Carp also in this article continues the urban legend that some 2026 models had Baldwin Disk wheels. This was a "ringer" perpetrated by Ambrose to track plagiarists. Carp got sucked in. Lionel simply did not have the tooling to produce a set of Baldwin wheels for a 6 wheel steamer in the 2026/1666 O-27 motor series.
Rob
For some reason, I overlooked Roger Carp's article on the later 2026. I happened to notice it today and wish he had mentioned some of the other things that make this a rather peculiar locomotive:
o There is no American prototype for the 2-6-4 except for some that were made for export, leading to this wheel arrangement's being called the "Adriatic", when it is not misidentified as a "prairie".
o From the Lionel repair manual: "It should be noted that the center driving wheels of the 2036 locomotives were somewhat larger than the end wheels. This feature was intended to improve the magnetic circuit of that locomotive and was retained in the subsequently produced 2026 locomotives as well. However, the oversized center wheels resulted in derailments on 1122 switches and were machined down in the 2037 locomotives and 2026 locomotives produced in 1953. Only the smaller wheels will be supplied by the Parts Division." The Korean war was the reason for deleting magnetraction. You can actually rock a 2026 fore and aft on level track.
o The pilot truck's tongue is too short and the pivot too far forward, causing it to steer too sharply in a curve and often to derail to the inside. The definitive fix, better than added springs and weights, is to extend the tongue back about to the motor's front crossmember.
Bob Nelson
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month