Lionel 18003 can motor?

Haven't done this one, but did do a 777 Commodore Vanderbilt. That and an ERR Cruise Commander turned a dog of a loco into a real nice running machine.

That chassis is pretty much the same as a postwar J 746......a buddy of mine did a Timko swap on his with ERR cruise....it’s a nice runner, way better than the coffee grinder you got now.....believe his is a warhorse J, bit again pretty much the same type of chassi...

I did a Timko conversation on my Warhorse J with a 3rd Rail ERR Cruise Commander. It’s based off the postwar J and it runs really quiet. It will not creep like modern engines due to the gearing, but on speed step 4 or 5 (out of 100) it runs very well. Much better than the pull-more.

Thanks for the feedback so far. Digging around in the forum, I did see some people report the can motor can run hot due to the tall gearing of the engine. I also read the motor takes up most of the cab which would mess up the nice backhead detail insert I bought which was made for the later NP 2626 4-8-4 so that might be a deal breaker.

Anyone report excessive heat with the cans?

No heat issues. I did lose the bulkhead in the cab. I still have the figures, but the motor and flywheel sit between them. 

SPFord27 posted:

No heat issues. I did lose the bulkhead in the cab. I still have the figures, but the motor and flywheel sit between them. 

If one of the little fellas leans over he’s gonna get one h*** of a brass rash!......

   I've only ever read of one dissatisfied person with a Timco conversion. They lost tourque, but gained a generally smoother running engine. IMO, the mistake was in their expectations and failure to talk to him while actually listening.

  If smoothness is more important, there's your answer. He's been doing this for a long time. I doubt you could find anyone with that much experience, or doing better work, let alone at his prices; which I thought were very reasonable.  

Huh, all the other posts after Roy didn't show until I posted.

I have a couple of the Reading T1 locomotives with the Timko can motor conversion.  The motor used is fairly small, but since the T1 doesn't have traction tires, it's somewhat self-limiting as to overloads, the wheels just spin.   I upgraded one with all the command goodies, it's a decent runner, just doen't pull as big a load as my new Legacy Reading T1.