My name is Bill and I fix and upgrade brass locomotives.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the simple robust mechanisms in brass models. These models are rugged, run well if tuned, and some have an excellent level of detail. They also tend to have a simple mechanical layout that lends itself to repairs or the installation of DDC decoders and modern motors. Much of the brass produced in the 1960s and 1970s is even affordable! If a person is willing to do some updating or improving these models can be a match for anything on the market today. My point being there’s no reason to snub your thirty year old brass just because it’s thirty years old.

I got my start repairing brass models by accident and necessity. In 1977 my father passed away unexpectedly. I was nine years old at the time. Up until then was not been allowed to touch “the brass”. With my father’s unfortunate passing I became the only member of the family who had any interest in his trains. When I could escape adult supervision I slowly migrated from my 4x8 Tyco layout to his layout and the brass locomotives in “the brass cabinet”. While I respected those locomotives, I did not have the fear that goes with having paid for them. I treated the brass like great models instead of fragile museum pieces. In short, I ran them often.

Eventually some of my favorites started to show signs of wear. Axles began to squeak. Rubber drive tubes aged and got stiff. By then I was twelve years old and essentially fearless (more like clueless). I picked up the micro screwdrivers and took those brass locomotives apart. I figured out what made them tick, what had gone wrong, and I fixed them.

Now I freely admit that the mental image of a twelve year old boy coming at a brass locomotive with tools and no supervision makes me shudder today. But I am pleased to report that it’s been decades since I first laid screwdriver to brass, and my father’s locomotives are still with me. They all still run, some better than ever. Many have full lights and DCC sound. I am not saying that I have not gone back and fixed some of the rather ugly “repairs” I made when I was twelve. After all, I found the soldering iron when I was twelve, but I did not learn about flux until I was fourteen. If you know what flux is you can imagine the messes I made until I learned about flux. Eventually it all worked out and over the intervening years I have accumulated a big bag of tricks for making model locomotives run well.