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well another Niagara gears and drive shaft gone. On the Lionel site it says the gears are available through Lima, but they would be the original plastic gears again. Any info out there about stronger aftermarket gears and drives shaft. 

Thnaks

alex 

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Last edited by Alex M
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Alex, I am working on finding gears. No real luck at the three main suppliers, PIC design, WM Berg or Stock Drive Parts. I have found one that might work for the smaller 13 tooth gear but no match for the 19 tooth. I plan to check out the RC shops. I have a set of gears from Lima I will use to match up. I doubt there will be any exact replacements but at least hope to find match gear diameters and pitches. Then machine to fit. Not interested in paying 85 bucks each to have them custom cut. 

As for the U joint I am using one from Stock Drive parts but also have a pair of metal ones from eBay. Search on 4mm U joints and you will see them. Just use a piece of 4 mm rod to join them. I am busy now but can email more info later.

 More info here:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...l-nyc-niagara-owners

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...40#41553382150830740

Pete

Last edited by Norton

Alex,

Is that mine or Jeff's unit? Both of us blew the gearing pull lite consists. Great .pictures

Wow, that is ugly. Maybe I should hand over my other unit and have you do a rebuild before it breaks. Plastic - can't believe Lionel used without a major life cycle test - but plastic all to save a few bucks.

Hopefully, we can get it back on the tracks.

 

Thanks guys for all the great info, Kevin this is Jeff's engine. The 4mm drive shaft is a good idea but the bigger issue is the plastic gears in the gear box. Being they are plastic even if i replace them with new one's they can easily strip again. Like Chuck and Pete said above it's not easy to find Metal or brass gears. Pete is on the hunt for metal or brass gears, let's hope he can find them so we can repair these engine's the right way. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks,

Alex

Alex,

Read the OGR forum chain on these gears and drive shafts. I would suspect that my second engine will experience the same issue. Unfortunate that Lionel used plastic on a key piece. Crappy QA and I would be hard pressed to belief they did a life cycle test on the gear and shaft. Strong QA and testing would have identified this issue. Nylon gears could work if engineered properly. If I had to pay for them to be cut as suggested - I will just to have the engine functional. Would purchase a few sets just to have them and to reduce costs for all that need them

Hopefully Pete and Chuck are successful. 

Has anyone thought of contacting Sunset Limited to see if they have these items or something close?

Anyways, we will wait until you all get it settled.

Mikado 4501 posted:

I can imagine if Lionel redoes this engine with Legacy (and I do say IF), they'll fix this problem and the replacement gears for that one will be metal or some other stronger material. Then, people can use those on the older CC models, too.

In this era of Lionel ordering their spare parts by buying extra complete units and then disassembling them stateside, what good will that do?  There quite likely won't be enough extras for people with the old engine to all buy a set.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681

Mine has been self-benched due to a cherry switch failure.  Not thrilled to find out about a nylon drive gear problem that I didn't know I had to look forward to as well.

Kind of stupid meshing metal with nylon.  Had the same problem with my 71 Pontiac having nylon teeth on the timing gear.  Teeth started breaking, clogging the oil filter and pump, and loosening up the timing chain - made the car run funny.

It's the oil that causes the nylon to become brittle and fail.

Fred

These CC-2 engines were supposed to be the latest and greatest from big-L at the time and we see the faults with them now!

Now the VisionLine is the latest and greatest,has anyone opened up a gearbox in one of them and see if Lionel is still using nylon gears? Even with Legacy electronics are they still not using the cherry switch or did they change to the hall effect sensor?  I do like Gunrunner Johns deal with his optical sensor and hope he gets it together and to market ,I just don't care for the reed switch and magnets,never had good luck with it.

Just my 2 cent's,Doug

J, The RC shops are my next stops. Its highly unlikely anyone makes a drop in replacement. I am hoping to find some gears with the correct profile that I can modify. If anyone else wants to help with the search the basic dimensions are as follows.

Small Gear, 13T, OD .410", width .132" with a .125" (1/8") center hole.

Large gear, 19T, OD .576", width .132" with a .125" center hole.

Number of teeth and OD are the most important. If its wider or has a smaller or no center hole then it could be machined to fit. Anodized aluminum or mild steel preferable, also delrin. Less desirable stainless steel or brass.

Don't ask me about pressure angles or mods. A real "gearhead" ME would help here.

Pete

Last edited by Norton

This always upsets (well, you know...) me when it comes up. The Niagara is my second-favorite loco (guess #1) and I have a Lionel, an MTH and more-than-one Samhongsa (Williams) version. The Lionel is the best-looking, and has been a problem-child from day 1 - my gears are still fine, but the driveshaft split (fixed). 

I hope one of you guys comes up with a "kit" for this (gears and joint) - I'll buy at least one, maybe two. I would pay a decent price for it. (Wouldn't it be nice if someone - oh, say, Lionel, just to be crazy - did just that? Not for free; I'd pay.)

BTW, my MTH PS2 Niagara is an awful runner (surges) and, even at Factory Defaults, won't answer my DCS Remote Commander; it will get ERR one day. Lionel sound is better (this is not  new loco). MTH uses plastic in it's steam drive trains, also. Don't know about the gears, but a Premier Hudson that I ERR-installed this year has plastic driveshafts and u-joints. Saw them myself.

The Samhongsa brass Niagara (with ERR) seems to be a tank. Tracks better (sprung), too. A bit typically "brass-noisy".

