Hi Bob--Sorry about your misfortune with 4616. I am pretty sure you
will have great difficulty trying to use Bowser parts for the valve
gear. I recommend you do whatever you can to stop the corrosion. A
chemist can jump in here! Assuming the blackener is an acid, try
giving the valve gear a good soaking in vinegar. For the drivers,
can you scrape around the left side wheels between the tires and hubs
with a sharp object to remove the material bridging across the
insulation? If you must replace the drivers, Bowser parts will most
certainly not be the easiest way to go. I haven't checked NWSL to
see if they have the correct size drivers, but I have had very good
experiences with Greenway at
http://www.greenwayproducts.com/index.shtml
He is very helpful so tell him what you need to do. You might think
of this as a good opportunity to put in a really top notch drive with
a motor from NWSL and an idler gearbox from Precision Scale.

Have fun!

Steve Hoxie
Pensacola FL






--- In PRRPro@..., "Bob Lyon" <rbtwlyon@w...> wrote:

With the new list activity of late, I figured it's time for a brief

(VERY brief) update... unfortunately, time away from the hobby has
been long, weekends all too short, so there has been little progress
made to either 4489 or 4616. However, my Soundtraxx Tsunami (with
the Banshee Whistle as one of its choices) arrived just the other day
for #4489. Can't wait for the chance to plug it in! But it looks
like that's going to have to be after the holidays.

As for 4616, well... despite all better judgment and prior warning,

I got a little crazy with a chemical blackener on the valve gear and
drivers. So the former is now staring to corrode, and the latter all
have bridged gaps. I am now looking to replace the valve gear with
Bowser parts (assuming they can be modified to fit) and either arcing
the driver sets to zap whatever is now filling the gap or replace
them all with either Bowser or NWSL. Problem will be pulling the
wheels off to install the axle bearings, then quartering, etc.
Sigh. Once that's done, though, I should be able to install my Lenz
Gold and Soundtraxx DSX combo without shorting across the drivers.

Another sigh.

Best,

Bob Lyon
Santa Barbara


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