Lionel Postwar Electronic set

[thesiding]

Hello all

 

Figured I would try here for info

 

Recently I aquired a Lionel Electronic set from the forties from the original owner

 

The only thing I can say it the reciever has the original tube in it  most of the set components have recievers etc and as tempting as it is to set it up and try it                 I did not for it is as most know differnt from the usual set   Does anyone know hw to serice it? Know where to find schematics for the set

 

or the instuctions (did not come with them)

 

 

Any thhoughts?

[TrainLarry]

Greenbergs Repair and Operating Manual has a section on the electronic set and how to test it.

Larry

[cwburfle]

I like the electronics set and have owned several over the years. They are known to be somewhat finicky. Servicing the engine is no different than servicing any other locomotive, as is servicing the whistle motor.

I would advise reading the Lionel service manual pages on the electronic set, and a copy of the owner instructions before you do anything else. For example, as far as I recall, Lionel instructed the customer not to oil the wheel / axles.

Also the wire from the transmitter to the track was supposed to be a specific length.

I don't run mine.

[lionelsoni]

That length is 10 feet, the length of the "cord supplied with the outfit."  The cord, being short compared to the kilometer wavelength of the signals, would appear as a capacitive load that was probably tuned out by an inductive shunt in the transmitter.  Lionel did advise cutting it to about 12 inches to allow connecting the transmitter close to the middle of a large (13-by-8.5-foot) layout, but with a "condensor of .25 mfd" replacing it, presumably to preserve the correct tuning.  (I'm sure that they meant what we would now call .25 uF, not .25 millifarads.)

I wouldn't hesitate to run the set if I had one.  Except for the finite lifetime of the heaters, vacuum tubes are far more robust than transistors; so it would take a lot of bad luck to damage the thing

[cwburfle]

I wouldn't hesitate to run the set if I had one

The reason I don't run mine isn't out of fear of damage.

I even have about a dozen NOS tubes, as well as NOS spare receivers and complete trucks.
(Sorry, nothing is for sale)

They just don't work very well.

I have spoken with others who own the set. Their experience wasn't any different.

If there are some tricks to getting them to work better, I would enjoy reading about them.

[BigAl 956]

The Lionel original service tips is found in the Greenberg repair book. CTT also published an article or two on servicing the cars and tubes of this set. It would take someone familiar with old vacuum tube repair to service this set. I tend to agree with the group about running this set very sparingly as the old tubes are only getting harder and more expensive to come by.

Still, from a collectors value. A restored, serviced, and running set would be worth considerably more than a condition unknown set. If you can find someone to do the restoration successfully it might not be a bad idea to get it running. Once you do I would treat it like a classic car and only operate the set on special occasions.

[cwburfle]

An NOS 117N7GT, which is one of the acceptable tubes for the transmitter, currently runs around eight dollars.

[sir james I]

I tried to run mine once, it didn't work so I just use the engine now and then.

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

What I find most fascinating about the Electronic set is that with all the advances in technology, nobody has even come close to duplicating one of the most overlooked features of that set.  Neither MTH nor Lionel has ever created a SET where all the rolling stock had couplers you could open ANYWHERE on your layout.  Lionel did make a couple of operating cars with Electro-couplers, and I am not aware if MTH ever did any.  Imagine a set where you could drop off cars anywhere.  Wonder if that day will ever come again.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[BigAl 956]

There are TMCC boards that would give you coupler control. But few operating cars have the space to install such a board so this feature is relegated to power and dummy units.

[thesiding]

And which issues of CTT did articles?   Someone told me when the mag first appeared in late eighties early nineties

And does the BIG Lionel service manual have schematics?

[cwburfle]

So far, every reprint of the postwar Lionel Factory Service Manual that I have seen does include the electronic set section. I was not able to find it on the Olsen's library website.
I cannot help you with the CTT information, I no longer have my back issues.

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd1.htm