Restored vintage prewar Lionel

Cleaned the brushes, brush holders, armature face, and oiled the motor. Replaced the headlight bulb. Cleaned the center rail pick ups and drivers. Use oil to lubricate O gauge axles but never on HO or N scale as it will destroy continuity to the motor and run terribly. Conducto-lube works on HO and N and improves continuity also. If your HO is running roughly, try cleaning the axles and axle bearings, and lube correctly. It may be your whole problem. I also disassembled the E-unit and cleaned the barrel, fingers, and coil plunger. Be careful of the wires to the E-unit or motor as the light gauge solid wire breaks easily if bent back and forth only a few times. But no problem if they do; just re-solder them back on. I soak the shells on all model train items in dish detergent. It works wonderfully. Just scrub lightly afterward with a toothbrush. I polished the chrome rods and top details. The whistle motor is the same as the engines and got the same reconditioning. Very carefully use a two-sided fingernail sander between the relay contacts and blow out with light air. I like to use the small dust-off cans of compressed air.