A LOOK AT THE INSIDE, OF THE NEW DREYFUS HUDSON

Cool Alex, looks like a fairly clean installation.

Alex, thanks for posting!

Has Lionel only recently started putting smoke units in the boiler? Keep in mind I have only opened up a few locomotives so far. I'm just curious.

Thanks for posting this though! It cures my curiosity.

Alex,

     Is that my PRR K4 tender in the background? The Hudson looks good too.

JohnB

Hi guys,

Thanks for your comments and input.

Bill it's been a while that Lionel has been putting smoke units in the boiler. It pretty much depends on the type of engine it is.

John, Yes ! that's your K4 LOL

Thanks, Alex

@Alex M gotcha. I'm sure I'll come across some more.

Very interesting. Motor looks stout.

I'm a bit surprised, only two pickups.

@Stinky1 posted:

Very interesting. Motor looks stout.

I can't tell, but if it's the Canon they've been using, they're prone to shedding their brushes inside the motor and shorting out.  Many times, that takes the board with them!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I can't tell, but if it's the Canon they've been using, they're prone to shedding their brushes inside the motor and shorting out.  Many times, that takes the board with them!

Right from the OP video... YIKES:

So, I guess an undersized mabuchi with a sketchy gearbox ,might be a better choice...😉

@RickO posted:

So, I guess an undersized mabuchi with a sketchy gearbox ,might be a better choice...😉

Well, it would be a safer choice, but personally I'd be swapping this piece of junk motor for a Pittman!

@RickO posted:

So, I guess an undersized mabuchi with a sketchy gearbox ,might be a better choice...😉

56mm Pittman is a direct swap save for mounting screw size.

Pete

Good deal Alex. It's pretty cool how this is built up on the inside without any crazy running wires like some other engines.

Thanks Alex!  Really enjoy looking inside these engines.  Glad you are keeping busy.

Thanks Alex!

I always look forward to your excellent reviews.

I love how you are brave enough to open up new locomotives when they arrive. Not all of us can do that.

Best regards,

Stan

@stangtrain posted:

I love how you are brave enough to open up new locomotives when they arrive. Not all of us can do that.

Some would say brave, some would say...  nevermind.

@RickO posted:

So, I guess an undersized mabuchi with a sketchy gearbox ,might be a better choice...😉

I would say no.  The way most 3-rail O gauge locos are made, the gearbox and/or intermediate gears are the hardest thing to replace- you pretty much have to buy a new chassis, which down the road could be hard or impossible to find.  I've seen the threads about shimming the motor mount on the L1 Mikado, etc.  That's a good preventative measure if you own a balky one.  But I find it appalling that as hobbyists we have to come up with band-aid fixes like this on our own!!

This Hudson has a true "gearbox" independent of the motor, which absorbs thrust and maintains a constant mesh between the worm and worm wheel.  It appears to be cast-in.  So it's not replaceable or repairable, and there's no prospect of changing the gear ratio.  But I would still choose this over the setup in the I1/L1 ten times out of ten.  Alex didn't mention the gear ratio or whether it's back-drivable, but most of Lionel's larger steam locos with Legacy do have back-drivable gears, and that's a good thing!

If you can't live with the risk of motor failure, this design makes it easy to replace the motor.  But Pittman motors have become expensive and a little hard-to-find themselves.  @gunrunnerjohn could some type of fusing, or "safety circuit" be devised, to be placed between the motor and the board stack, preventing the cascade failure you describe?

Regarding the number of pickups, I agree that two is too few.  However, historically, unlike MTH, Lionel has also installed pickups on its tender trucks.  So they could be bridged to the loco with a tether if needed for reliable operation.  I'm not really a fan of streamlined steam.  But IMO the mechanical pedigree of this one seems to be above-average.

@Ted S posted:

If you can't live with the risk of motor failure, this design makes it easy to replace the motor.  But Pittman motors have become expensive and a little hard-to-find themselves.  @gunrunnerjohn could some type of fusing, or "safety circuit" be devised, to be placed between the motor and the board stack, preventing the cascade failure you describe?

If you don't want to stick the Pittman in, you could use a 3A trip PTC, that would be reasonable protection.  I'd still rather have the Pittman.

@Ted S posted:

Regarding the number of pickups, I agree that two is too few.  However, historically, unlike MTH, Lionel has also installed pickups on its tender trucks.  So they could be bridged to the loco with a tether if needed for reliable operation.  I'm not really a fan of streamlined steam.  But IMO the mechanical pedigree of this one seems to be above-average.

Well, actually, virtually all the Lionel TMCC and Legacy steam has pickups on the tender as most of them also have the IR link between the locomotive and tender and no physical wired connection.  If you're gonna' have sound, you need electricity.

Alex,

Always appreciate you taking engines apart showing us the nuts and bolts and details of engines. It always a learning experience.

@Norton

Do you have a specific location, website to you get that 56m motor?

I might try this even though I have never swapped a motor on a VisionLine.

Might just give it a whirl.

Thank you

Alex thanks for posting looks like a clean installation nice video Alan Mancus

@PSU1980 posted:

Do you have a specific location, website to you get that 56m motor?

Talk to me really nice.