I picked up this can-motored Bild-a-Loco pack on the Bay the other day, and I am wondering whether it is a commercial product or something somebody built in his garage. As you can see, it's a Bild-a-Loco frame with a very big can motor (no flywheel). It has some sort of gear tower in it. I assume it is a worm drive because the wheels don't turn by hand. It appears both axles are geared. It has MEW wheels, which do have the studs to mount gears on one side, but no gears on the wheels. I pulled the roller plate, but there is a cover plate under it and I didn't want to mess with it any further at that time. Another interesting point is that it has a lot of added weight. The whole package is built around weights - it weighs four pounds, compared to three for a regular BAL with mechanical e-unit.
As you can see, there's a rectifier and DPDT toggle for a reverse switch. I gave it a brief test run and it ran smoothly in both directions with no hint of binding or other problems. I'm thinking of putting it in a Williams repro 381E that I'm going to repaint black. Unfortunately it has steam wheels, which means I will want to change the wheels to use it on a 381E.
Does anyone recognize this package? I'm thinking it might have come from one of the small-scale makers of Standard Gauge that have gone in and out of business over the past 30 years or so. If it's homemade, it was built by somebody with serious machinist skills. What do I have here?
