉

Very cool!!! Nice work on that restoration.

Fine looking units! Again, the scars and wear of its lifetime give it a personality. Looks great. Could the chassis that carried the motor originally, because of lubricants, slight warming and cooling, and other materials possibly created the environment for the pest?

Why don't you set up a camera over your controller permanently so when you are doing you repair vids you can selectivity when editing the video show the draw, %throttle etc. better to have the footage and not use it most of the time than not have it. It would add a dynamic element to your videos. Great video as always! Could you do a video on track cleaning ?

if i could do what you do i would be one happy soul! you work magic on those old trains.

You might be able to epoxy or solder that crack. On solder, your gun probably won’t work. Use the iron you got.

I've got a single HT E7...but all axles are driven... but there's a short somewhere. You've "Got A Runner! Serenity! "IT'S ALIVE!!!" shouted Frankenstein to his moving monster... Ever seen the Mel Brooks version of that movie? Pure classic! Good job, Harrison. Um, have you ever taken inventory of your locomotives and rollingstock? John British Columbia

The HUGE motor is a Pittman DC-91 - considered to be an O-Scale motor at the time - that Hobbytown modified to fit. With that motor and its weight it could pull paint off the walls.

The company Dorfan, which made O and Standard Gauge trains in the prewar era, made a number of locomotives with bodies made entirely out of diecast metal- almost all of them have been ravaged by zinc pest. And yet, there's people who have managed to repair and restore some of them. Sometimes, diecast products manufactured in east asia suffer from poor quality control in the metal and it's possible for trains made in recent history to have zinc pest issues. Although a rare occurence, some postwar Lionel trains have come down with zinc pest- saw a pretty badly ruined 682 at a show one year that was missing something like half its parts, and the frame was totally destroyed by zinc pest. You always have to be very careful when buying stuff, zinc pest can be very unforgiving!

This video was made on my birthday, what dumb luck!!

The chassis frame of the dummy can be swapped for the powered unit since it isn't broken. The lead horseshoe weight can be coaxed off and silicone glued to the dummy chassis. From there it is just a drivetrain swap. You will need the weight to pull a train. The brass wheels are the achilles heel of these engines. Oxidation will be a problem when it comes to smooth running with that nice and heavy motor. Runs good for now. Consider adding a LED headlight and paint touch up to make it great A A set Harrison.

Persistence gets it done once again. Way to go Harrison.

12:16 Love me a classic structural delete LOL

Am I seeing the color correct ?? That paint should be two shades of gray with the lighter shade of gray for the lighting stripe instead of green and yellow. Those units would look great in New York Central " Century " green which was jade green and with the cigar band herald. Or even solid black with the cigar band herald.

Again a remarkable resurrection. I agree it is fun to watch yur layout details show up. But do you have any video or pix of yur layout befor starting scenery

I hope you use the MRC7000 soon! Love that thing! (It takes skill to use it right! 😎👍🚂💕💕)

Paint chipped on the locomotives and small consist of cars, you can do Penn Central era.

Hobbytown and pennline I believe we’re both made in Philadelphia, my grandfather actually used to go and buy straight from the factory back in the 60s , and I got the chance to convince my than girlfriend to stop at bowser in montorsvilie while we were up that way for a ski trip , I collect all these kit brands as they hold history very close to where I live

That E7 is like an E7C4, with the 4 powered wheels just like an ES44C4 from BNSF

REALLY enjoyed this vid, very satisfying!😊

3D printing or Milling a new chassis out of a bar of brass might be the best option

There is a bad storm coming in to California now. You are best person who can help with Something that I cannot find now. STATE FROMS was going to send me some money for the stuff lost on the boat never gotten it yet it been over 10 days now, I did got some one to clean Jon's house today 8-19th I went to Train club I ran a S.P TRAIN for Jon's 78 Birthday U50 and 2 ALCO RS32 and1 RS11 and a GE U28C pusher on the end

Been waiting for a unboxing video

It's a Pittman motor. Great runner if it works

You said be proud 🎉

Very inspiring for a beginner in the hobby

Actually sounds like it has a sound decoder in it. Like the way it sounds

Smt how is it going with you trying to find swedish locos and rolling stock? Keep up the great work👍👍👍

Great job on that one!