Walthers Polydrive 060 switcher 1940-41

Neat engine Carey, can we get a look at an under body shot of the polydrive?

Hello ..here is a link to see a Walthers Northern with Polydrive running showing chassis

https://youtu.be/UVm3FVWHpd4

Thanks, visually impressive drive in action. What was the knock against these again?

They at least look powerful here.

More gears = more noise and more friction.  That, plus added expense.

One could use NWSL or CLW gearboxes, and have a relatively quiet mechanism, but still have the added friction and expense.  Plus, there is a quartering problem to deal with.

In the 1946 & 47 Walthers catalog they have a laundry list of what will be "improvements" ..pointing out all the shortcomings .....alas post war production never seems to have happened ..

the Tenite ( plastic)  driver hub& spokes crack at the axle ..screws strip out

motor only mounts on front ..... too much bounce

aluminum frame filled with many holes for all the bits ..are flexible ( twist)

Walthers did supply engines for the 1939 World's Fair claiming they were Poly-drive .... I have one of the engines ...no Poly drive .. 

Post war   GMC / All Nation did a great job reworking all the bits from the Varney 460 into many steamers big and small ....and the quality worked .... and found a market for several decades .......  Walthers polydrive ... not so fortunate ...  with luck I'll be posting some photos and video of there Northern    ..the biggest offered .. also have a Mike and Mogul  both run  ok + -  ( all with the  polydrive ) ...darn few seem to be out there these days .

Cheers Carey

Carey,

  You have another beauty. Congrats!

Tom

I’ll throw this out as I have a Walthers 0-6-0 missing a set of drivers. Been contemplating trying to 3D print some centers but wondering if we cound get the fidelity at the axle mounting point. I could machine some rims no problem.

I'd just keep an eye on ebay ...sooner  or later more poly drive bits will surface .....  I'm missing a boiler front from a 060 / Mogul  .. ... all things surface in time .....  I have an extra drive unit ...but no extra wheels sorry

I think (and I may be wrong) that there is currently a Pacific up for grabs on eBay that might be a "Polydrive" model. I put in a rather low bid (just for kicks), so one of you will no doubt end up with it.

Here's a picture taken from the site of the underside:

Type in "Vintage Brass Toy Train Engine Tender Locomotive NY Central 5314"...and let us know what you think.

Mark (still) in Oregon

I saw that too - very poor shape, but the polydrive caught my eye. Would be cool to see it restored.

So you also think it's a Walther's engine (?) What I found interesting is the "solid" trailing truck: kinda reminds me of the HO scale type from a John English kit. I checked my 1941 Walther's catalog to see if I could find a picture: sure enough, on page 11 there is a photo of their 4-4-2. It shows a similar truck. Fun stuff.

Mark in Oregon

It could be. I'm sure it's polydrive, but I don't know enough to say that it's a Walthers kit.

I think ( and again am not 100% positive) that polydrive was a Walthers "innovation". Hopefully Carey or someone will chime in...

Mark in Oregon

Oh, I know it was - it's just possible someone purchased polydrive components for a scratch built locomotive, though there's a better chance that this was a Walthers kit itself. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Got it.

In reading the '41 catalog regarding the Pacific, it seems that Walthers supplied the poly drive chassis...it was then up to the purchaser to come up with the rest...I think.

Mark in Oregon

I don't think real accurate quartering would be needed with the poly drive.    You need very accurate quartering when the side rods carry the power from the geared drivers to the others to maintain smooth power and avoid lockups etc.

With poly drive, the drivers are all driven from the internal shaft  and rods just ride along like the old Lionel and what not from 50s and such.    The rods on those old toy trains, even the nice were just along for the ride.    The better ones had most of the stuff needed but it carried no load.   So if there is no load the rods can be bored out sloppy if the quartering is a little off and the worst that will happen is a little noise.

Another thought, poly drive is not a whole different it appears than what we get on most O scale diesels with gearboxes on each axle connect to a single gear tower.    My newest SD9 has all axle powered with gearboxes all connected to a single shaft and gear tower is a good recent example from Sunset.

@prrjim posted:

With poly drive, the drivers are all driven from the internal shaft  and rods just ride along like the old Lionel and what not from 50s and such.    The rods on those old toy trains, even the nice were just along for the ride.    The better ones had most of the stuff needed but it carried no load.   So if there is no load the rods can be bored out sloppy if the quartering is a little off and the worst that will happen is a little noise.

American Flyer engines actually had just one driven axle with functional connecting rods, so there's an exception to this.

Polydrive is pretty interesting... it probably was an attempt to make quartering easier, but it seems to have just ended up introducing more problems.

In any case, let's hope that whoever ends up with this Pacific will be able to do it justice... which of course, leaves me out!

Mark in Oregon