# Buddy L 2-6-2 REPAIR



## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

I am the proud owner of many Buddy L 2-6-2 locos and wish there was an article or three on basic repair and maintenance. Several of them will get hacked up to make a 2-6-6-6 or a 4-6-6-4 or some such beast but I have a few that don't run and I'm certain they are all an easy fix, I just need someone to give me a list like "Step 1:__________ Step 2:___________ and so forth. Photos would also help. I know these things are cheap as _______ but I'd still like to get them running again. I have a complete Army set, a circus loco and tender, several of the copper jobs, and a Christmas loco that has already been painted. Anyway I can't find anything on the internet either. I can't even find a website where the company talks about their products. Any help would be greatly appreciated. http://www.tcawestern.org/buddy.htm is informative but has nothing on repair.


Also, if anyone has any Buddy L parts, like the front or rear wheel sets, let me know of you want to part with them and how much, or perhaps a trade.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Festus, 
The link you sent wasn't to the really cheap Buddy-L trains. Which ones do you have? This one ? the plastic one:


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Festus 


Just open the pig up. 
They can have an issue with the teeth not meshing on the worm well enough which can end up chewing out the gear teeth.. 
If the motor has a loose mesh, lift the motor out and sand down where it seats with sandpaper around a piece of timber dowel then pack out the other side with tape. 
If I recall correctly, they won't run unless the tender is plugged in so that could be why yours don't seem to work. 
You could just test the motors with wires for now and start building if all OK.


The wiring is a little convoluted as there is an optical sensor and a little spinning fan thingy to synchronize the sound board which is in the tender.
There is lighting, smoke and all pilot, driving and trailing wheels are electrical pick-ups. I recall there were some copper strips that also made up the wiring too. 

Place upside down and remove 2 small screws underneath and behind the trailing wheels and a screw hidden in a hole underneath the pilot then the top shell should lift off. 
I can help with final wiring if need be as I have some documented images around somewhere and also a working one.

Andrew


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Send me an email on what you need. I have one apart not being used. 
[email protected]


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

All my Buddy L's are the cheap plastic kind, not the older stuff on the link I included. I'll take one apart and see what's inside. I have two that are brand new and have never been used. One is an Army set and the other is a copper colored loco with a tender. I have several that feel like the teeth don't mesh properly as they just sit and spin so I'll do as instructed and see what happens. 

Making a 2-6-6-2 is a project I'd like to try simply because I have so many locos just sitting I thought I may as well try to put them together and see how far I can get. Once I gt started I'll send an e-mail with a list on what I need and go from there. 

This project is very much like the one I'd like to do with Bachmann 4-6-0 locos and try to make a 6-6-6-0 r something similar just because I have so many of the big bugger sitting around in various states of disrepair. Again, why not try to put a few together and see what I come up with. This is a great place to post my progress because all you experts have been there & done that and can help a lot. And I appreciate it.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Festus, 

Suss them out as far as the motors and gear meshing goes because if that is OK and the teeth are not ground away then you know what functional parts you have. Once that is determined you will have to design some locomotive engine configuration that will go around curves. Worry about all the wiring later as there is a tender connection it is reliant to run normally that will need modification. With a ?-6-6-? Each motor block will have to swivel more than likely like a meyer. A 6-6-6-0 gets fairly tricky, the center motor block will need to move laterally under the boiler quite a lot. Set them up on the minimum curve track to get an idea of where everything will want to swing/go. How will you mount the boiler and cab? A Garratt might be a good choice. You could put the third block under the tender like a triplex but you will still have to work out how the other two under the boiler swing on small radius curves.
What minimum curves does this beasty intend to go around? 

Andrew


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

Beautiful photo. I might be able to make something similar but with 4-6-6-6-4 or something like that.


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