Restoring a Old Lionel Locomotive

[Anonymous]

I just a old lionel locomotive in my Grandpas basement. It is very old and its number is 2042 i think. On the bottom is says Buily by the Lionel Company New York, US of America. If u guys can, Please get me some info on it and tell me how to restore it. THANX

COLIN SNELL

LETS GO NY JETS

[daan]

Hi Snell50, The restauration depends on a few things. Is it rusted, and if yes, how heavy is the damage? Do things miss? Is it working or doesn't it?
If it's working and has no or only a bit rust damage it should be not too hard to restore. If things are missing, you have to try and find the parts, but that's not too difficult, since Lionel still sells alomost every part new.
If it's rusted a lot it will require more then a repaint, and requires soldering techniques etc. If it's not in working order it requires also skills to locate and fix the problem.
It it's bad and you don't trust yourself doing the restauration yourself, there are also special restaurators who will do it for you.
I don't know what the prices will be though..

[Anonymous]

Thanx Daan. The rust is only on the rod that moves the wheels. I tried WD40 but it did not work very well. It is also very scrached up. I reckon its a post war from the late 40's to the mid 50's. When i put it on the trax, it sparcked and i took off right away. What should i do?


Colin

[Chris F]

Colin,

I couldn't find a listing for a Lionel 2042, prewar or postwar.[%-)] The only items numbered "204X" were the 2041 Rock Island Alco AA units (1969) and the 2046 4-6-4 Lionel Lines steamer (1950-53). Is your engine a diesel-type or a steam-type?

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris. I have a Steam locomotive. Any thing else? ? ? ?

[ben10ben]

I too was unable to find a 2042 in prewar, postwar, or modern era. Are you sure of the number?

[GPJ68]

Is the number "2042" on the front or on the sides of the cab under the windows? What is the wheel arrangement, front to back - ie. 2 small, 6 large, 2 small? Also, flat shoes or rollers on the bottom that contact the center rail?

May help to narrow it down some, since "2042" doesn't directly correspond to any postwar steamer. There is a 2046.

[Chris F]

Colin,

If it's a steamer with "204X" on each side of the cab below the windows, it's a 2046 Hudson (front to back - 4 small pilot wheels, 6 large drive wheels, 4 small trailing tuck wheels). It came with a 2046W tender ("coal car"). I'm in the process of restoring a 2056, which is identical to yours but lacks the Magne-traction feature.

There are a lot of detail items involved in restoring this 50+ year-old locomotive. Even if listed here, pictures would be helpful, almost necessary, to convey the information properly. Fortunately, there is a video covering restoration of a postwar steamer that uses the 2046 as the example:

http://www.ogaugerr.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=V-Backshop-09&reference=/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3Dbackshop%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DTemplates/SearchResult.html

This video does not cover upgrading the smoke unit nor repair of the e-umit (reversing unit), although these subjects are covered in other videos. If you need to upgrade the smoke unit, that subject can be covered here. Repairing the e-unit is more difficult, especially reassembly.

Good luck!

[1688torpedo]

Hello Snell50! your Engine # sounds like a # 8042 small steam engine.it should have a square Grand Trunk Tender that is based on the old 6026 tenders of the postwar era and is one of the first steam engines made by Lionel in 1970 after General Mills took over. If you need a resto.I know of at least 2 gents who can do a really nice job for you.Contact me at my e-mail if you wi***o.Have a nice day..........Keith.

[Anonymous]

Chris the Smoke unit is not hard at all the old porcelin unit so u can still use pills if u want or you can replace with a liquid unit wich is what usually do are both super easy. Just a matter of taking the pot off the front , popping the top off taking the old unit and stuffing out and putting a new unit in, there is very little soldering reguired. Actually if you bend things write you can get away with no soldering. As for the "E " Unit Go spend $20.00 for a new used one. LOL and after a general clean up and tlc the motor unit on those units all run like champs I have found out. Just do as little to the shell as possible. If your going to keep it and want to totaly redo it bead blast it and the best colormatch to Lionel black is Krylon Semigloss NOT ENAMAL!
Before you blast it take the lense out though. The little green beads you can pick up in a hobby shop.

[Anonymous]

Sorry guys, its 2034. Sorry . I just checked it.

Colin

[Anonymous]

snell50
You have a 2-4-2 steam engine , built in 1952 with a 6066T tender.

[Anonymous]

Ok, well the 2034 is bacically a better quality scout loco. The motor and E-unit are much better then a scout. Wouldn't be worth it to restore it, only about 20-30 dollars in good condition. But, if you have the matching 6466w tender, it will be worth a little more

[Chris F]

Jerry, how could you![;)] Any old 2034 may not be worth much to me, either, but it would if it belonged to my grandfather![:D]

The video I recommended won't have as direct an application here, but it still might help.

[Chris F]

Bill (choochoo_42),

I mis-spoke (mis-typed) when mentioning the smoke unit. I meant to say that the conversion was simple enough to be covered on this forum- you don't need to buy a separate video.

I restored a 2056 for a friend and liked it so much I bought one for myself. Both have had the smoke unit converted. The e-unit had a bent finger and a filthy drum, but the repair was simplified because I have an e-unit tool. I still have a lot of Krylon paint left over from repainting my friend's loco - that's my next task for mine.

BTW, I notice you're in Will County. I stop by Merichka's whenever I'm in the area for one (or more!) of their steak poorboys. Just thinking about 'em makes my mouth water![:)]

[Anonymous]

Sorry Chris, I was just stating the facts. Didn't mean to offend you![;)]

[eZAK]

Colin,

You should be able to tune this engine up yourself.
First you would need a exploded diagram,
Check here http://www.hobbysurplus.com/repairbooks.asp for the repair and operating manual '45 to '69.
This will aid in the disassembly and assembly.

For the most part all that is needed is a good cleaning of the Wheels, Contacts,
(i.e. rollers, sliders, & E-unit fingers) Brushes, & Brush plate.
A little lite oil and grease and your ready to roll.

Your other option would be to bring it to a local hbby shop.
You can find them at:
http://www.lionel.com/Dealers/Findex.cfm
Or your local yellow pages.

If your near the Chicago area I can help you out.

[Anonymous]

i have found an old steamer with same stamp on the under side between the rollers and i am trying to find some info on how to repair the whistle in the tender the power wires came disconnected if anyone knows were i can re find out were to re atach them please let me know the number under the cab window is 2026

[lionelsoni]

Here's a link to tender repair information
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd2.htm?srt=11

But you'll need to figure out which tender you have. Sometimes the number is stamped in white on the bottom.

[Chris F]

As far as I can tell, the only whistling tender that came with a 2026 (2-6-2 or 4-6-2) was a 6466W (or WX). According to Olsen's list (thanks, Bob!), this tender used the WS-125 whistle.

Jason, start with Bob's link to Olsen's, then click on "whistles", which will show you almost all you need to know about Lionel Postwar whistles. Next, back up and click on "6026W". Although this particular tender used a WS-175 whistle, the primary difference was that the relay was mounted separately. The wiring was the same, and the wiring diagram on this page shows a little more detail.

Note to Bob - Your frequent links to Olsen's are appreciated - thank you! I still need to refer to Greenberg's Postwar service manual on occasion, but Olsen's website always helps, too. My appreciation was recently expressed by an order to Olsen's for parts for a 2056 and a 2344 I'm (slowly) restoring.[:)]