Here is a little update on my JEP 222. As above I had a broken drive wheel. I had questioned how the drive wheels on this early loco were installed on the axles. I thought the hex shaped insert was some sort of nut and perhaps the wheels were threaded. One of them was extremely wobbly. I am not sure if the wheel and brass insert were pressed together or if the wheel was cast around the insert but they were supposed to be locked together as a rib in the wheel hub area fit in the groove on that hub. I contemplated two types of fix. One was cheap and quick and the other would be complex. I opted for the quick one and if that failed I would tackle the complex one.
Cheap and easy fix: Simple... Try some J B Weld ala Steamer Dave. So far it looks to have worked.
Complex fix: If the JB Weld fails, I would turn a new round stepped hub on my lathe and then over bore the wheel hub and press the two together. This would also allow me to make some new brass or bronze bushings for the axles. Maybe next time.
Also note a few other details. 1) The wheel gear is large enough it will jumpity jump through 022 switches. I think that with the later S59 motors this is not the case.
I still have a lot of work to do on this guy but I am happy that it now runs reliably. I'm on the lookout for a set of siderods or I'll make some for the time being. I also am planning to make pilot and trailing trucks using some Lionel spoked trailing truck wheels ( the smaller postwar ones like in a 4 wheel trailing truck on a 2035). This will get me close to a decent looking JEP 222 loco and then I can work on those 37 cm passenger cars. Thanks to Fred and Daniel for their pictures of the lighting pickups I think I can make some that are pretty close to the originals.
Anyway, here are some pictures to go with the running video I posted on the weekly tinplate thread.
