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I've been exercising long stored locomotives now that I've got track up.  Yesterday, it was my Flyer Y3.  Now that I can view it at more or less eye level, I noticed an issue.  It runs fine, but there's a manufacturing flaw that I never noticed before.
GPG 122121 [1)
The rear engine on the fireman's side has the eccentric crank in the wrong position.  The crank and linkage on the prototype drives the valve in the steam chest that controls steam volume to the cylinders, along with controlling forward and reverse.  Prototype locomotives could have the crank in either the leading (in reference to the axle) or following position, but not both.
Y3 122221 [3)
A quick investigation shows the crank is keyed to the driver and can't be repositioned.  I discovered there are right and left driver castings as determined by a key-way and my Y3 has two right drivers on the rear engine.  Arrggh...  The front engine is has the eccentric in the correct position on both sides.
It's way too late to claim warranty and a replacement driver (has the gear, whereas the same driver on the front engine doesn't have the gear) is listed as "unavailable."  I didn't dig any deeper, but I doubt it will be an easy fix otherwise so I'll just have to live with it.  99.9% of guys probably wouldn't notice this, but it's now something I can't unsee and can't help being moderately disappointed.  The Flyer Y3 is a really nice locomotive otherwise.
Rusty

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  • Y3 122221 (3)
Last edited by Rusty Traque
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Wow, sharp eyes!  This may be a long shot, bu maybe you can remove that driver and axle and flip it so that the left wheel is on the right and right on the left.  If the gears will allow it, that is and if the crank is wrong on the other side too.  The way I see it, that would be the best solution,  otherwise, try to UNsee it as well as you can. 

@poniaj posted:

Wow, sharp eyes!  This may be a long shot, bu maybe you can remove that driver and axle and flip it so that the left wheel is on the right and right on the left.  If the gears will allow it, that is and if the crank is wrong on the other side too.  The way I see it, that would be the best solution,  otherwise, try to UNsee it as well as you can. 

Nope, the gear is offset, plus that wouldn't solve the issue.   The right and left driver castings have the key-way in different positions anyway.

The only solution I can see would be to order a front #3 driver, pull off the wheel and install it on the rear #3, assuming I could get it quartered properly.  Way too much work for what the issue is.  I might investigate the key-way at a later date, but for now I'll live with it.

Rusty

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@Ukaflyer posted:


Any chance of changing the profile of the crank pin where it goes into the wheel to make it fit?  

Unfortunately, no.  There are two keys 180 degrees apart on the eccentric crank.  These would have to be reconstructed in the correct orientation.

I see two options: Remove the keys entirely and rely on the crankpin screw to hold it in position.  The other option would be to drill two holes in the driver and narrow the keys to fit the holes.

More work than I want to go into at this point.

Rusty

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@Chuck K posted:

OK Rusty, now you have spread the disease and I can't unsee it either. Mine is the same.

However, I checked my Challenger and it is correct.

Sorry!   It only took me almost a decade to notice it!

I did find a YouTuber whose Y3 rear engine is correct:

So, the issue isn't on all of the models.  But, now that I see that mine isn't a one-off, my guess is the assembler was issued a bin of the wrong part at one time (or they got mixed up from the vendor.  I worked in a manufacturing plant for 16 years, such things do happen.)  Most likely it would a 50/50 shot a replacement would also be incorrect.

It's a chink in the armor of what is probably Lionel's best Flyer locomotive.

Rusty

Last edited by Rusty Traque

Nope, the gear is offset, plus that wouldn't solve the issue.   The right and left driver castings have the key-way in different positions anyway.

The only solution I can see would be to order a front #3 driver, pull off the wheel and install it on the rear #3, assuming I could get it quartered properly.  Way too much work for what the issue is.  I might investigate the key-way at a later date, but for now I'll live with it.

Rusty

Why not order the front #3 wheel assembly anyway and just pull the crank pin out and swap it over?

The front #3 doesn't have the gear.  The wheel would have to be pulled off and placed on the rear #3 axle, plus more importantly be quartered properly.

More work than I care to go into right now.

Rusty

Hi Rusty,



i’m a bit confused now. Is the problem part the eccentric crank that connects to the bit on the wheel or is it the bit that is attached to the wheel?

If it is the bit that is attached to the wheel only then that is what I was thinking about by getting the front wheel assembly which is known to be good and just pull the crank pin from the wheel which is attached to the engine still and then put on the front spare crank pin, that way you are not having to mess with too much stripping down and any quartering.

@Ukaflyer posted:

Hi Rusty,



i’m a bit confused now. Is the problem part the eccentric crank that connects to the bit on the wheel or is it the bit that is attached to the wheel?

If it is the bit that is attached to the wheel only then that is what I was thinking about by getting the front wheel assembly which is known to be good and just pull the crank pin from the wheel which is attached to the engine still and then put on the front spare crank pin, that way you are not having to mess with too much stripping down and any quartering.

The issue is with the driver.  There are slots on the #3 drivers to accept the keys on the crankpin.  The slots are in different locations on the right side driver vs. the left side driver.

This drawing shows the current issue:

The drawing shows the correct locations for each:

It is the slot on the drive wheel that determines the angle of the crankpin.  It why the drive wheel itself would have to be replaced with a 'Left side" and of course, quartered properly.

Rusty

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  • mceclip1
  • mceclip2

The issue is with the driver.  There are slots on the #3 drivers to accept the keys on the crankpin.  The slots are in different locations on the right side driver vs. the left side driver.

This drawing shows the current issue:

The drawing shows the correct locations for each:

It is the slot on the drive wheel that determines the angle of the crankpin.  It why the drive wheel itself would have to be replaced with a 'Left side" and of course, quartered properly.

Rusty

Got it now, I can see the problem. There was me thinking that a simple solution could be found.

I’d slot the existing driver where it needs to be,….is the indexer integral to the driver?..or is it a separate pressed in part?….I’m not familiar with how modern Flyers are built,…..MTH O Premier has a separate indexer/ crank pin arrangement….they can be pushed out, re-aligned and re-installed …..but it’s rarely a problem, as they have 4 keys, giving quite a few possibilities…….

Pat

Hum.......................does your engine run smoothly......................does it crawl................do you enjoy watching it  run.......................then leave it alone..................do not open a pandorra box...........if you want to complain about something then try gas prices and food prices.

Jackie

Frankly, the issue with the left rear engine has lessened my enjoyment of the locomotive, (It's one of those things that happen when one is familiar with working on prototype steam locomotives) just not to the point where I have to try to correct it immediately.

And don't ask about groceries or gas...

Rusty

Last edited by Rusty Traque

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