MTH RailKing motor shaft to gear

Here are some pics on the motor shaft and gear box layout. I am wondering it the angle bracket that the motor is attached to is bent?? If so, how would I straighten it and how would i know what angle would be correct??

Without looking at all the parts, it seems that what you describe is that the wheel assembly with gears embedded has been slightly moved by the impact.  If the gear is not bent and the worm gear is not damaged, then the wheel assembly must have moved enough to prevent the gears from meshing.  Maybe a straight edge across the frame and a measurement of the wheel assembly from the frame on each side will tell you if it is not square to the frame.

Could it have bent the motor bracket down which would lift the worm gear slightly?

Just another thought. The gear on the axle is knurled so it grips tight around the axle to turn the wheels from the motor, it may be slipping on the axle. Try to brace the gear and see if you can turn the drive wheels to see if it slips.

I think that's what it is. There even seems to be a crack at the motor mount in the first picture.

You can try bending the motor mount a bit, but not while the motor is attached to the chassis and the gears are engaged.

If the gears touch, you will not be able to over-bend it slightly. You could also bend the motor shaft

How does the motor to mount interface look? Could the motor case be bent, cocking it on the mount?

I'd second the vote for the motor mount.  That's a pretty weak casting, and a shot to the floor could easily break it.  The inertia of the motor probably just cracked it. 

addressing the suggestions: 1) the gear attached to wheel shaft is firmly attached to shaft and not slipping.2) I can hand hold the motor and engage the gear and drive motor shaft and the wheels turn nicely no binding. 3) the last suggestion is the most likely- the motor mount is bent and not allowing the 2 gears to mesh. I have cleaned the motor mount- no signs of any cracks. It appears to me made of 2 pcs of metal not machined out of one piece. Any suggestions on how to bend it back?? I have tried to look at MTH to see if they have a replacement bracket but to no avail. I have attached 3 views of the bracket.

You might give MTH parts a call, they don't always have the parts on-line.

The 2-8-4 RailKing Berkshire uses a BI-0000006 motor mount, FYI.  Another common part is the BI-0000008, used in a number of the RailKing steamers in my parts book.

FWIW, the parts breakdown for your locomotive is on the MTH site.

Thanks for all the great ideas. This forum gives me the confidence to get in there and try things I haven't done before. I like tinkering though. I will definitely try to get a new bracket from MTH. In the mean time, I have put a small thin shim, made from aluminum foil, between the motor and the bracket, so as to tilt the motor more towards the gear on the wheel shaft. That appears to be working but only time will tell if it will hold up to lots of running. I also repacked the gear box with Red and Tacky 2, also a suggestion from this forum. Thanks again.

The fact that cocking the motor mount allows the mesh of the gears certainly seems to suggest that mount is bent.  I suspect the mesh of the gears may not be optimal with your shim, so I'd certainly look to replacing the motor mount.  I checked, and I have a couple, but not the one you actually need.

John,

You are correct, it isn't optimal and I will definitely call MTH and see if they have one or know where I might get one.

Thanks for all the help.

Related question.. how do you get the bottom part of the chassis apart to get to the axles to see if the axle is bent? MTH 30-1128. Also need to do that on my Lionel 726 that is 60 yrs old. I just opened it up to change the 60 yr old grease that was still in there since I was a "little boy" playing on the floor.

I'm not sure you can open up the bottom, many of these are just a casting that doesn't come apart.  You can spin the wheels and see if anything wobbles to see if an axle is bent.

What I do with solidified grease is use brake cleaner to dissolve it.  I strip down to the bare part and just hold the unit over my trash container and shoot the cleaner in to flush out the old grease.  You have to make sure you don't have any painted surfaces around, they don't take well to brake cleaner.

Works great. I have cleaned and greased my old lionel 682 and I just took apart my Sante Fe 8913 which has a plastic body. I found an 8 oz pc of lead inside that wasn't glued down but must have been trapped between the circuit board and the bottom frame. Should I put it back with double sided tape so it won't slide around? Should I get 2ea 4 ox pcs and put one on each end? Did the lead come from the factory or is this something someone added?

Many locomotives have weights, so I suspect it may be stock.  You can usually tell by the look and how well it fits.  I'd keep the weight, though I don't like stuff like that rattling around, so I would attach it.  I can't think of a time where more weight in the locomotive wasn't a good thing.