Model Train Journal

Of the six Williams before Bachmann diesel locos that I have one is now not running. The front truck, both are powered, is not working.
The rear one works but the front one has something stuck. The first axle does not move at all. The rear axle has a little play so I think
that the problem is with the first axle. I have had the body shell off, four screws on the bottom on each side of the coupler. I don't see how to get
to anything in the truck or how to remove it or the sideframes. Any ideas and help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I know you mentioned pre-Bachmann, but there's some overlap in design. Perhaps, these parts and assembly drawings can help: https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=77 Note, if you didn't know already, Williams makes both an F3 and an F7, and there are parts differences.

Thanks, Roy.
The problem is with a GP-38 but I don't see how it all comes apart.
I'll try again.

There is a screw that connects the truck to the motor, on the bottom of the truck. You remove that screw and then you can fiddle with the wheels and the vertical worm gear works loose. If you have the shell off, you can fiddle with the flywheel to get the worm gear to disengage. You can then examine the rest of the gear train in the truck.

Thanks Chuck. I'll give it a try.

Roger, I looked for a YouTube video, no luck, sorry. If you remove the four corner screws for the shell remove it, you can lay the loco upside down and remove the isolated screw for the motor lock. If you lay the engine on its side you can fiddle with the fly wheel to disengage the worm gear. Truck will be "free" other than the wire leads from the harness. Try rolling the wheels by hand. Both axles should turn freely. If not, something is either misaligned or broken in the truck. If the axles turn freely and together, try rigging power to the chassis (alligator clips?) to make sure the motor itself isn't the problem.

When I swapped out the PA-1 side castings on my Williams NH EP-5 for K-Line scale castings I found it was pretty easy to get the worm gear and truck gears out of alignment. Good luck, sorry no video's or photos. BTW, the trucks are pretty cheap and it may be easier to swap out than repair.

Thanks again, Chuck.

Finally had time to take the truck apart. Could see no obvious problems. Grease and motor OK but the front axle is very tight and hard to turn.
The second axle has a little side-to-side play as do both axles on the trailing truck. Must be something bent.
Thanks for all the help.

Did you check to see if there's hair or something wrapped around the front axle?

Roy wrote:Did you check to see if there's hair or something wrapped around the front axle?

Yes.

There should be a small gap between the back side of the flange and the truck frame. Is it possible the wheel set is out of gauge and pinching the frame? Any signs on that wheel set that one of the wheels is angled indicating a possibly bent axle? Is there any play on that axle/wheel set for side to side motion, aka wiggle room? If it is binding up and there is no obvious sign of bending/binding it may have picked up some debris and that is now packed inside the sleeve in the frame.

Thanks, Chuck. See several posts back for answers, I think.

Replacement truck from Bachmann is $38. You may find it for less on EBay. If you access to a wheel puller you can at figure out if something is bent or wheel set is out of gauge.

chuck wrote:Replacement truck from Bachmann is $38. You may find it for less on EBay. If you access to a wheel puller you can at figure out if something is bent or wheel set is out of gauge.

I haven't quite given up yet but it will be slow going for me.

Roger, have you gotten the motor and truck frames off, yet? If so, you don't absolutely need a wheel(or handle) puller. Since there's no Magne-Traction, you can use a hammer and drift punch on the stuck axle.