Installing pick up sliders

[gottcent]

Thanks again. Finally figured out how to do it. I was making it more difficult than it is! Now to attack the motor.

John

[cwburfle]

If there is no slot in the spring, then I think there should be a notch on the plastic plate. The notch does not go all the way through. You may be able to see a rectangular bar molded into the plastic.

[gottcent]

Thanks. The problem is, there are no slots in the spring. It just curves downward at each end. The replacement shoes have three prongs--two on top and one on the bottom. It seems as though the spring should get "trapped" between the prongs, but it won't stay firm enough to fit in. I may try to spread the prongs, insert the spring, and then try to close the prongs with pliers.

[sir james I]

The shoe should slide right in and snap into the slot in the copper spring. In most of those engines you can replace the sliders with MPC rollers.

[gottcent]

I recently picked up a Lionel 8507 steam engine from the early MPC period. This is a low end locomotive which I thought would be fun to resuscitate. I can work on the motor OK--the problem is with the pick ups. This train has "sliding shoe" type pickups instead of the rollers used on higher end power. The shoes on this particular unit are missing. My question is: how do I successfully attach new pick up shoes to the copper leaf spring that's already in place on the engine? Every time I try to attach one, the leaf spring bends away and refuses to accept the shoe. Any thoughts?

John