Making a dummy out of a K-Line EP-5 conventional engine

You can order replacement pilots from Lionel, $14 each.  You should be able to pull the motors and leave the gear train in the trucks in place.  Not sure about the rest of the wiring harness.  Directional lighting may require some additional work

I had the same pilot issue purchased a couple of spares from Brasseur Electric Trains. From a recommendation made on this forum, had them in 2 days.

 

I did the same thing with one of my locomotives....all you have to do is unplug the motors or if they are hard wired, just cut the wires (or unsolder them).  The rest of the electronics will work.

 

Alan

DJ, funny you should bring this up. There's a K-line Ep-5 on E-bay with a broken front pilot. Don

I don't think it's funny!  I have 3, three, THREE examples of this.  Two occurred in shipping and one "spontaneously" just after replacing with a "new" part.  There is clearly a problem with defective parts on this type of engine.

 

Lionel is out of stock.  Brasseur had some.

If you just remove motors and not some of the gears, isn't there a lot of friction?

This issue with the K-Line EP-5 pilots has come up before. From his comment above, I think bpdBill was in on that. I may have been the one who suggested Brasseur - that's were I got my replacements. It seems to be a very common problem.

 

Two things about this...first, I recall there was an issue with Chinese diecast processes at the time, using inferior metals or incorrect formulas, which resulted in brittle diecast parts. Atlas O has this issue for a time as well. Second, the pilot part itself is not well designed, with only two narrow metal strips holding the pilot, so it's very prone to break.

 

I had two different NH EP-5s with broken pilots that came that way in shipping. Also, the little extensions at each end of the trucks on these engines are another piece  that is very brittle, and break easily. I imagine some owners may not have even known they were supposed to be there because they broke off before they got their engines! Cosmetically (and fortunately), this isn't a big deal, however - they're tiny and not really noticable.

DJ, cool it. If you read my post, I didn't think it was funny yours broke. I had never heard of this problem and then when looking through the K-line listing on E-bay I saw someone was selling the same engine with the same problem. Funny I saw the same problem minutes after reading your post. I'll try to use a more sensitive word nextime. Don

Well, I don't think it's appropriate to tell me "to cool it."

 

I have noticed a lot of people telling a lot of other people just what to do on these forums, and I don't think it's appropriate.  There is a grand amount of good advice on these forums from good people, but there is an undercurrent of poor manners and bad behavior.

 

I am removing myself from these forums.

flounce /flouns/ Verb: Go or move in an exaggeratedly impatient or angry manner: "he stood up in a fury and flounced out".

DJenner, in my very humble opinion, I don't think there was anything at all wrong with scale rail's comment "funny you should bring that up." You should know that this is a common way of saying, in essence, "that's interesting that you should bring that up because I came across something similar," or words to that effect. Indeed, that's all he was saying. I believe you misinterpreted his comment.

 

There are a lot of opinionated people and sometimes irritating comments here on the Forum; as with life, you sort them out and take the keepers and throw back the rest. There's no future in being overly judgmental. You shouldn't walk away, and I'd encourage you to stay. Reading some comments will make you shake your head, but neck exercise is a good thing. 

WOW...talk about wearing your feelings on your shoulder.....

Misunderstanding, let's just leave it at that. Don

Actually, they roll pretty freely without the motors installed.  I won't say they're "friction free", but they certainly roll very easily.

Removing the motor is relatively easy and painless.  Tearing down the truck may not be as easy.  No matter what you do the axles will be turning in sleeves and will have more friction than a needle point delrin pocketed piece of rolling stock.  So long as none o fthe gears fall out you should be OK.

I've rolled the motorless trucks down the tracks, they roll pretty freely.  I don't see leaving the gears as a major issue.

I have a gutted old Lionel Trainmaster with gears and nothing else I use for a camera car and it rolls just fine. I simple oil the gears once in awhile. Don