Weaver High Rail FA2's

I can not directly answer your question. However, I had an AA set of those Alcos and mine were built to run on 2 rail track only. I have never heard of a Weaver Alco A that could operate either AC 3 rail or DC 2 rail.

Jeff

I had a couple of those locomotives. The CB is indeed an electronic E-Unit. They also had a headlight on A units. No sound though. I have few extra boards if you need one. Unfortunately, I don’t have a schematic. 

Jeff, I cannot say for sure they mean "AC 3-rail" it just states "3-rail or Scale". The way it's set up now I tested it on a 3-rail piece of track and it only runs on DC. The motor is a DC can motor and it is currently wired directly to the track There are what looks to be factory installed pickup rollers for the center rail. The wheels have deeper flanges than scale wheels but they don't look to be as deep as typical 3-rail wheels.

John

Thanks Phil,

Right now they have the A unit headlight wired directly to the track. It's wired to the brush contacts. 

I might take you up on the electronic E units. My email address should be in my profile if you want to send me details.

John

Years back, I bought a pair of the early runs of the FA (A&B units). They were single motored, plastic chain drive, and were ordered and sold as EITHER 2 rail DC scale or 3 rail AC 042 tinplate. Later models had vertically mounted motors on the trucks, but still had to be ordered either 2 rail or 3 rail. 

Weaver always had great paint and graphics and a reasonable amount of add-on detailing, the price was good, and best of all they were made here in Pennsylvania.

I wish that the factory could have been kept in operation instead of everything being sold off.

I bet the employees wished that too.

That gives me the idea that these were probably the AC type because of the electronic E unit inside and the deep flanges. The last owner  apparently wanted to run them with DC so he disconnected/bypassed the E units. These are units I am working on for a customer and when he picked up the locos they were accompanied by a Crest DC power supply.

The box says Hi-Rail.  The 2-rail versions were labeled "scale."  Hence yours has 3-rail flanges, pickup rollers, and an e-unit.  Presumably also, large Lionel-style knuckle couplers.

All e-units of that type work the same way.  There should be four wires coming out of the e-unit.  Two wires are for power and ground from the track.  The other two wires go to the motor.  As far as which are which, I have no idea.  Nice find!!

Agreed. If it has center rollers and large flanges then it is the AC 3 rail model. 

Just an FYI but if you have the single horizontal motor version and you need parts for the drivetrain I believe they are still available from P&D Hobby Shop. These models originally came with plastic gears as mentioned above and the top gear for the chain had tendency to crack. P&D sells a much improved version and it isn’t hard to replace. For this reason the horizontal drive was not popular among 3 Railers but was popular among 2 Railers. 

Please post a picture of the CB. I suspect there are only 4 wires coming from it. With a little luck we can probably tell you which wire goes where.

Chris

LVHR

Here is a photo of the E unit. You can see there is a dark gray wire along with a red wire at the top and 2 bare wires coming from the bottom at the back of the CB. If anyone has knowledge of which are track power pickups and which 2 go to the motors I would greatly appreciate it!

John T.

So you have the horizontal motor? Is the board still wired to the pick-ups?

Do the bare wires underneath have any colored insulation on them? Any color on the motor wires?

It's the single can motor. Board not attached presently. The wires are as they were when I got the engine. No insulation on the bare wires underneath. As stated, the 2 wires on top are red and gray.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Weave...b:g:R~IAAOSw5DRdX0YA

Based on the underside image here, both rail pickups are red or black.

Surely someone here has one of these in 3 rail.

Dallee makes a nice replacement CB, a snap to hook up to a can motor, in case that CB is trashed. 

Looks like the bridge rectifier on the right in the photo.  The track would connect to the board where the traces go to that.  Hard to tell from the angle of the picture.  I don't see the bottom wires.

Brendan

Ok, it took me a little digging, but I have the answer. My RS3 has the same E unit CD your FA has. In the picture below, the gray and red leads  (circled in yellow) go to the motor. On the right side are 2 bare leads (circled in blue) that are held up from the frame with a spacer. One goes to the center rail pickup.The other goes to either a frame ground, or if your unit has them, the metal wipers the rub on the inside of the wheel sets. Mine has the wipers. It does not matter which of the bare leads go to which position. Solder things together and see which way the engine goes on start up. If it runs in reverse, switch the motor lead pair.

BTW, check the universals and gears carefully they are known to crack. When that happens, the motor will turn, but the engine will not move.

And Brendan above is correct: The black box on the far right is a bridge rectifier.

Chris

LVHR

Great, Chris! I'll get it re-soldered and report on the results. Mine has the wheel wipers too. At least for now the drive seems to be in good shape. Many thanks to all!

John T

Mission accomplished. After re-soldering all the wires she runs very well. Don't know why the last owner bypassed the E unit but it operates normally.

John T.

JPThut posted:

Mission accomplished. After re-soldering all the wires she runs very well. Don't know why the last owner bypassed the E unit but it operates normally.

John T.

They could have run DC and used the center rail to control this locomotive while using the outer rail to control another? 

Glad to hear the guys hear got the solution so you can enjoy it.