MTH Hudson 20-3324-1 J1-E Need repair to crosshead (see photo)

Fragile little *******s, aren’t they??…..I’ve ordered these from MTH in the past, however, as stated by many, the new parts business has had more pushbacks than I can count,….there’s no magical glue that’s going to hold that thing back together…..I build many MTH Hudsons, so when the end game comes for hard parts like these, we’ll have to see if there’s a comparable Lionel part that can be modded to fit,….my suggestion right now would be to wait and see if the new MTH parts company gets to flight, and perhaps you can get a OE part and be done,…BTW, if you have a really long Phillips screwdriver, you can access that fastener with out totally dismantling that locomotive,…..you will have to remove the shell, then rotate the drivers so the rods are down, then you can access that screw, sliding the guide towards the drivers to get it out of the pocket, then away from the drivers and off the cross head,…..

Pat

I had seriously thought about your problem Mort, and realized I had a drawer full of broken MTH cross head guides as well,….I never paid them too much attention,  but as my personal supply of Hudson parts ( and this applies to anything)  dwindles, as I’ve stated in previous repair solutions threads, some of these parts will HAVE to be repaired or rebuilt to prevent our locomotives from becoming shelf queens,…..so here’s a repair solution for broken cross head guides …..now keep in mind, I whipped this up in 20-30 minutes, so please excuse the crudeness, it needs a lot more refining to pass my evaluation, but the part is sturdy and strong, ….all I did was take a piece of brass square stock, cut out the broken section for a clean fit of the brass, drill & tap the brass stock for a 2 mm screw, and TA-DA!…a repaired part,….at least if these parts become NLA, something can be done to make a viable acceptable repair,….the refinements I’d make are to use a countersunk 2mm screw, and better made guide arm,…but again, this is something I whipped up real quick just to see if a repair is possible,…….and it is,..😉

Pat

shrewd!

Nice, and when its all done a minute or two with some Caswell Tin Plate and it will look like new.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Nice, and when its all done a minute or two with some Caswell Tin Plate and it will look like new.

Pete

Yep,…we won’t sit on the sidelines with a busted knee, will we buddy??….we’ll figure some stuff out,…right or wrong, we’re gonna give it a go!..

Pat

Nice work Pat!

We should set up a "go fund me account" ,and get you a new Lionel steamer.....er somethin'...😉

@RickO posted:

Nice work Pat!

We should set up a "go fund me account" ,and get you a new Lionel steamer.....er somethin'...😉

I think a CNC milling machine is more up Pat’s alley.

Pete

You got that right,…I’d be a dangerous individual if I had anything CNC,….I’m still in the same boat as you Pete, dials, calipers, & angle finders,…but I get by,….as do you,….heck, I whipped up that part free hand just to see if it was even doable,…that’s why it’s kinda crude lookin, like something a kid in kindergarten whipped up after his nap,…😁😁😁

Pat