Getting older trains ready to run

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I just got my first permanent layout started in my basement.  I bought a Polar Express set for under the christmas tree last year, and decided to finally put a permanent layout in the basement after I saw how my 2 year old son loved the trains.

I have the following Lionel postwar items that I inherited from my dad; 4 locomotives, 30 assorted rolling stock cars, and several operating acessories.  These items have been sitting in boxes wrapped in newspaper for the past 40 years or so.  They appear to be in good shape, but I want to make sure they are maintained properly before I run them.

Is there a good book or website out there that would walk me step by step through bringing older trains out of mothballs, and getting them ready to run again?

Any information will be greatly appeciated.

SK

[Sturgeon-Phish]

The info you get here will be about as good as you will find in any book.

All my trains are post war american flyer.  When I get a new to me engine, the things I do would be similar to what you would want to do bringing thes old jewels to life again.

Look for any broken wires

test to see if it will try and operate

clean old grease cat hair carpet fuzz from where it accumulates around axles wheels

Clean armatures and communtators as needed with CR 2-56 or contact cleaner from Radio Shack

reoil wheels and grease gears with the appropriate lubes (in pinch if you don't have a regular train PM kit, 3 in 1 and reel grease will get you going

Repair things as need

be prepared to start a hobby that is very fun and rewarding

Others will add things that I didn't think of!

Jim

[c50truck]

Sk,

I've rebuilt Marx engines, cleaned up Lionel, and am now tearing into my first AF engine. This is the site you need to start. Books are great, but they only take you so far. The info you can get get here will fill your hard drive. 

Jim covers the basics. You will be surprised at how well built those postwar engines and cars are. It will not take much to bring them back to life.

Consider joining forums on Yahoo. Theres a great forum for Postwar Lionel. And use the search functions here. I've had many questions answered by doing a search on this site.

Rod L

 

 

[stubbsO]

Degreaseing gears and other stuff can be done a few ways. soaking in laqurer thinner and using toothbrush to get in the deep gaps of gears works real good. For brush plates, I use brake cleaner and a q-tip or toothbrush, however the cleaner evaperates sometimes to quick and q-tip lint can be a slight problem sometimes. Ink erasers, dental or tooth picks also come in handy. I know there's more, just can't think? Whos next?

[Jumijo]

I would hesitate to recommend using lacquer thinner to clean a motor. It may eat the varnish off the windings and damage the motor. Use paint thinner (mineral spirits) instead. It will not harm anything in a post war motor.

Jim 

[dwiemer]

A few books to recommend, the main one is the Greenberg book on Lionel Train Repair, 1945-1969.  It is THE manual for post war trains.  Has diagrams for about anything you may have.  It also has operating information and part numbers, etc.  Another book would be "Getting started with Lionel trains" which has a lot of the basics.  I got the video from TM on Building a O Gauge Layout that just came out recently.  This video has many useful hints. 

The information above about coming to these forums is great as a lot of educated folks here.  For me, the combined information of books, videos, and the folks here makes for a lot of infromation.  Of course, your local hobby shop is a good source (most times) of information.  One web site that is very good, but often has delays from usage is Olsen's Toy Train Parts.  Go to the Library section and look up your engines/rolling stock/accessories.

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

Dennis

[Dave Farquhar]

Assuming that the reverse units aren't cranky, you can probably get your engines running by blasting them with a few squirts of contact cleaner to clear out any cobwebs in there, as well as the old lubricants. Squirt it in, turn the wheels a few times to let the cleaner move around in there, set it aside and let it drip out, then repeat for good measure.

Once they're clean and dry, re-lube them. Put grease on the gears and a drop of oil on the axles. If you have a good hobby shop nearby, Labelle grease and oil are very good. If you can't get that locally, go to an auto parts store and get a tube of grease. For oil, you can use a drop of automotive oil applied with a toothpick.

Assuming that the trains were working properly when they were packed away, odds are this simple clean and lube will get them running as well as they did the day they were put in the box, and you'll need less than $20 worth of supplies to do it.