Take these steps before you run a Postwar Lionel you just purchased!
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Better to be safe than sorry. Every old Lionel I purchase I give a "shell off" once over to make sure no wires are broken, pieces are missing or anything that could cause a short, damage to people, the track, train or transformer.
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I love the #646 and 2046 Hudsons.
And all of the others.
My first name is Warren. And I hate it! I usually go by my middle name, Russell, which I just shorten to Rusty. I do enjoy your videos as I'm now collecting Lionel 027 for a layout in O scale. I purchased a collection of Lionel 027 from a flea market guy who wanted to get rid of all his 027 Lionel and I ended up with about 2 dozen rolling stock in various condition and 4 engines one of which was a Texas Special F-3 Alco diesel. It only goes forward as there is no reversing lever & e-unit. I filled the hole in the top where the lever would protrude with super glue and baking soda and sanded it down & painted it with a color match I mixed up from acrylic paint. When I examined the steamers ( 2 Scout 2-4-2's one was a diecast shell) and a 4-4-2 Atlantic I found the brushes stuck in the brush plate. Once I got those freed up they ran really good. I did a complete lube job on all the engines and rolling stock. You've got a nice Hudson there. One of the tenders was a "sound of steam" and I took it apart and isolated the electronic board from the chassis frame as suggested from another modeler. Cheers from eastern TN
Get yourself a Fiberglass pencil. It works really well. So does the Scotch bright pad.
In the late 1950’s, I had a Lionel set with a steam engine in New York Central colors. Not as big as this, maybe four drive wheels. A cool feature was dropping a small tablet into the smokestack pm which would cause smoke!
The scout locomotives had this
Thanks for posting this video, it good to know how to maintain them. I have a small collection of Lionel, but it’s hard to get the parts as I live in the UK. So appreciate all the advice. Thanks Richard.
Thanks for watching Richard! Lionel Postwar parts are hard to come by in general. Every part I get is from the US through Ebay, and ALWAYS too expensive because of shipping. Its been my experience that if the postwar train is not running but complete, most often times it will only require general maintenance and cleaning. I have a loco where that is all I did and its a strong runner. That vid is coming soon!
Thanks so much for posting this. These tutorials are invaluable for those of us maintaining elderly fleets!
Thanks for watching Stephen and thanks for the wonderful comment. I am always super happy to hear that the vids are helping people to keep these old boys running and OUT of the recycle bins!
Pretty good stuff. I was rather disappointed and you are not the only one that does this, but working with a cleaner, scraper or removing rust etc over a motor, or even the shell is apt to have problems. The motor be cause leftovers will get into the motor and worse yet if it has mag-na-traction, the train shell could have a problem with oils or cleaner sprays etc... I also found Zoom-spout oilier ( clear sewing machine oil ) to work great on these train things.
Thanks for watching! You should always check for debris or foreign material before reassembling to make sure everything is completely clean. I avoid "cleaners" except for contact cleaner. I prefer patience and elbow grease. Anything else is unnecessary.
@@warrenmuzakpostwarguy4331 I just read a few days ago about the problems of steel wool and the Lionel mag-na-traction, gets into the armature, around the axles, just make a mess to the point most would just chuck the train in the trash. In my teen years I had a Lionel 2055. So much I did not know back then, but I wanted the wheels to be nice and clean so I ran it upside down and I filed and sanded the wheels. Guess what happened to that train, the main secondary gear just got eaten away and the train would not run due to jamming. About 12 years later I bought a whole motor assembly to fix the poor thing....
However for me the 2055 always ran slower then the 2037 I had at the time....
Really nice "parts engine"! Seems perfectly good to me! Runs great!
Thanks for watching! There's plenty Lionels on Ebay that the sellers claim to be "parts" but aren't. Sometimes you can tell from the pics
@@warrenmuzakpostwarguy4331 Glad to know this thanks to your videos! Subscribed! You're all aces!
Really like your videos Warren. Very straightforward with easy to understand instructions. Do you have video showing how to open the motor itself so the rear power lead to the pick up wheel can be resoldered. I have a 2046 that has that issue and can’t figure out the best way to proceed. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
Hey Kevin. Thanks for watching and I am glad to hear you find these videos helpful. I have had to reconnect the power to the pick up rollers on a 2055 which is the same motor design. The whole pick up roller assembly at the bottom of the motor can be removed to access where the wire needs to be soldered. I can't remember if I did that repair prior to making these videos or not.
Might want to consider using a fiberglass scratch brush/pen for cleaning the commutator and e unit drum.. easier to get into small nooks and crannies..
Thanks for watching Dave. I usually cut the green pad to as wide/narrow as I need, and they are SUPER cheap. That said, the scratch brush /pen sounds interesting. I'll look into that.
I recently got a “for parts” 2026 that only needed clean/lube - admittedly a deep clean - and then she ran like a champ. Like you found, the armature bearing was dry as a bone. After a drink it settled right down. Those pellet smokers do really well with modern smoke fluids. Good find! Congratulations!
nice work sir
Should have lubed everything while you had it apart. Super lube in a tube works on everything.
You're absolutely right, should have lubed gears and axels and rods!!
It was barely smoking. I could hardly see it!
Yeah, I'm not a big fan anymore of having them bellow out enough smoke to fill the basement. Some guys even use a fluid that produces a ridiculous amount of smoke. I think its called JT Mega Steam.
To each their own.
You need to get some CRC electrical contact cleaner and flood the motor, E unit, and gears and axels to remove all the old dried black gunk. Spray constantly and continuously until clear. Dous the motor, E unit, and drive gear until clean
Where in the world did you get the notion that the wheels need to be pulled just to grease the gears. That would be totally unnecessary and a total waste of time. The only time wheels should be pulled is to repair something mechanical. Lionel never issued instructions to pull wheels just to lubricate and oil gears and axels. Oil and grease can be applied directly to those surfaces without pulling wheels. Grease can be applied to the gears with a toothpick in several locations and be spread by rotating the wheels by hand. I use the aerosol spray can of Red and Tacky grease that has a straw applicator like WD-40 that allows easy precise application. It makes no sense to pull wheels just to lubricate the gears. Oil is for berings, shafts, and axels that Lionel refers to as oil. I use a needle applicator. Grease is for gears that Lionel refers to as lubrication. Neither of which requires the wheels to be pulled to service Lionel engines. That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. Nobody on planet earth pulls wheels just to lubricate and service their engines.
Wow, you're really hung up on the pulling the wheels and I didn't even do that in this video. "Nobody on planet earth blah blah blah" best overly dramatic statement I have had yet.
I model HO and N ,I cant get past the toy like look of lionel , but i do have the lionel HO scale challenger .
Thanks for watching, and commenting!
I have always considered Post and Pre War Lionels "toy" trains. Just REALLY cool looking ones, with innovative features for their day. The old boxes even say "Americas Toy Manufacturer" or something like that.
Lionels are a different enjoyment than scale models. I love them both for different reasons.
Some people even point out Lionel is "O" gauge, not "O" scale. There is a model railway club here that has actual "O" scale train layout stjacobsmodelrailway.com/.
If I had enough room I'd have permanent HO, G, Lionels and Live Steam running around the house!
They're all toys . They all look like toys because that's what they are . I have N scale layouts but I absolutely love my post war Lionel trains especially my 736 locomotives. There's just something about the weight detail and build quality of those old locomotives that in my opinion nothing modern can match.