I recently unpacked a couple boxes that my father left with me when he moved out of state, and found numerous american flyer and lionel train sets dating to the late 40's and early 50's they, unfortunately have not stood the test of time, tho they do seem to be complete.
what are the best methods to use to clean these trains up without damaging them, the wheels have begun to rust and the bodies do have some mold/mildew on them, is there anything I should look for?
I would like to restore these trains to the best possible condition, and any help would be greatly appriciated
thank you,
john
Hi John,
Without seeing the pieces, I can't say for sure, but I'll bet your trains can be cleaned up and made to run again with a minimal effort. I've restored trains with rust so bad the wheels were fused together. They now run just fine.
Use a wire wheel in a Dremel tool to remove the rust from the wheels. It comes right off. To clean the rolling stock, go gently. Mild soap and water works fine. A soft tooth brush will get the cars clean, but don't use it on any lettering or logos.
Silvers and reds on those old Lionels can react badly with cleaning agents, and sometimes with water. So go slow and be careful. Try cleaning these items in an area of the car that is hidden, like the underside of the shell before trying the good side that people see.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
John, welcome to the forum. I believe they have some information on the opening page to Classic Toy Trains web site. If you look under the articles, follow the links. One great resource for all of us is the Greenberg's Manual to Lionel Trains 1945-69. That will cover the post war Lionels, but not the AF.
Let us know a little more about where you are located as it would be better for you to go to a respected train store and have them do at least the first work over. Be very careful with regard to the transformers.....if the power cord is cracked/brittle, Don't Use It! These can be changed, but are dangerous if they are in poor condition.
It sounds like your trains will each have to be dismantled and given a complete clean/lube.
Good Luck and welcome to the hobby.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
The American Flyer is a little differant as it is two rail and the tender in the steam locomotive picks up the power with its wheels, some tenders have six point pick-ups even with only four metal wheels as they have an extra pick-up shoe that sticks down between the two sets of wheels and are spring loaded-these need cleaning too!
Don't forget to oil the side rods on the steam locomotives! Another point to oil is the swivel point for the wheelsets or trucks after cleaning up the freight or passenger cars, don't forget to oil the coupler very lighly.
Lee F.
as far as the wiring, I am an automotive electrical technician, I'm sure I could change the wiring as the insulation is cracked and peeling off, but is there anything I should note to make sure I do not devalue these units in changing that over, I am going to get these things up and running again, as I'm sure when he gets older, my son would love them, and would love to send at least one of these sets on to it's third generation.
I am in the south hills of pittsburgh, pa next sunday i will be going to the fair at the cedar creek park in rostraver, pa, I remember there being a nice model railroading display there in previous years, and I figure I will also pick the brain of the person there
I will post some pics of the trains later tonite after I get home from work
katulu,
I went to college in PGH. Nice town. When rewiring the locomotives, try to stick with the same gauge. The best thing would to do an entire strip down of the engine. I would get new brushes and springs, clean the commutator of the armature with a pencil eraser, oil the axles and ends of the armature, grease the gears. Remember, not too much grease or oil and make sure these stay away from the brushes. Depending on which place you to to for your brushes, etc, most will also have wire for replacing the wires in the engine, tender, and also on the transformer. One good resource for diagrams is Olsen Toy Train Parts, they have a web site with a diagram library. Make sure you get "Super Flex" wire for the pick up rollers of the tender and passenger cars and also operating cars.
Since I think you are going to want to keep these trains going, a great resource is the Greenberg's Operating and Repair Manual of Lionel Trains 1945-1969. The owners of this web site sell it as would your local hobby shop. As I mentioned in the earlier post, on the front of the web site for Classic Toy Trains, in the red tool bars you will find some information on Old Trains, they have more information as well.
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd1.htm
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