Weaver Alco RS3 repair parts

I would pass on this one. By the time you buy the parts you will have too much in it . P&D has the newer Weaver parts.

Yes, P&D still has the parts to fix the drivetrain. The delrin parts didnt age well and things typically split.  All of the gears and stuff can be bought from P&D. Whether its worth it or not depends how much it is and how much repair work is known in advance.  Its not hard to work these over.  Most of it can be completed with a couple of basic tools.

P&D Hobby Shop has repaired my Weaver tower drive locomotives a few times, I have 5 units like that. The last time I talked with them, they were just short of closing the doors. I was given the name and contact information for their Weaver engine repair guy. He was then running under Bob's Classic Trains, tel # 586-739-5170 and his email was as follows:   des1590@sbcglobal.net     I was instructed to call him if I needed further repairs on my Weaver diesel equipment and that he had parts.   I hope this helps.     Bill

P&D had their own sprockets made for the chain drive. They are much better than the Weaver originals. Not pricy and actually an easy repair.

@Jim 1939 posted:

P&D had their own sprockets made for the chain drive. They are much better than the Weaver originals. Not pricy and actually an easy repair.

Jim, I did just that. I bought a UP RS3 in need of repair and fixed the drive by replacing all the original sprockets. P&D still does (or did) online sales of the repair parts.

the drives are not fragile per se, but the original gears and sometimes sprockets were not good quality and tended to split.    The parts were/are pretty cheap to replace.    The most expensive part would be a wheelset with a gear mounted on the axle.    The last time I bought any they $11 apiece.    I guess higher now.   The sprockets are 3-4 apiece.     A friend who worked with injection molded parts said he thought they ran the mold "too cold" and when plastic filled the cavity such as a gear, it would not bond/weld sufficiently on the far side from the feed.

I have a bunch of them and the replacement parts from both Weaver and later P&D are much more stable.  

That drive is a classic design and easy to work on with basic tools.   It runs much smoother on starts and stops than the later two motor drives.

I think I have some 3 rail axles in my parts bin I would part with if needed.     Mine are all 2 rail now.

P&D Hobby shop has all the parts you need to repair the weaver drives. I placed an order today for sprockets and wheelsets.

they were all split.