Model Railroading > Athearn Handrails - Please Provide Advice

I have four Athearn SD45-2's and the handrails on these engines are driving me crazy! The side handrails are no big deal, easy to glue into place so they don't keep falling out. The handrail assemblies on the ends are what are making me nuts. They fall off and one broke (I've ordered a replacement - almost more to ship it than the cost of the part). I have tried to glue these in place and getting the handrails to fit into the holes on the body is like herding squirrels.

Does anyone have any tricks to the trade??? Are there better replacements like wire handrails that come pre-made? I'm not here to bash Athearn. I've had numerous issues with the cheap MRC decoders they installed in them. I wrote the President of the company and never got a response (three of the four decoders failed on me shortly after I bought them). So I'm not sure I will buy any more engines from them. But any help with the handrails would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Folks!

For the handrail posts on the ends of your locomotive, you might want to try to ream out the hole a little bit with a small drill bit that is just slightly larger than the hole. After that, drop in your handrail set for the ends and test-fit. Aim for a snug fit - not too loose, not too tight. Once you are happy with the fit, glue the handrail stanchions into place with a dab of the Pacer 560 Canopy Glue.

As for a decent glue for the end stanchions, I have been happy with using either of the following:

1) Pacer Poly-Zap ACC. Be sure it's the Poly-zap kind of ACC. I use this for repairing the vertical end handrails to the rest of the handrail assemblies.
2) Pacer Formula 560 Canopy Glue - perfect for securing the stanchions into the carbody. Formula 560 works and maybe smells a bit like white glue during application, but it sticks like no tomorrow once dry.

Hope that helps. If you want brass stanchions, Smokey Valley or PSC might be the way to go, but that's if you can find them. If you are going the metal route, the best way is to just bend your own wire to go with the metal stanchions of your choice.

Cheers,
Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/10 10:09 by tracktime.

I'll second Harry's advice. It really works! The toughest part for me was finding the Pacer Formula 560. Lot's of sources online though and no, it is not white glue. It actually grips the engineering plastic that the handrails are made of. -- Keith Thompson

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help!

I've used Microscale Liqu-tape or the window glazing if you cannot find the canopy glue.

Rick

If you dig deep enough into the Plano web pages you can find this page:

http://www.planomodelproducts.com/in-work/stanchion.html

I do not handle my Genesis models enough to know where the breakage is occurring. From the photos it would seem a modeler would be able to cut off the stantions below the handrails and wrap the brass stantions around the old joint on the handrail and then install the railings and stantions to the model.

Railflyer Models is coming out with EMD Stanchion Kits, that has a cast-in-place hole for the handrail. You get to bend the wire to match the loco.

http://railflyermodelprototypes.myshopify.com/products/dp-6150-emd-gmdd-stanchions

Not affiliated with RFM.

NSTopHat

You can also try this adhesive from Loctite:

http://loctiteproducts.com/p/4/2/sg_plstc/overview/Loctite-Plastics-Bonding-System.htm

This is an two-part cyanoacrylate adhesive that uses an activator to prep the engineered plastic for bonding with the cyanoacrylate. It's quite strong and will bond most any plastic with the activator. the gotcha is once bonded it's permanent (unless you're willing to soak your bond in acetone). But it will bond those handrails to the loco.

The other permanent option is the try Cypox:

http://www.mrhobby.com/C-PoxCyanopoxyEquivalent.html

This is the replacement product for the previously available Cynopoxy. I've not tried it so I can't say how well it will work but it appears to be another two part cyanoacrylate adhesive. It's not inexpensive either (I've found the Loctite product at Lowes for around $5) but it may be what your looking for.

Of course neither if these solutions deals with other big problem with these plastic handrails; geting paint to stick.

I personally have had enough of these POS engineered plastic handrails and am going to convert them to either Rail Flyer Models or Plano stanchions whenever they come out. Good Luck.

best regards,
Mark G.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/10 16:39 by MarkG.