If it ain't broke don't fix it !!!!!!

[Anonymous]

These are words to live by. The least you handle your trains the better. I recently got curious and tried to pull off the cover on my (2001) Lionel U30C Union pacific engine. I wanted to adjust the volume. This was a bad idea. The cover is the radiator section near the front of the engine. You have to pull up on it to remove it. One side was stuck and it was the part nearest the front. I gave up and thought it was too much trouble. I persisted and tried once more. Again the front was stuck. I finally got it off but I heard a crack. The cover had broken off the topside of the engine. It broke off a small piece of plastic about 1/8”x 1/8”. I glued the piece back on and it doesn’t look bad at all. I didn’t really have to remove the cover but I just wanted to do it. Another time I dusted my Lionel sd70M Southern Pacific and broke off one of the wipers.
I also glued this back on. Every time I try to clean or adjust my engines, I end up breaking something. I just want to know has anyone else broken anything on his or her engines.

[brianel027]

I pull everything apart almost as soon as I buy it... engines, cars... everything. I want to see how it's made. And inevitably I see ways I can improve it and make it work better. A lot of times I knew I was going to strip and repaint the item even before I bought it... I want modern roadnames. Even box cars... I have now remounted the trucks on every single car of every type I own except for ones with screw mounted trucks or a cam gear running through the truck mount.

[1688torpedo]

It's too bad Lionel did not locate the volume switch underneath the engine instead of underneath a plastic part on top of the U30C Engine. Hopefully they will read this thread and make the needed changes in this area............Keith

[Jumijo]

I'm not sure if I've broken anything or not, but I've had a lot of trouble determining how much smoke fluid to put in my Lionel NYC Flyer 4-4-2. The smoke disipates to the point where I can no longer see it unless the train is moving very slowly, and being afraid of letting the unit run dry and causing damage, I add more fluid. What usually happens is that I end up overfilling the unit and it drips down to the leading truck and/or the plate that the smoke unit wire attaches. To solve the problem, I've been tipping the engine upside down after every session and draining the fluid into a cotton ball. Now, every time I run the train, I start off with the right amount of fluid and never have overflow problems. But I wonder if I'm not making some new problem, like smoke fluid flowing inside the engine's shell when it's upside down and dripping down onto the motor when it's righted. I'm not about to open it up to find out!

Jim

[brianel027]

Jim, it is possible there is a problem with the smoke unit. There is a "pumper" on the bottom of the smoke unit that gets hit by the piston rod (crosshead). The air pump action is what pushes the puffs of smoke upward.

Normally you put in about 6 or so drops of smoke fluid. Bear in mind that the smoke units on these engines do not put out smoke the way an MTH steam engine does. The NYC Flyer steamer puts out nice little puffs of smoke... I don't know how to describe it, but you should be able to see the smoke as the enigne runs.

Putting a couple of cars with lights in them (powered off track power) will also help as these draw more current, thus requiring more current to run the train, making more smoke. Also another tip... a searchlight car right behind the loco will help you see the smoke, especially with darkened room running.

[lionelsoni]

All the smoke unit knows is what the track voltage is. Having more or heavier cars behind the locomotive will require more track voltage to run the train at the same speed, which should increase the smoke. However, the current drawn by the lights will have no effect.