ALPS, I Did It Again...

 My biggest soft spot where toy and model railways are concerned has to be the mass produced department/five & dime store variety of train sets. The great bulk of these produced between 1945 and, say, 1980, have all been mostly forgotten. Unlike their hobby shop counterparts, most were never meant to last that long. 

The greatest number of these cheap train sets were made in Japan and imported under various names. One of the more interesting brands was ALPS, which was actually Shojo Ltd.. While they made a variety of train sets, the vast majority of which were either 0 or "Japanese S" gauge, they did make one H0 gauge set. Apparently, it is somewhat rare, and for that reason information on it is scarce. 

I actually lucked into a locomotive from this mysterious set. 

When I first saw it I suspected that it might be the elusive H0 model, but that design has been used over and over again. It's based on a fairly common Japanese 2-6-2 Prairie locomotive, the C58 class, though here it has been reduced to 0-6-2. I decided to chance it, and it paid off. 

It was the mysterious model. 

Mine arrived missing the pins that held the side rods in place, so I improvised with 2-56 machine screws. Scale-wise, while the model is H0 gauge, it is probably closer to 1/76 or 1/80, what is today called H0j. 

Amazingly, it ran immediately, though it was  rather loud. Motor bearings needed lubrication. 

These toy locomotives were not meant to last long, so little provision was made to open them up to do things like lubricating the various drive parts. I used a plastic eyedropper to attempt to get oil to the forward motor bearing, though the rear one was visible at the back of the cab. 

The noise dropped somewhat, but it was still loud. 

During a test run, it abruptly stopped. Was the motor dead? Did a wire come loose? There was no electrical smell normally associated with a burnt out motor, no smoke. 

I had to open the model up. 

The shell was simply held in place with two small brass rivets at the rear base of the cab. Using a small metal file I was able to drill them out, and once done the shell was slid back off the chassis, revealing the hidden mechanism. 

With the shell off I decided to examine the drive mechanism. The motor is your typical TKK can found is many 1950's era toys and trains. It uses a pinion and spur to transfer power to a drive shaft in the lower mechanism that powers the first and third axle, which I assume use worm/spur gears. The center axle and wheels essentially float. There is plenty of play, so I assume the track it was sold with used a fairly tight radius. 

As for the motor failure, one of the contacts had become dislocated. One lead is wired, whilst the other simply uses the chassis as a ground. It was simply a matter of moving the motor slightly to reengage. I also added lubricant to the forward bearing and the gears.

To reattach the shell I used two 4-40 x 0.25" machine screws. 

With the locomotive rebuilt, it was now time to test it again, and it ran even better, though it is still rather loud. Nature of the beast, I suppose. 

I have to admit that I have become rather enamored of this weird locomotive. 

Gwynn, however, doesn't share that feeling.