I have had a couple projects close to done for a while and in between other work these past few days finally closed the deal. Both have vintage Baker drive units.

First we have this Kemtron GP-7. I purchased this from Pierre B. way back in 2003! When it arrived it had a broken universal and I was not able to run it. With it taken apart I later needed a DC71 motor to fix another locomotive, a steamer set up for that motor (but with a dead motor that needed replaced). This model donated its motor, so it was far from running, but I had in mind that I wanted to use a can motor to upgrade this model. Fast forward to just a short while ago, I was able to scrounge the needed Hobbytown universal from a junker drive from the David Sacks residual that was on a Schorr F-3 and also a can motor from another model in the same residual. Parts in hand I finally went to work over the weekend.

This second photo shows the drive as it is set up now. The motor just fits inside the body and is a very tight fit. I replaced the drive belt with a brand new one from the Lowes plumbing section. I also added an Athearn flywheel that I had left over from another project. This model runs great!

The other project was finishing up a pair of F3’s. For years and years I have had an AB pair of Schorr F3’s that I could not run together. It was really a bummer; both were powered and complete but did not run the same speed, with the B unit running a bit too fast. (But that drive would work OK in the lead …).

Off eBay a couple years ago however I was able to purchase a pair of Schorr F-3 dummy trucks. Pondering the junker F-3 in the Sacks inventory already mentioned I realized that I could use the drive from the F-3B in the Sacks engine and convert this B-unit to a dummy. This side view shows the trucks; the Schorr trucks are heavier in detail than the Kemtron trucks.

Now that I have a dummy B unit the result is a great looking pair of engines! The A unit has plenty of power to pull the B-unit and a dozen average cars. Looking under the hood, on this one we see yet again a can motor and a flywheel, this time an even larger can motor. A few weeks ago I replaced the drive belt, fixed a gear problem, and added yet another Athearn flywheel.

The best thing of both of these projects is these are great running engines that I can really run without fear of ruining some vintage motor or irreplaceable part. How many other OO models of this vintage have a can motor and flywheel?