Glad it worked out. Here are a couple hints. First, to disassemble these, you need to drive out the cross pin. Second, to remove the stuck bell from the smoke puffer, apply heat to melt the old smoke pellet solids. Good discovery on the stuck roller. Great job on the recovery.
Great buy and great job on the engine.That's the great thing about these older trains,most can be running again with some tinkering.3 rail trains,the most fun one can have.Your layout is looking great too.
The 2018 was actually the second postwar locomotive I ever owned and its paint job was just as rough as this one and it was missing the tender. I’d attach a picture if I could but the thing looks like a completely different locomotive now, complete with a custom paint job that in hindsight, does give some Pennsylvania vibes.
@@gbgstrains521 you’d be surprised just how much a gray smokebox and firebox can do. I would also recommend picking out the cylinder heads, handrails and throttle linkages with a silver paint pen, as well as white trim on the pilot, wheels, and running boards. Can you tell I’m biased on whitewalls, it’s too classy not to do when you’re talking about a custom paint job!
Glad you were able to save this one. Some naysayers out there that can’t appreciate what Lionel was. They were “toys” not scale models nor meant to be. Some of the locomotives were “creations” of the Lionel staff, although these could have been. As far as the three rail track, it made it possible to make operating accessories be controlled by the train as well as making it easier to build layouts without having to be an electrician. Sure, they weren’t prototypical or to scale, we who had them loved them. Because they were fun, easy to maintain and almost bullet proff.
Great work finding and fixing the problems. You restored the operating mechanism and it runs well! Do you have an estimated date of manufacture for this classic?
Great job! I was rooting for you all through the video! For future reference should you ever need to pull the motor again: Do you remember that large pin that ran from side to side in the engine shell? That's what supports the back end of the motor and you can drive it out with a punch. I forget which side you punch (it's been a while) but if you look closely you'll see one end of the pin is wider than the other. Punch the narrow end and the pin should come out of the shell with no problems. The motor assembly should drop out easily then. (It had me going for a while let me tell you!) At this point if you want to do a custom paint job of your own on the engine it's no sin, go for it! As far as replacing the marker jewels on the boiler front you can find craft crystals at places like Michaels in various colors, the 3mm size is just about perfect for Lionels. Some of the craft crystals reflect light better than the original Lionel ones! Oh, the clogged smoke unit? Not TOO unusual for vintage Lionels. A lot of kids wanted to get that smoke-belching effect real steam engines had (and that realistically Lionels couldn't match) by stuffing as many smoke pellets in the unit as they could, leaving results like you had to deal with. Again, great job! And I'm sure it was a great learning experience for you! Thanks for posting!
If you would like I can post a video explaining the disassembly, however the video would have been over half an hour long had I not sped up parts of it.
@@gbgstrains521 yes great deal you got and mad skills fixing it. I have my Uncles Lionel train set from the early 60s I run it and keep it cleaned up at least once a year. But Im more into HO esp the Rock Island custom make cars and wat not. Great layout btw
Here's an out-side-the-box thought: three rail trains are inherently stupid, ugly, and immersion-breaking. And Lionel has always produced crap - from its inception up to the present. Switch scales.
$11 worth of fun and learning! Great deal and another saved.
Glad it worked out. Here are a couple hints. First, to disassemble these, you need to drive out the cross pin. Second, to remove the stuck bell from the smoke puffer, apply heat to melt the old smoke pellet solids. Good discovery on the stuck roller. Great job on the recovery.
Excellent video. I've never seen a smokestack so clogged. I have a few 2026s very similar. Great smoke output.
Great buy and great job on the engine.That's the great thing about these older trains,most can be running again with some tinkering.3 rail trains,the most fun one can have.Your layout is looking great too.
I'd say you got your money's worth. Cheers from eastern TN
The 2018 was actually the second postwar locomotive I ever owned and its paint job was just as rough as this one and it was missing the tender. I’d attach a picture if I could but the thing looks like a completely different locomotive now, complete with a custom paint job that in hindsight, does give some Pennsylvania vibes.
Nice! I ended up not doing anything cosmetic with this engine yet, but I might!
@@gbgstrains521 you’d be surprised just how much a gray smokebox and firebox can do. I would also recommend picking out the cylinder heads, handrails and throttle linkages with a silver paint pen, as well as white trim on the pilot, wheels, and running boards. Can you tell I’m biased on whitewalls, it’s too classy not to do when you’re talking about a custom paint job!
Glad you were able to save this one. Some naysayers out there that can’t appreciate what Lionel was. They were “toys” not scale models nor meant to be. Some of the locomotives were “creations” of the Lionel staff, although these could have been. As far as the three rail track, it made it possible to make operating accessories be controlled by the train as well as making it easier to build layouts without having to be an electrician. Sure, they weren’t prototypical or to scale, we who had them loved them. Because they were fun, easy to maintain and almost bullet proff.
Worked out well ! Nice one 👍
Great work finding and fixing the problems. You restored the operating mechanism and it runs well! Do you have an estimated date of manufacture for this classic?
Sometime between 1956-1961
I got a 2018 that runs pretty good, i didnt know it had a smoke unit. If i come across it i will give a careful once over.😊
Great save !
Just got a 247 B&O that was almost as bad. Thankfully, it wasn't bad enough where I had to soak it in mineral spirits. It runs like a watch now!
Diamond thing=Marker Jewel
I have one of these! Its a hoss of a loco. 11 bucks... you're lucky it wasn't just a shell.😂
Great job! I was rooting for you all through the video!
For future reference should you ever need to pull the motor again: Do you remember that large pin that ran from side to side in the engine shell? That's what supports the back end of the motor and you can drive it out with a punch. I forget which side you punch (it's been a while) but if you look closely you'll see one end of the pin is wider than the other. Punch the narrow end and the pin should come out of the shell with no problems. The motor assembly should drop out easily then.
(It had me going for a while let me tell you!)
At this point if you want to do a custom paint job of your own on the engine it's no sin, go for it!
As far as replacing the marker jewels on the boiler front you can find craft crystals at places like Michaels in various colors, the 3mm size is just about perfect for Lionels. Some of the craft crystals reflect light better than the original Lionel ones!
Oh, the clogged smoke unit? Not TOO unusual for vintage Lionels. A lot of kids wanted to get that smoke-belching effect real steam engines had (and that realistically Lionels couldn't match) by stuffing as many smoke pellets in the unit as they could, leaving results like you had to deal with.
Again, great job! And I'm sure it was a great learning experience for you! Thanks for posting!
Nice repair! I have a very similar postwar engine but even after lubricating and cleaning out that motor it still doesn’t run well. Any tips?
I would recommend checking the wires, sometime original wiring breaks and either not connect or ground out the motor.
How did you get the pick up rollers to keep from flipping upward? We’re they installed wrong?
They were loose so they stuck upwards, once I put slid them back on tightly they stayed down.
Does it have a whistling tender?
Yep, that’s next on the restoration list!
Please don't fast forward the disassemble part
If you would like I can post a video explaining the disassembly, however the video would have been over half an hour long had I not sped up parts of it.
never liked Lionel over priced not to scale 3 rails poor detail and not proto..but great repair job
Thankfully this was far from overpriced
@@gbgstrains521 yes great deal you got and mad skills fixing it. I have my Uncles Lionel train set from the early 60s I run it and keep it cleaned up at least once a year. But Im more into HO esp the Rock Island custom make cars and wat not. Great layout btw
Here's an out-side-the-box thought: three rail trains are inherently stupid, ugly, and immersion-breaking. And Lionel has always produced crap - from its inception up to the present. Switch scales.
Nah.
Every party needs a pooper.