Repowering old O scale brass.

I think it is the gray colored gear boxes , they were made of a pot metal that cracked and crumbled.

Not sure if Overland offered free replacements of the current black ones.

I am in the process of completing the re-powering of an Overland Big Blow turbine unit. I started writing the article for OST but did not finished yet. It may be a while... :-(

The zamac gray gearboxes are not of very good quality and will crumble and turn into dust with time. Your best bet is to find replacement gears from Central Locomotive Work or NWSL (more expensive). I would throw away the SAGAMI motor inside and replace it with a nice 9xxx series Pittman.

Overall, reworking these engines is a lot of work if you want to do it correctly. Having professional help will cost you as much as the model itself, if you can find someone.

If you feel like getting rid of one of your U50C, send me a personal note.

Good luck with your endeavor and keep us posted about the progress.

Yves

It is interesting that Overland gear boxes are such bad quality.   I have a number of old US Hobbies locos with diecast gear boxes.   They date to the 1960s probably.   At one time USH was THE NAME in brass.   At any rate, I have not had a single one of these gear boxes fail.

I had an Overland RS11 once for about a year.   I thought the entire model was very very flimsy.   The drive train was very light weight.   The trucks and frame assembly seemed weak.    I offered it for sale and recovered most of my money back. 

Some people really like Overland.  I have to admit, their models have very high level of detail.

Overland gearboxes from the 1980's are crappy.  They are made of what apppears to be a zinc alloy (possibly zamak).  I do not know if the gearboxes decay due to "zinkpest" like some toy  die cast cars have done.  Here is the main problem with the drives: the axles of the gears are in direct contact with the gearbox housing.  The axles are harder than the gearbox and the gearbox holes wear into ovals, the mechanism slops and eventually stops working properly.  Had the manufacturer spent 10 cents more and put proper bearings on the gearbox the drive would not be so bad.   I  replaced all the drives in the locomotives  I have with Weaver parts and Pittman motors and flywheels.

An OMI piece with a Protocraft drive and upgraded drive train is a SWEET TRAIN! 

I saw the reference to USH gearboxes. I have never had one fail, and most of my O scale steam is equipped with them. I have a question....

What lubricant do you all use in your USH O scale steam locomotive gearboxes?

I have used Labelle heavy and they work fine but tend to leak. So am now using lubriplate and they still work fine with no leaks.

I have never seen any instructions as to lubricant except strong advice to use a plastic compatible lubricant due to the "plastic" intermediate gear.

Comments?

La Belle makes Teflon gear grease.

I really don't think it makes any difference so long as you keep them well lubricated.  White Lithium has been standard for over a half century - Lionel used it, and I bet you have never heard of a Lionel gearbox failure.