K-line GG-1 power trucks

Might be a very tiny piece of broken metal in the gears or just grit, don't take much to jam up the gears.  Should be able to clean out with a tooth pick or tooth brush...

Marty

File a damage claim with the carrier. Take pictures of the damage. Don't try and fix the loco, or the carrier may reject your claim.

Larry

Once you settle your damage claim with the carrier, order replacement Lionel sideframes from The Train Tender.   They will fit, but you'll have to do a bit of filing.      

RMT and Williams by Bachmann sideframes are a direct dropin replacement, but one needs to have a spare loco as neither sells the sideframes separately, last I checked.  ;-) 

Mitch 

Does the diecast metal on the power trucks look warped or is the metal surface bubbly or pot marked? It could be zinc pest, a degradation of the zinc alloy due to impurities during its manufacturing. Normal shipping could easily have allowed the already compromised metal to fracture.

Either way, replacement is your only option in addition to getting a reimbursement from shipping damage. Mitch has some great ideas above.

Photos of damage. Body shell is perfect. When shipped was only wrapped in craft paper instead of adding outer box.

This is normal on the K Line GG1. Mine did the same thing when I took it out of the box. I actually told the seller but I still gave positive feedback because I knew it was a risk. I got replacements from MTH. As for the engine not running Im not sure. Could be a piece of metal in the gears.

    Don't forget to offer to buy the damaged train for a token amount if they request it is sent back. The pantographs and other parts could make it well worth your while.

   Look at the gauge: Are the wheels tight against the frame? Dont pry, use a wheel puller or you'll just as likely bend an axle.

 Look for skewed wheels. Lay a straight edge across the faces of  the wheels; two at once. Are they true? True to the frame?

Check grease for hardening/clumping, check gear alignment.

Yeah, that's zinc pest on the sideframes.  Alas,  a common occurrence.  I concur on a bit of zinc grit possibly being in the gears; in fact, given the shrapnel in the styrofoam packing,  I can practically guarantee it...  

Mitch 

Alas further inspection has found the bottom of gear-box blown out piece was held up by roller. A shame  as shell is flawless even with the shrapnel in Styrofoam. I guess it is time to file claim. The side frames are available from Brasseur but did not see power trucks.  

  They are very nice shells, and like I said, considering shipping costs, a token offering might get you cheap parts.

  Mine seems to pest free so far, and was the best runner of my three, the others being a MPC and a Williams.

You can probably eBay power trucks... 

Mitch

Have you tried removing the motor from the trucks and see if motor will work???   You might be able to clean out the trucks gears a lot better with the motor removed..

Marty

Martin Derouin posted:

Have you tried removing the motor from the trucks and see if motor will work???   You might be able to clean out the trucks gears a lot better with the motor removed..

Marty

Yes I did remove motors(they run fine) unfortunately this took such a hit that even the one power truck bottom was shattered. I cleaned the other truck and it still locks up.   

I had a couple K Line GG1s with zinc pest on the truck frames. I replaced them with the Lionel ones (with a tiny bit of filing). They look great now.

I am pretty sure I have Lionel and Williams side frames, the only trucks I have are Lionel ones....

Marty

Well I guess this will work out. The seller refunded my purchase price and let me keep the engine! Since the body is perfect that should work out if I can find a suitable chassis.  Since I'm not too adept at much mechanical would need to be easy conversion! Source for Williams chassis?

Is this a TMCC version?

cjack posted:

Is this a TMCC version?

No just a basic version. 

Might be cheaper to just get another from eBay 

Personally, since the motors and E unit are okeh, I'd just shop eBay for power trucks, replace those and enjoy your GG1! 

General rule:  K-line and RMT chassis play well with each other, and Lionel and Williams chassis play well with each other.  Getting a Lionel chassis to work with a K-line shell and vice versa  is problematic at best. 

Mitch 

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Personally, since the motors and E unit are okeh, I'd just shop eBay for power trucks, replace those and enjoy your GG1! 

General rule:  K-line and RMT chassis play well with each other, and Lionel and Williams chassis play well with each other.  Getting a Lionel chassis to work with a K-line shell and vice versa  is problematic at best. 

Mitch 

I was under the impression that K-Line used the Williams molds for the shell. Is that not so?

Two years ago I bought trucks for the K-Line GG-1 from Lionel as they had them in stock.

RoyBoy posted:

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Personally, since the motors and E unit are okeh, I'd just shop eBay for power trucks, replace those and enjoy your GG1! 

General rule:  K-line and RMT chassis play well with each other, and Lionel and Williams chassis play well with each other.  Getting a Lionel chassis to work with a K-line shell and vice versa  is problematic at best. 

Mitch 

I was under the impression that K-Line used the Williams molds for the shell. Is that not so?

Near as I can tell, K-Line reverse engineered their own molds for the GG-1, which RMT then used.  

If you do a search here on OGRR forums,  I detailed my travails in rolling my own GG-1 a year or two back.  Basically, an RMT frame won't work with a Lionel shell without significant modifications. 

https://tinyurl.com/ybr3ehsb

Mitch 

BRIAN WHITE posted:

Two years ago I bought trucks for the K-Line GG-1 from Lionel as they had them in stock.

