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As you know, the two clip pieces that hold the wheels in were broke when I unboxed it. I got no response from Lionel, so I sent a message to Charles Ro. I received two new clips from Charles Ro today. They were the wrong clips, so I called Charles Ro back. Talked to a wonderful gentleman who told me that the two pieces I got today were sent from Lionel. So now they are going to send me a new complete front pilot. I hope it's the right one, my pilot has a power piece screwed to it.16085765486057373240694624069768

These are the pieces that were broken, part of the circle was missing that holds the pointed axle in place.16085766738924928906027666994460

These are the replacement pieces, to big and fat to fit in the pilot truck.1608576788774914310698546891639

As you can see, this pilot has thin pockets for the clips. The small screw hole is where the copper power clip goes.16085771301883141769221896691807

Here is the copper power piece that the front axle lays up against. I hope to run this before 2021 arrives...

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@DL&W Pete posted:


These are the pieces that were broken, part of the circle was missing that holds the pointed axle in place.16085766738924928906027666994460

These are the replacement pieces, to big and fat to fit in the pilot truck.1608576788774914310698546891639

They're probably for the O Scale Berkshire.

I hope they're going to send you the pilot truck and not the pilot, as the pilot truck is attached to the frame and not the pilot assembly.

Rusty

Had a similar problem on one of my Berk's., with the axle hole having a piece out of it. The front pilot axle fell out when I unboxed the locomotive for the first time. Fortunately I was able to snap the plastic pieces and axle back into place and it is still working fine. Poor design, very delicate cannot take any but the most careful handling!

Do you guys mind a suggestion for a permanent solution to this?.....and this is only a suggestion, those pesky bearings are a PITA in the 3 rail O from both Lionel & MTH, ....I got sick and tired of tracking them down myself, .....never seemed to get the correct one,.....so if you notice, if you put the bearing pieces back in the pilot truck, they will not go up and through, but they’ll surely fall out the bottom, ....so what I’ve done on some pesky offenders is to fashion a retainer cap from .010 sheet brass, and a couple of 2mmX4mm JIS head Phillips screws,......fashion a nice bearing cap, and use a .059 drill bit to make your holes, ....mark your drill bit with tape to set the depth, ( you don’t need much) if you use the .059 drill bit, they’re will be no need to tap the hole, the material is soft enough the JIS screw will gladly cut the threads itself!....those JIS screws are some tough ombré s...I didn’t bother painting this set up since it just circles the Christmas tree for hours on end, ......I know a lot us don’t like modifying stuff like this, but I’m just tossing this out there, it is a proven repair,....and very simple to execute ,....and no more bearings falling out!...that front AF pilot truck looks like it’s got two nice places of meat to take a small hole like that for those screws,...

Pat8BDDF2D1-15BD-4761-A423-CAF380E7BE5A9DFA8A84-0DDC-4DDB-B290-EC3625FB7238

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I had originally planned to put my AF 765 in storage until I had time to set up some track, but after reading all of the issues listed here, I thought it prudent to open up the box and check my front leading truck.  Well, the truck all seems to be intact and fine, but the front coupler was loose in the box along with a screw.  It seems to be a pretty long screw, but I'm assuming that it is the screw used to hold the coupler in the pilot.  I'm also assuming that it's screwed in from the top and not the bottom.  Before I start fooling around with it (and potentially messing something up), I would really appreciate if someone could check their loco and tell me how their front coupler is attached and if this screw looks right?

The other issue I noticed is that one of the trailing truck electrical contacts is bent away from the axle and not making contact.  That looks like a simple fix of removing the screw holding the contact wipers and bending slightly to make contact.  I posted the picture since others may want to check theirs to make sure their contacts are correctly positioned.  It is nice to see that the wipers are on both sides and have pickups for all four wheels on the truck.

Thanks, Mike A.

NKP765aNKP765bNKP765c

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  • NKP765a: NKP 765 Front
  • NKP765b: Front coupler and screw found in the box.  Seems a bit long!
  • NKP765c: Rear trailing truck bent contact.
Last edited by Mikeaa
@Mikeaa posted:

Hey Rich,  Thanks for checking.  That was very helpful.  I was worried about that coupler bar.  I guess I'll have to coax the screw around it.

Mike A.

The uncoupling lever is held on in the bracket slots by friction.  The two outside slots face forward, the two inside slots face the locomotive.  The uncoupling lever can be removed by very carefully sliding the lever ends out of their slots, then moving the bar back to free it from the inside brackets.

It's a little tricky and comes off easier than it goes back on, but it can be done.

Rusty

Last edited by Rusty Traque

The uncoupling lever is held on in the bracket slots by friction.  The two outside slots face forward, the two inside slots face the locomotive.  The uncoupling lever can be removed by very carefully sliding the lever ends out of their slots, then moving the bar back to free it from the inside brackets.

It's a little tricky and comes off easier than it goes back on, but it can be done.

Rusty

Hey Rusty, Thanks for letting me know.  I was worried about getting around that bar.  I do like the look of the dummy coupler on the front and I don't think I will need a working coupler there, but it occurred to me that this may be an opportunity to explore replacing the dummy with a ProtoMax or Kadee coupler on the front pilot.  I do plan to also change out the rear coupler at some point, but that's another project down the road.

Thanks, Mike A.

can someone tell me why there is a electrical contact on the front truck axel , I have disconnected the contact and the engine runs fine I noticed the wire that connects to the wiper on the axel that running thru the chassis had insulation rubbed off and was shorting out. The engine runs better  without the connection I noticed when running true  fast track switches it runs much better no sparks?

it would be nice if Lionel produced schematics on these engines I hate to start taking it apart after the first few weeks of ownership.

It's been 34 days since I received the Berkshire from Charles Ro, I still can't run it. Charles Ro has gone above and beyond to correct the problem. But Lionel customer service is horrible, this is my last purchase of any Lionel product. They got my money, they don't care if I can run the engine or not. Overpriced, poor quality control, inferior design problem and no one cares to even pick up the phone.

GOODBYE LIONEL

latest update on my NPR Berkshire  did get a Return number, waited on the phone for 1:16 minutes before being serviced. the individual I talked to was very pleasant, I am woundering how long this is going to take to get it back.

I really think Lionel should have more people on support no-one should have to wait that long to speak to someone!

Mine met with a slight accident via my wife's foot. One of the ladders broke off (but I have it) and one of the finials on the same side broke and the broken piece appears to be gone forever. That's the bad news. The good news is she didn't mean to do it. I thought perhaps your replacement had a part number. Lionel does not have the Berks listed yet on their parts website. I'll be calling Charles Ro tomorrow.

@FlyerRich posted:

Mine met with a slight accident via my wife's foot. One of the ladders broke off (but I have it) and one of the finials on the same side broke and the broken piece appears to be gone forever. That's the bad news. The good news is she didn't mean to do it. I thought perhaps your replacement had a part number. Lionel does not have the Berks listed yet on their parts website. I'll be calling Charles Ro tomorrow.

I still have the one they sent me, let me know because I don't need this one.

Last edited by DL&W Pete

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