225 Rolls Again

This is the first installment of my Fall 2026 Trail Drive during which I will restore the equipment I've collected from John L. Oliver's Pan Handle Rusty Route and Earl Benteler's Allegheny.

Having successfully reorganized my workbench and created space for the staging cabinet beneath the layout, I decided it was time for another Trail Drive.  Click HERE for the post that explains the Trail Drive concept and HERE for the current posts with that label.  There's a specific reason for undertaking this particular trail drive at this time but that'll be explained in another post.  For now I'm starting with 2-8-0 #225.

The United "Santa Fe" 2-8-0 is one of the most popular brass locomotives from what some consider to be a golden era of brass imports.  John Allen had one, along with similar 2-8-0s from United based on other prototypes, and they were popular with his crews.  I can understand why.  Beautiful detail, well balanced, and no doubt when new, smooth reliable runners, sure footed and strong.

But time has not been kind to many of these models.  While this one was in excellent condition cosmetically, it ran with a significant grinding noise.  After removing the motor and gearbox - a simple matter of removing a few screws - the wheels rolled freely and the valve gear motion was smooth.  The issue was the motor and gearbox.

I had purchased a "can" motor from an eBay seller several years ago, not long after acquiring the locomotive.  I knew I'd likely be replacing the gearbox but postponed that purchase until I could get the thing on the bench and look under the hood.  Now that I'd done that I could see the model would benefit from a better gearbox but funding for that purchase is not available at present, so I'd have to make do with the new motor and some model airplane fuel tubing for a "universal" joint.

A bit of research revealed I'd be in for a challenge removing the brass collet from the gearbox shaft.  Some persistent heat and pressure from a Northwest Short Line Puller II made the task relatively painless.  I reinstalled the gearbox and after some cogitating decided it best to mount the new motor using A-Line's double sided mounting tape.  This is by no means a permanent solution but for a proof of concept it'll do nicely.

And prove the concept it did!  I made a video showing the difference in the locomotive's performance before and after the remotoring.  This is without any supplemental lubrication so I expect a slight improvement in performance with some oil.  I disabled the lights as the old cloth insulation on the wiring was a little sketchy and I didn't want to risk a short.  Someday when I upgrade the gearbox I'll probably install new lights as well but for now this is enough.