Model Railroading > Hobbytown Drives

Anyone have any experience with these?  I just inherited a couple.  A friend of mine claims it was the best drive system ever designed.

They were very good... could pull everything out of the yard including the track.  Also, didn't need a sound system as they made plenty of noise by themselves.

Warren

They may have a monster speed reduction as they were made for open-frame motors.

Certainly bulletproof, just be careful and make sure the zamac (zinc/aluminum) castings aren't starting to crack.  Bronze sleeve bushings and brass gears ran like silk when adjusted properly.  

One drawback was there under-floor and through a hollow fuel tank universal drive with square brass tubing.  One end of the universal was a press fit and the other was a sliding fit to allow unit to go around curves.

I would certainly recommend a modern can motor be retro-fitted, and clean out any old grease (like lubriplate) and use a modern LaBelle lubricant.   The wheelsets may be another challenge as the stock wheelsets had a pretty aggressive flange.  The side frames were pretty coarse, too with repspect to modern equivalents.

They certainly will bring back memories as to the way things used to be!

They run beautifully even with the open frame motors - they're not as loud as I expected them to be.  Current draw probably the issue here as I do want to put sound & DCC in this unit.  They were well maintained & in mint condition - it looks like the gear mechanism was never lubricated, but everything looks brand new.  I was able to contact Bear Locomotive on the internet - he purchased what was left of Hobbytown when sold for the second time I believe.  He still has parts & was able to provide me with a Hobbytown RS3/RSD4 shell to fit on the Hobbytown RSD4 drive I inherited.  Howard sounds like he knows "Hobbytown" well and has already provided me with some tips.  I agree with swapping out the open frame motor for a can motor & have ordered the can motor mounting bracket from Howard at Bear Locomotive.    They're weighted nicely & pull like crazy.  This could be a nice little project.  Too bad no one ever put together a how-to book on assembling and maintaining these Hobbytown locos.  On another note, anyone here know if the CNJ ever had one of their RSD4/5's painted in B&O Blue??  I know some of the RS3's were done that way.

They are dog face simple to assemble. Yes, the can motor will be necessary for DCC.

Are the instructions easy to follow?  I was told they're rather challenging to build.

They do run well with lots of care with assembly. These are not shake the box models and some filing for flash and fit is required. Well worth the time spent. Instructions are straight forward.

Enjoy the trip back through history.

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