Different gear ratio on AF Engines

The gear ratio was changed after the first run of U33C's in order to run slower.  The second run of U33C's, all SD70's and ES44's have the new gear ratio.

Rusty

Rusty,

I have the SD70 and two of the U-33s, one is the 5702, 6-8191 from 2012 and 5705, 6-42516 from 2014. I just had all three of these in the cradle and as I looked the SD-70 definitely has larger gears on the wheels, the two U-33s the gears on the wheels are the same size. Was other gearing changed on the U-33 engines?

Hello Rusty,

I like fast frights. Do you know if the newer engines can run 70 scale miles per hour or faster?

Regards,

Frank  

I have the first run Erie and both second run D&H U33Cs. While I never did a side by side, I have noticed they do not share the same gear assembly part numbers on the Lionel website. And, the second run locos have a noticeably slower bottom speed.

That should be no problem at all.

As mentioned, early U33c's were geared fast (e.g. my early run SP).  Latter run u-boats, the SD70, and ES44ace were geared down by comparison.  One way to see their relative differences is to create a train or multi-unit lash-up of them on your Cab2 or Cab1 (TR=XY) and then locate them apart from each other, but address them as the MU.  Ran the MU a bit and observe if they keep an even distance apart or if any catches another.  

As far as I'm aware, none of the first run has the newer gearing.  It's not the gears on the wheels that determines the speed, it's the worm on the drive line and worm wheel  gear on the inside axles of the U33's.  The gears by the wheels only transmit motion from the driven wheelset to the other wheelsets in he truck.

Never did a speed trial and am not likely to.  They run fast enough for me and my small railroad.

Rusty

Hello again,

I did get a chance to try the U-33s's together, but not coupled, they ran the same speed. I did then also add the SD-70 to the mix again not coupled together, the SD-70 definitely runs a slower speed.

Ray

Where can one get more information about which U33C and SD70ACe locomotives have the slower or faster gearing in them?  Is there a listing somewhere by model number, catalog they appeared in, etc?

Thanks, Mike A.

See Rusty's first post at the top of this thread.

FlyerRich,

I read Rusty's post last week and if I knew which of these locomotives were released as the "first run" I wouldn't be asking the question I asked.  So telling me to "see Rusty's first post" as you suggested was not a helpful answer at all.

Like I said before, where can one get more information about which U33C locomotives have the slower or faster gearing in them?  Is there a listing somewhere by model number, catalog they appeared in, etc?  If it is only the first run locos, how do you know it is a first run - years or catalogs?  Can you refer me to an old thread about this if it exists?

About the only one I'm pretty sure about is the EL U33C.  I believe that was one of the first ones out so it probably has the faster gearing, but beyond that, I have no idea.  If you or someone else can help me I would really appreciate knowing.

Mike A.

The first run of U33C's were Erie Lackawanna and Southern Pacific.

Rusty

Well, that was an easy answer!  Thank you for responding, Rusty.

Mike A.

Originally Posted by Rusty Traque:

 

Thank you Rusty, That answer clears it up for me also, I now understand that the two Milw Rd engines I have were manufactured after the first run, thus they will run together. Sometimes I don't catch on to fast.

Ray

The first run of U33C's were Erie Lackawanna and Southern Pacific.

 

Rusty

 

The Great Northern, Conrail, Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern U33Cs shown in the Lionel 2010 Vol. 2 catalog are also from the first run.

FlyerRich,

Thanks for letting us know!  When I was searching through the Lionel online catalogs I did see those and wondered about them since they were so early.  So that's helpful to know.  I had to go back to 2009 to find the EL and SP U33C units listed in a catalog.

Thanks, Mike A.

All: Actually, the first run of the U33C's ALSO included a Great Northern unit in the "blue sky" paint scheme. I know this because I purchased one of the first ones to be delivered back around the winter of 2009. These three units all had what has become known as the "faster' gearing; the second run that was released in new road names came with the "slower" gearing. This actually came about as a result of a conversation I had with Jon Zahornacky. I had called him to inquire about something about this new model and during that conversation, he asked how I liked it so far. My response in so many words was I was enjoying it, but wished the gear ratio had been lower as these models weren't being purchased by 8 year olds, but by adults that usually ran them at closer to scale speeds and in switching operations. Jon thanked me for that response as he felt they also should have been lower, but had been "out-voted" on the original issue engine.

I believe the second batch of road names and subsequent releases of the U-boats all have the lower gearing more in-line with the gearing on the SD70MAcs.