I have an unpowered All Nation F3 that I want to power, then add DCC. I was thinking a stanton drive would be pretty easy to adapt into the shell. Any other alternatives? If I go Stanton..how powerful are they, should I do 2 powered trucks or 1? If you have used them, how many amps do they use?...could I use an HO decoder?
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I wouldn't use a Stanton, you might be very disappointed. I would seek out the original drive, these come up on Ebay, or at swap meets, they come up regularly. The P&D drive is another possibility, from P&D hobbies, or you could try Jay at right-O'-way, he does nice drives, and he will give you good advice and direction. They would be my possible choices. cTr....(Choose the Right )
The P&D drive could be installed without any or much modification to the existing shell and truck mounts. Also, you might be able to use the existing truck frames. P&D also has a gorgeous lost wax cast trucks for EMD.
Finding a "like new" original drive may take longer. Athough All Nation units and parts do turn up at most O scale train shows at reasonble prices.
I was hoping the stantons would work...they seem so easy. Are they underpowered or just not reliable?
I will look at P&D as well as talk to Jay. I need to email Jay anyway for another project I want to re-motor anyway.
That'll be a fun project Andy! FWIW I've had great success with Jay's drives. They allow the use of HO-sized decoders leaving room for larger Tang Band speakers. Here are my five "Jay's" conversions with brass P&D Blombergs in a consist on my shortline:
5 feet to the left of this view there's a 36" radius hidden 180 deg curve that they all pass through with no issues.
These are lighter-duty drives and each loco will pull about 15 x lb cars on level track. Jay has heavy-duty versions also if you need to pull 100-car coal drags...
Pete
Pete, mighty fine!
Dan Weinhold
Who is Jay? Does he have a website?
Jim, see second post in the thread. I'm not sure it's OK to post supplier websites here.
Pete
@Pete M Thanks Pete...that is what I am looking for...something I can use with HO decoders...will help offset the cost of the power units.
I was originally going to sell this All Nation F3, but I love the look of it..and who can resist a good paint and motoring project?! I really want another F3 A&B unit to go with this one.
I also have an All Nation NW-2 I might repower, but I may just put a NCE decoder in it and forego sound
@Pete M Which HO decoder did you use? ESU? which version for the high efficiency motors?
Hi Andy,
I now use the LS 5 DCC HO decoders for any coreless motor with under 1A stall current. Either the NMRA 8-pin or the 21-pin version with a NixTrains Decoder Buddy (like below) depending on the space left after I cram in the largest possible Tang Band speaker!
Pete