bfskinner wrote: EIS2Earl,If I understand the question, the "cutout" just above and slightly behind the front drive wheels is normal. It appears on both sides of my 685 and each one provides clearance for and access to a screw upon which some of the linkage pivots. It does not secure the shell to the motor assembly. I think that just the way they were built. On my example, the finish in the area was clearly factory-produced. If you look very closely you can see a very narrow line, presumably intended to represent a pipe, following the contour of the opening. It just about takes a magnifying glass for my tired old eyes!
EIS2
Earl,
If I understand the question, the "cutout" just above and slightly behind the front drive wheels is normal. It appears on both sides of my 685 and each one provides clearance for and access to a screw upon which some of the linkage pivots. It does not secure the shell to the motor assembly. I think that just the way they were built. On my example, the finish in the area was clearly factory-produced. If you look very closely you can see a very narrow line, presumably intended to represent a pipe, following the contour of the opening. It just about takes a magnifying glass for my tired old eyes!
My 2055, 2065 and extra shells of this style train (all the same mold) all have this as well. I did not recieve the new CTT yet and will look at the picture when it arives.
Look at the picture of the 685 on page 42 of the current CTT issue (Oct 2007). It appears that someone used a hacksaw to gain access to the screw that secures the chasis to the shell (just behind the front drivers). After checking the Postwar Lionel Library and David Doyle's book, it looks like Lionel may have shipped the engine with that cutout. It looks pretty sloppy in the CTT photo. That is the first engine I have seen with a cutout for the chasis screw (if that is what it is). For those of you that have a 685, does it have that cutout?
Earl
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