Just Purchased My First Post War Loco

[Jumijo]

Last night I purchased a Lionel 2034 2-4-2 loco, tender, and caboose from 1952 for under $20. The engine runs strong and is in pretty good shape for a 53 year old low-end starter loco. It's a very, very basic model with no smoke unit (the light works), but I need a question answered.

With the engine upside down, there is what appears to be a switch paddle on the back of the motor, in the rear of the loco pointing down towards the wheels. It's not accessible from the top. Is that switch supposed to make the engine go in reverse? It doesn't when moved. Is this a one direction only loco or is the e-unit not working?

If the engine is a forward-only deal, I'm still happy with it. I bought it more as a cheap, fun entry into post war Lionel. To see how they run vs. the new stuff, and to tinker with.

It's loud and the pick up rollers shot a lot of sparks at the store, but that decreased the more it ran. I want to clean and lube it. Hopefully that will make it run and sound better. It's hefty compared with today's O-27 starters.

Sorry it wasn't a Hudson or some other great old engine, but if any one wants to chime in, I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Jim

[lionelsoni]

That's the e-unit switch. It allows the e-unit to sequence among forward, neutral, and reverse. When the e-unit is shut off, the locomotive will stay in the same state. See
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=159

[Jumijo]

Thanks for the response and the link. The information will prove very useful.

Jim

[Jumijo]

I tried to get the e-unit working last night to no avail. What position of the paddle makes the e-unit do which function, and is it a manual reverse or does it cycle between f-n-r (or f-r) with an off position for one direction running like todays trains?

Any additional info on the e-unit would be greatly appreciated.

Jim

[lionelsoni]

I don't have an example of your locomotive. But, from the Olsen pictures, it seems certain that it has a conventional 3-position e-unit, which cycles among forward, neutral, reverse, forward, etc. Here is a link to e-unit information: http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=1070

The switch is an L-shaped stamping pivoting about its corner on a small circuit board. When the short arm of the L touches a rivet on the board, the e-unit coil is connected. You should be able to hear the e-unit cycling as you turn power on and off, whether or not it is working to reverse the motor. It must be upright to work, since it uses gravity to return the armature.

If the brushes that ride on the drum are bent or worn out, they can be repaired or replaced. But it is very difficult to get the thing back together after you take it apart. If it is hopeless or you don't want to try to fix it, it should not be difficult to replace the entire e-unit.

[1688torpedo]

Hello Jaabat ! The 2034 is a nice little loco. I have one of them & it runs fine. Will not pull more than five or six postwar cars.However with the newer fast angle wheeled cars it may be able to pull seven or eight. It is a hefty little engine and worth working on to get it going & running well for you.Olsens has rebuilt e-units for 2034s.So, if you need one they have it for sure.Just send yours in for the exchange & they'll knock a couple of bucks off for you............Keith P.S. I think e-units are around $35.00 at Olsen's

[Anonymous]

You might want to spray some CRC Electrical cleaner on the E-unit and (gently) use a Q-tip to clean it.
MickeyG

[Jumijo]

Thanks, Bob, Keith, and Mickey. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

Keith, I haven't tried pulling anything more than the tender and caboose that came with the loco yet. After I clean and lube it, I will. $35 bucks is too much to spend on an engine I paid less than $10 for. I'll live without reverse!

It's nice to hear someone say something nice about this model. Since it's a low-end loco with a minimum resale value, I'm thinking about sanding and repainting it so it looks new. On the other hand, 53 years worth of chips and scratches might be worth keeping as is. The light is very powerful! It shoots a good 18" ahead of the train. Still gotta figure out why the pick-up rollers are sparking.

Three people out of 117 who've read the thread so far bothered to help. Nice to know the forum works.

Jim

[1688torpedo]

Hello Jaabat! My 2034 is repainted too and looks as sharp as ever. Your pickup rollers probably have to much oil and oxidation built up on the fixed axle that they revolve on causing them to spark. the solution for that is to take them off of the fiber plate and dip the rollers in rubbing alchohol( let them dry real good first) then re-install them on the pickup plate assembly. Now ,if your pickup rollers have a groove right in the center of them that will also cause sparking and the rollers will need to be replaced. Olsen's Toy Trains also have these parts in stock .Just type in their name on the internet and you're in business. The e-unit really is not that hard to take apart. Just use a pair of needle nose pliers to seperate the two sideframes of the E-unit that hold the Drum & Fingers in place.The best way to Clean a Drum is with a large Pencil Eraser. If the Fingers are burned then they will need to be replaced so that everything will function properly. If you need any help contact me at my e-mail.....................Keith

[lionelsoni]

Keith, I agree that the e-unit is not that hard to take--apart! For the inexperienced, putting it back together might prove frustrating, however. On the other hand, if the alternative is replacing it anyway, nothing but equanimity is lost by trying.

I have been able to reuse even fingers that have been worn in two simply by somewhat flattening the angle where the semicircular arc at the tip transitions to the straight part, to expose a new part of the tip as the contact surface.

[rinzana]

Hello Jabbat,
Even before you start taking eunits apart, your problem is probably with the that stamped switch. Remove the "boiler" from the engine and try to give it a run. This should allow you to see the eunit in operation. If you wiggle the switch arm around, with some power to the rails, the loco should start to move. Some of those switches go past thier intended contact point, meaning moving them from one position to the other will cause it to over shoot it's intended contact. I have also found that excessive overuse of that lever has caused it them become loose of the years. Thus causing it to not get a good contact to the circuit board. If memory serves me right, some of the levers were riveted on and some were held in place with a screw. I can offer a few suggestions here, tighten the screw, tighten the rivet, or build up some solder on the contact, so the switch will make contact again. The eunit should make a noticible buzzing noise when it is engaged, so you should know it is working. Lastly give it a good cleaning. You should be able to get in the eunit contacts with a qtip or toothpick, and give them a nice cleaning with alchol. Make sure the contacts are touching the roller, I think there should be 2 or 3 contacts. 2 for f-r and 3 for f-n-r (I could be wrong here).
Lastly, sparks are caused by dirty rollers or dirty track. Clean your rollers by soaking in alchahol as described above, I use a dremel with the wire wheel attachment on it. You can hold the roller with your thumb and move the dremel back and fourth across the face of the roller. Lastly, also clean the driver wheels on the loco, following the same pattern for the rollers. You should be able to get that engine running pretty well with minimal investment, meaning a few qtips and some alchahol. I would expend the cheap options first before I started buying and replacing parts.