Greetings all,
I am fairly new to model railroading, so my question may seem dumb, but I'll go ahead and ask anyway. I recently acquired a lionel 2046 locomotive and everything is fine except the e-unit and bracket that it mounts on are missing. From the looks of things, the e-unit should sit out back behind everything, so that the e-unit switch can reach through the hole in the boiler, which is just in front of the cab. I have purchased some items from Olsen Toy Trains in the past and had excellent service, but when I went to look up this bracket and e-unit on their website, the picture in the 2046 library section was of a completely different motor. The picture shown has the e-unit switch up front in what I am going to call the "notch" of the motor, but on my 2046 that is where all of the smoke generating gadgetry is and there is no room for an e-unit. Does anybody know if there were different engines put into the 2046 and/or what a part number would be for this bracket? This ebay auction shows how my 2046 looks, which, as you can see, is totally different from Olsen's Toy Train website. I realize that it is a 2056, but I think that they should more or less be the same motor.
Here is the links:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330500984809&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_922
Thanks in advance!
-Charles
Charles, Dr.Fu-Manchu Here. As I look at my Greenburg Lionel Repair book, I see that the E-unit mounts at the rear of the motor frame. There is no bracket, It slides inside the motor frame and is held in place with a screw. Not to say Olsen's is wrong, but the motors in the 2046 and 2055 are the same. Eunit is in rear. You might want to get a repair book, comes in handy. If you need it, I can send you a copy of the page with the complete motor on it.
The Olsen's diagram for the 2046 found here is NOT correct. It is a fabrication and was taken from the 2035 service manual pages(actually was cut 'n pasted from several sources). The photo from eBay:
IS correct. The 2046/2056/646 were all configured this way.
Rob
Many thanks to all who responded so quickly,
My only guess is that there must be 2 different motors or 2 differerent 2046 locomotives.Let me explain why. If you look at the e-unit switch in Olsen's picture, you can see that if you were to draw an imaginary line from the bottom of the switch straight down, this line would be almost exactly tangent to the wheel closest to it. However if you look at this other ebay auction for another 2046 loco, you can see in the first photo that the e-unit switch is much further away from the wheels than in Olsen's photo.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lionel-2046-New-York-Central-2046W-Tender-Whistle-Box-/400177863636?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item5d2c759bd4
The loco in this auction looks exactly like mine, with the e-unit switch hole very far back on the boiler. I don't understand how the e-unit can be so far back and still be mounted within the motor. If anybody has a free moment, it might be handy to post a picture of their 2046 so I can see exactly how it goes together. I could also post some pics later so that you all can see what I am talking about.
Again, Many thanks and I hope I can get this thing back together soon!
See my clarifications above. The Olsen's diagram is more representative of a 2055 or 2035.
The part you need is the 2046-30 Reverse Unit Bracket. It's 50 cents from The Train Tender.
Hi ADCX Rob,
That's a very interesting observation on the parts diagram for the 2046. The Olsen's picture is very close to the one that Greenberg uses. I have a 2046 and you can clearly see the bracket by looking inside the cab. The Lionel service manual on disk that HLS has only a parts list. Does a correct diagram exist for the 2046?
Thanks, Dave
Excellent! Thank you so much for your assistance! I was pretty sure that I wasn't overlooking anything, but I couldn't really find any evidence that confirmed the existence of that bracket. One last thing: do you suppose that Olsen's site is correct in saying that the proper e-unit for the 2046 is the 100-25 e-unit? From what I am seeing on other sites, I think that it probably is, but since that page is not entirely correct, I thought that I would make sure.
Thanks again!
ryuzaki One last thing: do you suppose that Olsen's site is correct in saying that the proper e-unit for the 2046 is the 100-25 e-unit?
One last thing: do you suppose that Olsen's site is correct in saying that the proper e-unit for the 2046 is the 100-25 e-unit?
The Lionel service manual lists a 100-10 reversing unit for the 2046. MPC used their number 8506-50 E-unit.
Brewman1973 Hi ADCX Rob, That's a very interesting observation on the parts diagram for the 2046. The Olsen's picture is very close to the one that Greenberg uses. I have a 2046 and you can clearly see the bracket by looking inside the cab. The Lionel service manual on disk that HLS has only a parts list. Does a correct diagram exist for the 2046? Thanks, Dave
I've never seen one, but check the Lionel Online manual for reference.
Greenberg lists the 100-25 as the e-unit. They note that the "reverse unit is probably the most frequent source of operator complaint" they recommend using tv tuner cleaner to clean it (Radio Shack still carries the stuff).
If you want a good detailed repair guide for the 2046, I would suggest the JWTRAINS.com as a good source. I bought one of their articles for another engine and was really pleased with the detail. Once you get your engine working then you can try a second one, etc.
good luck..
I hope this doesn't add to more confussion, but on page 184, Greenberg notes that the 100-25 replaces the 100-1 and 100-10 e-units. THe MPC E unit might be a good replacement as well since the 8506-50 uses the 2046-30 bracket which were in the 8600 hudson which is similare to the 2046 hudson..
Dr.Fu-Manchu Charles, Dr.Fu-Manchu Here. As I look at my Greenburg Lionel Repair book, I see that the E-unit mounts at the rear of the motor frame. There is no bracket, It slides inside the motor frame and is held in place with a screw. Not to say Olsen's is wrong, but the motors in the 2046 and 2055 are the same. Eunit is in rear. You might want to get a repair book, comes in handy. If you need it, I can send you a copy of the page with the complete motor on it.
Sorry Dr., the manuals have the wrong diagrams. Here is a 2046/2056 with the E-unit bracket:
2056 with smoke unit uninstalled for rebuild, not hard to do even for a beginner
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