USA Trains Slider Shoe Removal
There has been and are many questions and comments posted around the Internet about the pick-up shoes used on USA locomotives. The big conversation is about how badly the engines are running through Aristo Craft wide turnout switches. Everyone does has a valid concern though because most USA engines will derail or jump when the sliders on the motor blocks hit the frog of the switch. The fix is very simple though! It will take you about 5 minutes per truck. Below is the technique used to make your engines Aristo Craft wide switch friendly.
First turn over your engine and set it on some foam or something soft so you
don't damage the detail parts or paint on the top side. Once on it's back, there are 6
screws that need to be removed. You can see them in this picture. I have already backed
them out here. After that, gently lift straight up on the motor block cover. It will come
right off with little effort.
Note: Some fellow railroaders on
LSOL have suggested putting a small shim between the truck and the engine frame to keep
the truck from moving and causing the axle's to come out of place.
Now you can see the inside of the motor block. Be careful not to knock anything
loose, although there's not much to mess up at this point. In the picture you can see me
holding one of the shoes with my fingers. All you need to do is grab each shoe like I'm
doing here and lift strait up. The shoe and the brass conductive contact spring slide
right out. Be careful not to loose the spring from the shoe, you don't want it to fall
into the block.
To finish up your modification, simply set the motor block cover back in place
and gently seat it by pushing down on it to be sure it is in the correct position. If it
won't seat all the way down, rotate your axles just a little bit in each direction to be
sure your gears are meshing properly with each other. Now you can put back the 6 cover
screws and just snug them down. There's no need to tighten them like there's no tomorrow!
Done!
A note in closing. By doing this, you may void your manufacture's warranty. I'm not sure
what USA Trains thinks about people doing this but I have a GP 38-2, GP 7, NW 2, F3 A
& B unit and the new SD 40-2 that all have the shoes removed. Each of those engines
runs like a champ. Some people even claim that engines with the shoes removed can pull on
the average of 3 to 4 more cars in their consists.
Update: Some people are also having good luck with LGB shoes being used in place of the USA shoes. They drop right in place of the stock shoes and they do not hang in the Aristo switches. I have also read that USA now offer's a redesigned replacement shoe to fix the problem with the switches. The quote below is an e-mail response from USA to a fellow largescaler:
Dear Tom, Thank you for your inquiry. Yes we are aware of the problem with the Aristo Switches. Unfortunately we cannot fix the Aristo problem, Aristo must correct the problem themselves. Please call our customer service line at 1-781-321-0090, and ask to speak with Neil. He is our engineer, he can offer a fix for the problem. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Wishing you a happy holiday season from everyone at USA Trains.