Lionel Cowen's Hobby Shop problem

I have the Madison Hardware version.  I've never had a problem with it, but this is a great question to ask.

I'd love to read someone's actual experience with this.  It is one of my all-time favorites.

Jerry

It's a great accessory.  I have disassembled pictures at home that I'll post tonight.

Cool story, well told.

Gary

Here you go. All screws on base plate

JerryG

Interesting looking layout.  Any more pictures in another thread?  Not trying to hijack this thread

Bill

Hearncl:   Looking forward to seeing the post from MartyE.  I've never seen the hobby shop disassembled. (hope I never have to do it)

Ogaugenut:  I haven't posted a video for a while.  This is a toy train layout, shaped to fit in three narrow rooms, and around existing structures.  I also have a large overhead layout that goes around most of the rec room.  That one is safely out of the way of the bar, card table, games, and especially, the poker group.

The video is of the entire table layout. The hobby shop is right at the beginning, but is hardly a focal point for this video.  There are lots of trains, going lots of places, on lots of levels.  Two conventional, two DCS, two bump and go trolleys, and three LCP's.  Powered by one Z4000, one PW ZW, and one 80 watt Lionel for the longer trolley line.

Like most of us train guys, I keep adding backdrops, led lighting, and scenic elements.  I get lots of ideas from the guys posting to this forum.  It will never be finished.

Jerry

Here's what I got.  Not sure it helps get you to the drive mechanism though.  I had to replace the diode string to fix mine.

I have some others that were posted by someone else on the forum, can't remember who. Maybe they will be of some help.

Thanks to all the help, trains are running again in my Cowen's Hobby Shop. I ended up removing all bottom screws (more than 40). The problem was friction in the drive mechanism due to age of the lubricants. I purchased the Hobby Shop in January as new, but it was last cataloged in 2009 and had probably been sitting in storage. I cleaned off some of the grease (see pictures) and added a drop of oil to all the bearings I could reach. I didn't open the gear box since this required removing several gears from their shafts. 

As seen in the pictures, my version uses a gear train to connect the gear box to the two side layouts, rather than a belt drive. Notice all the residual grease. I don't know if this fix will last, but it was an interesting exercise.

Thanks guys, I haven't had any problems with my unit, but I will save all the above just in case.

MartyE posted:

Here's what I got.  Not sure it helps get you to the drive mechanism though.  I had to replace the diode string to fix mine.

What was the reason you replaced diode pack, mine was wired wrong by mistake, (power on both hydrants) and now, i only get light's, no motion, hoping i too, just need to replace diode string

I think I did the same. It was a long time ago. 

If anyone knows the diodes and order to assemble, it will bring another great piece back to life, i read some 1N4001  or something not sure....thanks in advance