Problems with Graham Farish Winston Churchill

[GreenDiesel]

Merry Christmas!

My son & his girlfriend kindly gave me two practically new GF locos for Christmas. One was the Merry Hampton (372-377) and the other was Winston Churchill (372-277). They bought these from a member* from our British train club that I belong to, here in Canada. 

Well, the Merry Hampton runs totally fine and I'm breaking it in now. But the Winston Churchill won't budge at all — nothing. I've tried gently pushing its driving wheels, in case they're locked, but still nothing. Any suggestions?

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*earlier this year, I bought another GF loco from this gentleman & it ran fine. So there are no "mistrust" issues here at all.

[Bob G]

These "practically new" GF locos are in fact around 20 years old.

First things first. You need to see if the worm drive actually rotates or if it is gummed up solid. Remove the body. There will be a securing screw towards the front and then slide the cab backwards and the body will come free. There should be no wires connecting the loco and tender because when these were produced the only pickups were on the six main driving wheels.

Apply power to the wheels, axle by axle. Do you get any movement of the motor. Can you feel any power going to the motor?

Now identify where the motor feeds are. There should be power to each of the brushes either side of the commutator. Apply power leads to these points and see if the motor runs? If it does, it suggests that the pickups are not collecting power from the wheels. You should also be able to see the brass pickups either side of the chassis block that rub on the rear of the driving wheels. Apply power to these. If the motor runs from this point but not from the wheels then the pickups need to be re-bent to apply pressure to the rear of the driving wheels. You can remove the baseplate and gently remove the drive wheels, keeping the valve gear fully connected between the wheels. Then splay open the pickups a little and refit.

If the motor only runs at the motor itself then there is probably a break in the power feed between the pickups and the motor.

If nothing works at all, then the motor is dead, or needs a good service.

These are just the simple things to try, to eliminate the main problem areas.

Merry Christmas and good luck.

Bob G
 

[GreenDiesel]

These "practically new" GF locos are in fact around 20 years old.

First things first. You need to see if the worm drive actually rotates or if it is gummed up solid. Remove the body. There will be a securing screw towards the front and then slide the cab backwards and the body will come free. There should be no wires connecting the loco and tender because when these were produced the only pickups were on the six main driving wheels.

Apply power to the wheels, axle by axle. Do you get any movement of the motor. Can you feel any power going to the motor?

Now identify where the motor feeds are. There should be power to each of the brushes either side of the commutator. Apply power leads to these points and see if the motor runs? If it does, it suggests that the pickups are not collecting power from the wheels. You should also be able to see the brass pickups either side of the chassis block that rub on the rear of the driving wheels. Apply power to these. If the motor runs from this point but not from the wheels then the pickups need to be re-bent to apply pressure to the rear of the driving wheels. You can remove the baseplate and gently remove the drive wheels, keeping the valve gear fully connected between the wheels. Then splay open the pickups a little and refit.

If the motor only runs at the motor itself then there is probably a break in the power feed between the pickups and the motor.

If nothing works at all, then the motor is dead, or needs a good service.

These are just the simple things to try, to eliminate the main problem areas.

Merry Christmas and good luck.

Bob G

Thanks, Bob. This is helpful. We will take a look as per above. Rob

[PLD]

So they're both Chinese assembled versions of original Poole design Models so somewhere between 10 & 20 years old...

They're not prone to jamming or the dreaded split gears, so if it's completely dead, most likely electrical continuity. There's no complex electronics involved so check are pick-ups making good contact with the wheels? Are brushes present and properly seated In the holders? Then check with a meter or circuit tester each step from pick-ups to motor brushes each side.