Last edited by D500

Alex, like many engines from that series, I would guess Lionel (that Lionel) was hoping people would put them under glass and not run them.  Lionel today would never put out something that poor.  Lionel today is the best ever.  I sold my Lionel Niagara and informed the buyer of what may happen.  I have worked on so many of those I can do them in my sleep.   I get the drive shaft from Lionel.

 

I would like to see that engine in Legacy with all the bells and whistles.  Ryan who is in charge of the high end locomotives would do it right.  He is aware of what was and he is the man that will bring us better locomotives.  

 

With all the problems that engine has, I have seen them drop big time in price.  They are very pretty but it is what it is.  At this time, I have my first MTH Niagara outfitted with a new PS-32 board.  It is great.  I will keep it until Lionel does one in Legacy.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

Dumb question - has anyone asked Lima if the make the gear in brass or stainless steel? I would think that with all the traffic on the topic we might be able to get them to make a small lot. I would need at least two but would take 4 or 5. Why? I have 2 CCII Niagara's.

I have to believe we could get a minimum order. Heck, I am willing to pay up if enough folks want to.

K

I hope you guys can come up with something on the gears.  Much easier to replace than a gear box.

Protocraft sells gearboxes, as does NWSL (I believe).  As you know, not a simple swap from the Lionel one...

I just reworked a drive-it sucked.  Shimming of the drive to frame for proper fit, spacers (custom machined) for axle/drive wheel, and quartering (that really sucked).  There were other issues, but those come to my head quickly.  

Colorful language was said many times during the project....

NOT impossible-but not for the faint of heart to say the least.

Last edited by 86TA355SR

I think the small gear is 14 teeth and not 13.  It is a little hard to see in the pictures.

I think you could buy a spur gear from Stock Drive and carefully file the teeth to mate with the worm.  

Years ago, I made a spur gear for a 44 Ton GE loco.  Wasn't exactly precise, but it worked.  This was probably 40+ years ago.

 

It would help if you could make an estimate for the pitch diameter.  Gears are not specified by OD, but by pitch diameter.  Look it up on Internet.  It is likely that it is a metric gear even though it has a 0.125 bore.  The metric gears are specified by the tooth to tooth distance measured at the pitch diameter.

Once upon a time, in the far distant past, Stock Drive had pictures of gears in their catalogs.  You could take a gear and lay it on the picture and see if you could match the tooth profile.  You might ask SD if they have pictures?

servoguy posted:

I think the small gear is 14 teeth and not 13.  It is a little hard to see in the pictures.

I think you could buy a spur gear from Stock Drive and carefully file the teeth to mate with the worm.  

Years ago, I made a spur gear for a 44 Ton GE loco.  Wasn't exactly precise, but it worked.  This was probably 40+ years ago.

 

I think it's 13. You can count the stubs on the gear box I fixed. I ended up using the Lima gears.image1

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Last edited by cjack
servoguy posted:

I think the small gear is 14 teeth and not 13.  It is a little hard to see in the pictures.

I think you could buy a spur gear from Stock Drive and carefully file the teeth to mate with the worm.  

Years ago, I made a spur gear for a 44 Ton GE loco.  Wasn't exactly precise, but it worked.  This was probably 40+ years ago.

 

Like Chuck says its 13. I have a set of new ones I hope to match up with an actual replacement. Stock drive has a 13 tooth that might work but I haven't found a 19T there with a similar description. Before I start fabricating gears I will try and check all avenues for a ready made solution.

 

Pete

Just an update. I am fairly positive these gears are metric, .7 Modulus. The pitch diameter of the 13t gear is 9.1mm, the PD of the 19T gear is 13.3 mm. 

Stock Drive parts has these gears in acetal. I could not find any in metal that fit this description at SDP.

The search goes on. A trip to the hobby shop yielded a 13t 32 pitch gear which proved to be too big. Others like me new to this stuff, pitch is a term used in english measurement and modulus is used for metric gears. 

 

One other thing. These gears are clearly spur gears. The teeth are straight across. The 13t gear is used as a worm gear which compromises the contact area. Might be one of the reasons for the high failure rate.

Pete

Last edited by Norton

Wow Alex,

Thanks for the heads up. It is really disappointing to learn that Lionel would allow a cheap gear system to be built into one of their top of the line Century Club engines. 

Question,

If I use a lubricant such as Red and Tacky in the lubricating holes under this engine will this cause deterioration of the non metal gears in this engine, or does applying lubricant in these areas only effect the axel bearings?

I have never opened up one of these engines, that is why I send them to you.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy New Yeay to you and the family.

Richard

 

Frank Timko indicated he might have some gears.  He said to send him the gears and he can look for a match.  My Niagara is not apart, so I don't have any around to send.  I suggest one of you who knows the specifics get in touch with him.  If he doesn't have them, he may be able to point you off to a source.

 

My order from Stock Drive Parts just arrived. I can tell you all for sure the Lionel gears are metric. Modulus .7, 3mm wide with a 3 mm diameter by 11 mm long center shaft. 13 and 19 teeth.

SDP only shows acetal AKA delrin gears in this size. Delrin is a much better material than nylon but I would preferred aluminum or mild steel. 

The SDP gears are not drop in replacements but will have to be reduced in width and sleeved.

I am only passing this information on. I have no interest in going into the gear replacement business.

Pete

Last edited by Norton

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