I recently bought this 313 Bascule Bridge from a dealer in Georgia. Here are the dealer's pictures:
Thanks to very poor packaging and careless handling, here is what I found when I opened the box: It gets better. The counterbalancing spring along with it's hardware that is visible in the dealer's pictures went "missing" between the time I paid for the bridge and when I received the bridge. I'm sure that the fact that this dealer has a few 313s for sale on that large auction site explains the situation. The dealer even wrote "no balancing spring" on their inspection slip trying to cover it. I called the dealer, but they don't seem to care. So, I took matters into my own hands and found the parts in stock at my favorite parts dealer. I was able to get the building back into shape, and the motor has been serviced. I have no documentation on the 313 in the service manual so I might need some help.
Thanks to very poor packaging and careless handling, here is what I found when I opened the box:
It gets better. The counterbalancing spring along with it's hardware that is visible in the dealer's pictures went "missing" between the time I paid for the bridge and when I received the bridge. I'm sure that the fact that this dealer has a few 313s for sale on that large auction site explains the situation. The dealer even wrote "no balancing spring" on their inspection slip trying to cover it. I called the dealer, but they don't seem to care. So, I took matters into my own hands and found the parts in stock at my favorite parts dealer. I was able to get the building back into shape, and the motor has been serviced. I have no documentation on the 313 in the service manual so I might need some help.
It gets better. The counterbalancing spring along with it's hardware that is visible in the dealer's pictures went "missing" between the time I paid for the bridge and when I received the bridge. I'm sure that the fact that this dealer has a few 313s for sale on that large auction site explains the situation. The dealer even wrote "no balancing spring" on their inspection slip trying to cover it. I called the dealer, but they don't seem to care.
So, I took matters into my own hands and found the parts in stock at my favorite parts dealer. I was able to get the building back into shape, and the motor has been serviced. I have no documentation on the 313 in the service manual so I might need some help.
Jim
Here is the current progress:
What I found once I got the top of the gearbox off: After I could get a decent angle to remove the last cover screw nearest the track, the top wouldn't budge thanks to solidified grease locking the top to the gearbox. Some heat and prying got it free. I removed the input shaft, both intermediate shafts, and the output shaft. Everything was cleaned and lubed before reassembly. Last night, I finished cleaning the bridge deck and main base. The motor has been serviced and runs well independently, but I am still waiting for the parts to arrive. One of the biggest challenges with the 313 is the fact that there is very little documentation on it. The only Lionel service document I've found is a parts list dated 9-54. An exploded diagram would've been a big help. A magazine published a repair article on the 313, but aside from the wiring complete wiring diagram, the article is useless. It contains only very general bits of info and leaves out important details like properly adjusting the counterbalancing spring. Then, there's the subject of the base warping that's somewhat common to the 313. Some say it's caused by the counterbalancing spring, but what I've seen over the years points to zincpest.
What I found once I got the top of the gearbox off:
After I could get a decent angle to remove the last cover screw nearest the track, the top wouldn't budge thanks to solidified grease locking the top to the gearbox. Some heat and prying got it free. I removed the input shaft, both intermediate shafts, and the output shaft. Everything was cleaned and lubed before reassembly. Last night, I finished cleaning the bridge deck and main base. The motor has been serviced and runs well independently, but I am still waiting for the parts to arrive. One of the biggest challenges with the 313 is the fact that there is very little documentation on it. The only Lionel service document I've found is a parts list dated 9-54. An exploded diagram would've been a big help. A magazine published a repair article on the 313, but aside from the wiring complete wiring diagram, the article is useless. It contains only very general bits of info and leaves out important details like properly adjusting the counterbalancing spring. Then, there's the subject of the base warping that's somewhat common to the 313. Some say it's caused by the counterbalancing spring, but what I've seen over the years points to zincpest.
After I could get a decent angle to remove the last cover screw nearest the track, the top wouldn't budge thanks to solidified grease locking the top to the gearbox. Some heat and prying got it free. I removed the input shaft, both intermediate shafts, and the output shaft. Everything was cleaned and lubed before reassembly.
Last night, I finished cleaning the bridge deck and main base. The motor has been serviced and runs well independently, but I am still waiting for the parts to arrive.
One of the biggest challenges with the 313 is the fact that there is very little documentation on it. The only Lionel service document I've found is a parts list dated 9-54. An exploded diagram would've been a big help. A magazine published a repair article on the 313, but aside from the wiring complete wiring diagram, the article is useless. It contains only very general bits of info and leaves out important details like properly adjusting the counterbalancing spring.
Then, there's the subject of the base warping that's somewhat common to the 313. Some say it's caused by the counterbalancing spring, but what I've seen over the years points to zincpest.
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