Got a part number, perchance?  Thanks!

Mitch 

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

BRIAN WHITE posted:

Two years ago I bought trucks for the K-Line GG-1 from Lionel as they had them in stock.

Got a part number, perchance?  Thanks!

Mitch 

I have the K-Line GG1 and bought a RMT one so I could run double headed once they both have ERR cruise.  out of the box the RMT one runs faster, so I can't run them together as is.  As for mechanics, as far as I can tell they are the same, so you can use one as parts for the other.  Maybe even contact RMT and see if they'll help you get the trucks, or at least the chassis.  But if you can get the parts from Lionel, go for it.  Aren't they having a parts sale right now?

Search GG-1 on the Lionel Parts site.

Item 6-21701 Star Spangled GG-1 is a K-Line loco and they seems to have most of the parts listed as in stock other than the body shell.

"Might be cheaper to just get another from eBay"    Well change my user ID to "hard luck Tom"  I did just that and I attach pictures of Result! I guess I need to go to  train show to find one in person!

Oh, dear.  Do the trucks work, at least?  If so, I recommend getting Lionel sideframes from the Train Tender and doing a bit of filing...

Mitch 

When you get the new one just recast in plastic. Buy the silicone casting kit from Hobbylobby or another company and you will have a few or more for about $30. This is very easy to do. I did it with other parts on locos where I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

Tom weaver posted:

"Might be cheaper to just get another from eBay"    Well change my user ID to "hard luck Tom"  I did just that and I attach pictures of Result! I guess I need to go to  train show to find one in person!

Zinc pest or zinc rot isn’t confined to one particular sample. Chances are the whole production run in which the trucks were cast was affected, so I wouldn’t hunt for any more of the K-Line GG-1 power trucks from the same year. The suggestion to modify Lionel trucks is your safest, next easiest bet.

Again, zinc pest is caused by impurities mixed into the zinc alloy when it is its molten state during the casting process. It was a problem in the U.S. at various times, but was largely eliminated after World War II. Subcontractors who supply parts to Chinese manufacturing plants are sometimes poor in their quality control, so the problem shows up from time to time, unfortunately, in our current production models. Still a rare occurrence, but frustrating nonetheless.

Jim R. posted:

Tom weaver posted:

"Might be cheaper to just get another from eBay"    Well change my user ID to "hard luck Tom"  I did just that and I attach pictures of Result! I guess I need to go to  train show to find one in person!

Zinc pest or zinc rot isn’t confined to one particular sample. Chances are the whole production run in which the trucks were cast was affected, so I wouldn’t hunt for any more of the K-Line GG-1 power trucks from the same year. The suggestion to modify Lionel trucks is your safest, next easiest bet.

Again, zinc pest is caused by impurities mixed into the zinc alloy when it is its molten state during the casting process. It was a problem in the U.S. at various times, but was largely eliminated after World War II. Subcontractors who supply parts to Chinese manufacturing plants are sometimes poor in their quality control, so the problem shows up from time to time, unfortunately, in our current production models. Still a rare occurrence, but frustrating nonetheless.

Both These were early production K2780-4892  Later years K2780- 48921C  & K2780-49121C hopefully later ones are ok. 

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Oh, dear.  Do the trucks work, at least?  If so, I recommend getting Lionel sideframes from the Train Tender and doing a bit of filing...

Mitch 

That is what I did. The Lionel side frames work after some filing and fitting. Worked perfect for the one I bought.

Thanks to all the provided suggestions and part #s The photo shows the Following:  on the left are the 2 K-line GG-1s with example of damaged side frames! they bowing in the middle! In middle is a used Williams GG-1 side frame, below that a new set of frames from Brasseur's Electric Trains, on the far right top are 4 power trucks complete with frames from Lionel, and on lower right are a set of side frames again from Lionel for the 2332 GG-1. Thanks to Brian White for part #s and to Lionel for 50% off all parts during their open House!!  Now everything goes to back shop for heavy repairs!!

Tom, glad to help and I hope your GG-1 is back on the mainline soon.

I hope someone is still out there!

I'm looking at a K-Line K2780-4892 Brunswick Green Pennsylvania PRR GG1.  Can I assume that it will probably have that Zink Pest issue?  Are all K2780-4892s prone to this?

Here's a shot from the seller

Thanks - Ponz

Well that's what the 2 GG-1 looked like when I bought them! However during shipment they fell apart. See photo. Both were carefully packed. Both are early models ie no control tmcc or eer  I was able to obtain parts for repair from Lionel as the "Stars and stripes" gg-1 was K-LINE. 

Tom weaver posted:

Well that's what the 2 GG-1 looked like when I bought them! However during shipment they fell apart. See photo. Both were carefully packed. Both are early models ie no control tmcc or eer  I was able to obtain parts for repair from Lionel as the "Stars and stripes" gg-1 was K-LINE. 

Well - I guess it's a throw of the dice...

Ponz