Restoring a 1947 Lionel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.พ. 2024
- Mechanical restoration including disassembly, cleaning/polishing all parts, testing the motor components, soldering in all new wiring, reassembly and testing of the motor and reversing switch, and installing all parts back onto the locomotive. I am not a model train enthusiast or collector, just an incurable tinkerer and lover of quality mechanical things, especially antique clocks and vintage sewing machines. This is my first train project and it came out well. Actually, my second, as I also restored the 1947 Lionel Type V transformer that will power this train, though I did not record any video of the transformer project.
my first job as a teen ager was Lionel train repairman. That was more than 60 years ago. I sill have my Lionel wheel puller. Usually if a loco won't run we cleaned the E unit and the commentator. That almost always got the unit running again. We cleaned them with a hard pencil eraser and a tooth pick. The owner of the hobby shop smoked cigars, We used his lighter fluid to remove grease. We always did the simplest thing first and did not pull the wheels unless loose or broken. Frequently there was a build up of hardened oil and dirt on the wheels that had to be scraped off, A frequent problem was a melted E unit drum, which we had to change out. Sometimes there were broken E unit contacts to replace. We had a special tool for popping apart the E unit. That was usually the only disassemble we did. The coil or armature winding were hardly ever a problem. I've probably done a couple hundred locos.
We used a paint brush to dust the loco, a black magic marker to cover scratches and then an over spray of armor all and another paint brush to shine up the armor all.
They really looked good when we finished up
What a great recollection, Steve! Thanks for sharing it.
Nice work Sir😊
@@conductorjohnmthtrains2239 thank you!
As a postwar Lionel collector, when you started I thought to myself all it probably needed was a cleaning of the commutator and e-unit and it should be good to go. For that to be the first time you ever had one apart I was very impressed by how far down you took it, but then realized you are a clock guy so this is nothing new to you. The only time I was thinking to myself you were about to mess up was when you were clocking the wheels at first but you realized you were about to mess up and corrected yourself by clocking the wheels at different directions. They actually should be quartered but should operate well at how you assembled it, just being quartered the running gear has less tendencies to bind up. Nice job!
Thank you! I can see how these Lionel trains can become addictive. It was fun to restore that locomotive. I did the Type V transformer first but didn’t record any video of that.
I've never seen anyone toss all the parts into a huge pile before? Wow
@@conductorjohnmthtrains2239 well, these are a lot less complicated than antique clock movements, so I’m not too scared about the parts. It can only go back correctly one way. Plus, I had the video footage of the disassembly that I could have referred to if I got confused. I put all parts in a magnetic dish when I’m disassembling so nothing rolls off the bench and gets lost.
Wheels are pressed on. You either need a wheel-puller, or better yet, clean the armature in the housing. Also: leave the main connecting rod on the wheels to keep them in synch. The E-Unit is your problem. Clean that, and it'll run.
Thanks, Jon. I completely disassembled the E-unit, cleaned everything, and soldered on new wires. It wasn't in bad shape but I couldn't reach the spots to solder on the new wires without taking it apart. The motor was filthy dirty and a thorough cleaning and polishing of the commutator and brushes was what got it running well again. The locomotive is totally clean and properly lubed now and runs like new. These old Lionel trains are fantastic. This was my first experience working on one and now I totally understand why they have such a loyal following.
Never, never, gonna find a boiler face for $10!
You’re totally right about that. I saw one on eBay and bid $30 for it, but was outbid. So, for now, that light bulb has a ground wire added and it’s basically sitting loose behind the face. It’s my brother’s loco and I shipped it back to him that way. He’s going to look for a boiler face on his own.
That`s a Spicy Meat Ball, you did a nice a job on that there machine me. Marx train motors be a hole lot easier me thinkem.
Indeed, I also have a lot of Lionel and Marx trains and I live in the Netherlands Europe and have fixed and restored all my trains after been stored in attics and basements and after all the years the Marx trains most of the times still runs but the Lionel needed the most cleaning especially the e unit... But I love both brands.... Greetings from Holland.
A miniature socket would be far better to remove/install the tiny hex screws on the linkage. The pliers slipping has to chew up the screws. Also time saver for video presentation goes without saying.😊 But unless some issue with linkage no need to remove.😊 I’m assuming the total disassembly is just for presentation purposes since no diagnostics was initially shown to mandate it. Why remove wheels for no reason? Be advised wobble wheels can result when repressed on. I’ll be honest this disassembly made me cringe.
Good feedback, Gene. I would certainly have used a mini socket on those tiny hex heads, but they are smaller than any of my sockets. Full disassembly gave me the opportunity to fully clean and polish every part. I’m mainly a clock guy and that’s what we do in the world of clocks. I wish I had a smaller puller to get the wheels off. They had to come off to get the motor apart. It was totally filthy and I could not have done a food job cleaning it without disassembly. When I put the wheels back on they were very tight. I don’t believe they had ever been off the axles. That was my first Lionel loco project and I learned a lot. More experienced Lionel aficionados will sure see many rookie mistakes on my part. That’s how we learn!