Repair Instructions

ManualsBrandsAthearn ManualsHobbySD60M Triclops Repair Kit

SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit

After the locomotive was approved for production our tool maker, trying to produce a better part with

less flash, made a mistake and enlarged the slot that holds the truck sideframe. The poor fit of the

sideframes was discovered during model assembly and the builders tried to remedy the situation by

applying shims, believing they were fixing a sideframe peg that had been produced too small. There

are two different sideframes and the belief was that only one was produced too small, so shims were

only applied to that side of the sideframe pairs. The mistake and attempted fix was not communicated

to the Athearn product team, and the flaw wasn’t apparent during the review of production samples.

Complaints about the locomotive’s propensity for derailment and missing bearing cap issues prompted

Athearn to look for the root cause and we were able to trace the problem back to the tooling mistake.

The extra space in the gear box housing slot allows the sideframe to move vertically. There is enough

movement that the sideframe can escape the hold of the bottom gear cover peg and become

disconnected from the gear box housing. This movement applies pressure to the bearing caps causing

them to become unattached. It also allows the axle to shift out of position and bind when underway.

This binding will make it appear as if the truck is warped; because the 6 wheels of the truck will not sit

level and will rock on the center axle. It also prevents the outermost axle on both trucks from freely

moving side to side. When it is out of alignment from the other two axles, the locomotive is very prone

to derailments. Future productions of this locomotive will not have this issue; the tooling has already

been corrected and returned to the original specification. No other locomotive model has been affected

as these parts were designed specifically for the Triclops. We chose this solution to address the

already built Triclops because it was the fastest fix, only needed a couple parts that could be accessed

without disassembling the entire locomotive, and was simple enough that many modelers could do the

repair themselves. The time required depends previous modeling experience. The average repair

takes about 10 minutes total.

Included in this Kit:

Recommended Tools:

Tweezers

Choice of Pointed Instrument

• Toothpicks (several)

• Bamboo skewers (several)

• Dental Pick

• Pointed tweezers

• Sewing needle

• Flat-bladed micro

screwdriver

Choice of Locomotive Support

• Foam Cradle

• Original clam-shell

packaging

• Rolled kitchen towel

Clamshell

Support

• 2 improved bottom gear covers

• 3 plastic shims (2 required)

• 6 bearing caps (2 each of black, silver, grey)

• CA Adhesive

Gear Box

Housing Slot

too large

Rolled Towel

Support

Summary of content (6 pages)

PAGE 1
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit After the locomotive was approved for production our tool maker, trying to produce a better part with less flash, made a mistake and enlarged the slot that holds the truck sideframe. The poor fit of the sideframes was discovered during model assembly and the builders tried to remedy the situation by applying shims, believing they were fixing a sideframe peg that had been produced too small.
PAGE 2
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit The Repair Process: 1. Begin by placing the locomotive upside down in your chosen support. Before going any farther, know that sideways pressure on the truck sideframes WILL cause the bearing caps to come off the axles. Prepare yourself and your work area for these to come off. The caps can fly away quickly to never be found again. We’ve included a couple extra bearing caps just in case.
PAGE 3
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit 3. Two of the four sideframes need to be removed from the gear box housings, the Left Front and Right Rear 1st Attachment Point The sideframes are held on at three locations. The first location to unsecure is at the middle back of the truck. The sideframe wraps around this end of the truck coming to meet the other side’s sideframe. There is a small peg the sideframes fit over. Using your pointed instrument, gently pull the sideframe away from this peg towards the fuel tank.
PAGE 4
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit 4. Adhere the shims to the sideframes. Apply a tiny amount of adhesive to the top (Top meaning towards the sky when the locomotive is on tracks. While the locomotive is being worked on upside down, the “top” is down towards your work surface) of the peg that fits into the square attachment point. Shim goes here Carefully apply glue Applying the adhesive using a toothpick helps regulate how much adhesive is being applied.
PAGE 5
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit Needle and Blunt axle ends Square and rounded ends If the wheelsets happen to fall out while working on this repair, note that they are not universal. The axles can have two different ends variations, one is blunt, the other is tapered to a needle-point. The needle-point axles are where the rotating bearing caps are attached. Examine both truck sideframes and identify which locations need the blunt versus needle point axles. The cover is directional and will only fit one way.
PAGE 6
SD60M TRICLOPS Repair Kit 6. Re-install the bearing caps. If you used masking tape to catch the bearing caps a slight squeeze on the tape will usually seat the bearing caps on the axles again. Removed the tape. If they didn’t re-attach themselves to the axle, they’ll likely be stuck to the tape. Carefully position the bearing cap over the axle point. A gentle push of a fingertip will seat the cap onto the axle.