752E Question

[Anonymous]

Top of the season, all.

I recently aquired a 1936 Lionel 752E set and I had some questions
about it. I understand that the undersides of the cars typically sag over
time as a result of impurities in the original castings. On my set, the
engine and the observation car sag just a bit...just enough so that
you can see light between the underbelly and the sides of the
car when it's running. My questions are: Is there a way to prevent
more sagging? Have they sagged as much as they're going to
sag (given that it's been nearly 70 years!)? And what conditions
would be ideal storage for these (which I guess ties in to the
first question about prevention)?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

-iSpy

[Anonymous]

Hi ispy85,

Sorry, but there's nothing you can do. Impurities are causing the metal to break down. It may never get any worse than it is right now, or it may warp (or start to crumble) to the point that you will have to replace the belly pan. None of this is going to happen overnight, so don't worry to much about it. As for storage, the best you can do is to keep your train from extremes in temperature and humidity.

Neil Besougloff
editor, Classic Toy Trains

[Anonymous]

Drat! Well, I guess I'll learn to live with it and enjoy it for what it is.
Thanks, Neil!

[Anonymous]

Well there's no reason why you can't replace the defective underframe castings with new ones. They are available (unpainted) in die-cast zamac alloy, just like the originals, but not subject to deterioration owing to much better qualtity control. Just make certain that the underframes you purchase are of zamac (a zinc alloy) and not an inferior material. You will have to paint these; paints are available in spray cans or jars (for airbrush use) although the color match is not always good in some of these products. I would contact George Tebolt Train Parts at www.georgetebolt.com
Regards- Richard W.

[Anonymous]

Richard,

I'm thinking I should do what you suggested. Maybe I'll buy some repros and run with them, keeping the original ones stored in the best conditions I can manage. Then if I sell the set in the future, I can include the originals with the set.

-iSpy

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bjfobs

recently by a brother passed away and let me a silver lionel 752e train in excellent shape. My question is he left me with no instructions to hook up the transformer. The transformer is a multi volt 110 volts 60 cycles 100 wts. Which two do i hookup to the transformer from the tracks. If I hook it up wrong will I burned out the locomotive engine. Please help me out .

yours truly bob
my e-mail is [e-mail]

Bob...From the information you give and assuming the transformer is from the same period what you have there is a type "R" Trainmaster....unless it's the earlier 100 watt type "T". IF it's the type "R" it should have 2 knobs for controlling speed. It will also have 6 binding posts labeled A to F. Attaching your wires on binding posts A and F will give you continuous voltage of 14 to 24 volts from control knob 1. Attached to B and F will give you 6 to 16 volts from control knob 1. Aattched to A and C you'll get 14 to 24 volts from control knob 2. Attached to B and C will give 6 to 16 volts to control knob 2.
Fixed voltages of 8,14, 16, 10 can be had from binding posts A-B, A-D, B-E and D-E respectively. Using the above combinations of binding posts will keep you from burning out the transformer. You cannot harm the engine using the wrong binding posts.

Bruce Webster

[Anonymous]

Bruce Webster . Thanks for the information but my transformer is that earlier 100 W type T it has five knobs on the top where you put the 2 wires on D e f g h. In the middle of it has the lever that controls the train's speed. On the bottom of that it has four knobs where you put the 2 wires on a b c u. then it has the plate where you put it between the tracks and it has 1-2 where you put the 2 wires on. If you can help me out again I would appreciate it . bob

[lionelsoni]

Terminals A through H (all but U) are all taps on a single transformer winding. The voltages between terminals are A-7-B-8-C-2-D-2-E-2-F-2-G-2-H. The voltage between any two of these terminals is the sum of the voltage increments among all the terminals between them. So the voltage between A and H is 25 volts, which was a typical prewar toy train voltage, but too high for postwar and modern trains.

Terminal U is connected to the wiper, which can be set to connect to terminals D through H. So, if you connect the track to terminals A and U, you can get 17 through 25 volts. If this range is too high, you can use B and U and get 10 through 18 volts, more like a modern transformer; or A and U to get 2 through 10 volts.

I would connect the U terminal to whichever lockon ("the plate where you connect it between the tracks") terminal connects to the center rail, although it doesn't matter if you are not using any accessories.

In any case, you can't adjust the voltage smoothly as with later transformers, but only in steps. To get a smooth adjustment you have to add a rheostat, which is just a heavy-duty variable resistor, in series between the transformer and track. Lionel sold several models of these, which sell nowadays for just a few dollars.

[Anonymous]

I suggest following Bob's recommendations as I have no manuals pretaining to type "T" transformers. Sorry if what I previously wrote confused the situation.

Bruce Webster

P.S. Storing those prewar white metal parts upside down might insure that future warping will happen in the opposite direction. Can't be sure of this since I haven't been around 80 years to test it....all I know is, gravity sucks!