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3rd Rail Hudson Valve Gear Repair

KarlDLKarlDLOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I have the 3rd Rail Dreyfuss, ESE, and Super J3a Hudsons produced together 10-13 years ago.  While undergoing troubleshooting and resolution of the ESE's excessive track power draw (caused by a mis-wired internal connector from the tachometer sensor board and resultant board failure), one valve gear pin on each side was bent and sheared and one linkage within the Baker gear setup fell off.  Obviously, I can't safely run the locomotive on my layout until this linkage matter is resolved.

Back in April 2020, forum member Norton described replacing the valve gear on a 3rd Rail Super J3a Hudson via the Precision Scale Baker kit.  What he didn't discuss in his post was the level of difficulty involved in executing this replacement.  While I do have an illuminated magnifier, my fingers aren't all that good for the manipulation and placement of micro components.  I'm quite sure that I could not restore the existing valve gear by replacing the pins and restoring the fallen links.

Accordingly, I seek opinions of others who have been down this road as to the degree of difficulty and dexterity required to implement the Precision Scale Baker kit.  It's not a matter of the $30 cost, but rather one of getting hopeful and then finding myself unable to execute the "fix".

Last edited by KarlDL
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N NortonOGR Forum Member

Karl, the hard part is finding the parts. I believe I used PSC rivets, not part of the Baker valve gear parts to replace the sheared off rivets. I also used an eccentric rod from a Lionel 700E Vision Hudson as its length was close if not exact. I had to drill a hole inboard on an existing hole by about a 1/16”.

Post some pics so we can see whats required.

Pete

KarlDLKarlDLOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
@dkdkrd posted:

Karl...

I'm going to assume you're well aware of Roy Aydelotte in Grawn, MI...'down the road' from you.  One of the short list of recommended folks for 3rd Rail Out-of-Warranty repair assistance per Scott Mann's website??

KD

Roy and I are in the same club and were a year apart, in the same major, at our alma mater, so I'm well aware of him, but he has a long backlog of work right now and isn't taking on new projects.

KarlDLKarlDLOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
@Norton posted:

Almost looks like you could just use straight pins to replace the broken ones with a dab of CA in the inboard hole?

Pete

Will investigate.  The good news is that I have the Dreyfuss and Super as uninjured examples to match repairs to.  The bad news involves hand stability and miniature-work skills.  Probably need to pull the boiler to fully assess the situation.

N NortonOGR Forum Member
@KarlDL posted:

Will investigate.  The good news is that I have the Dreyfuss and Super as uninjured examples to match repairs to.  The bad news involves hand stability and miniature-work skills.  Probably need to pull the boiler to fully assess the situation.

Shell comes off fairly easily. Two tiny screws at the back of the cab and a larger one above the front truck.

Pete

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