Lionel C-420

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and am getting back into model railroading after a long absence.  I just purchased a Lionel C-420 (D&H) on eBay and it does not seem to be working correctly.  The horn & bell only work when power is first applied to the engine and it is in neutral.  Once the direction control on my transformer is selected it moves forward, but the horn & bell no longer operate.  Also once moving forward when the direction control is selected it goes directly to reverse without cycling to neutral.  Does anyone know if this is an easy fix or will it require a big expense?

 Thanks

[dougdagrump]

First off to the forum.

Lionel made two versions of the D&H C-420's, one that came with TMCC(cab#412) and it's sister C-420(#411) that was upgradeable. Both of mine are currently operating under TMCC but I have never tried running them in conventional mode. I have tried it with another TMCC loco, can't remember which one, but it didn't behave correctly either.

Which cab number do you have ?

[Anonymous]

Hey dougdagrump,

Thanks for the reply.  I have cab # 411.  I love the detail & color of the engine. 

I was told by a local hobby shop that electronic repairs to Lionels can run from $50-$75.  I just don't want to drop that much more $ on top of what I paid and still have a 6+ year old engine.  Or do I just send it back to the seller get my money back and buy new???

[Kooljock1]

I'd open her up and try re-seating the boards. If she was the TMCC version I'd do a re-program sequence, but from the number it sounds like a Conventional version. Check the set switches underneath as well.

Jon

[dougdagrump]

I agree with kooljock, open it up and check to make sure everything is properly seated. The electronics boards can sometimes come loose in transit when shipped. Not knowing what you already have invested it is difficult for me to say about repair or not. However I will say that these units are a real workhorse, normally I run mine as a lashup pulling a really heavy consist.