I recently took delivery of a somewhat bedraggled 820 spotlight car (dated by an expert at the Sugar Creek MRR Club to 1932 by its copper plated journal boxes)...
As delivered. I took a bit of corrosion off the right-hand spotlight with a Dremel and wire brush.
Note the missing bulb contact on the right. This was replaced.
The easiest way to string replacement wires is to solder the new wire to the old...
And then pull it through to the other side. Removing the reflector from the spotlight housing is fairly simple; just remove the lens and ring, then tap the face of the spotlight on the work surface until the reflector works its way forward enough to be prised out. I recommend using a mat like I have covering my workbench to avoid denting the brass.
Freshly rewired switch. I salvaged the wire from an old hand-held barcode scanner cable!
Before reassembling the spotlights (helpful hint: String the wire THROUGH the reflector and spotlight body BEFORE soldering the contact to the wire!) I gave the bodies and lens rings a quick Tarn-X bath.
Future work will include further derusting, cleaning and polishing the brass rails!
Fiat Lux! (and lo, there was Italian sportscar soap!)
Mitch
Kittehs find the darndest places comfortable. I'm just sayin'.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month