Lionel 736 Berkshire Locomotive

[postwar willy]

I recently purchased a postwar Lionel 736 locomotive. There are several questions I have about this unit which someone might be able to answer. The first question has to do with the smoke unit. How can I tell whether it uses pills or liquid ? The second question is that I cleaned and lubed the engine, but it has a hard time pulling four Williams 027 passenger cars; it tends to slow down on 031 curve tubular track. Is this normal or do I need a new motor?

[Anonymous]

hey ...

 

okay as far as the slowing down on the corners i beleive its cuz you need wider curves. I had that problem and then i got a wider curve and it stopped slowing down, it went threw them without any problems.

 

you could also check your mesh on the motor shaft and the worm drive. if to tight it could cause it to slow the train down.

 

just my 2 cents but i know one of the vets will pop in here with a better answer.

 

 

[ezmike]

First order of business is to welcome you.

I too am a relatively newbie so I'll leave the highly technical questions to them, but as far as the smoke unit, look down the smokestack if there is a cup it is a liquid unit, if there is a "grate" (a ceramic plate with a wire coiled around it) it is a pill-type. I do believe that they are pill-type unless it has been converted to liquid. Whether you can use either, I'll leave that up to the others who have far more experience with this. Personally I use both on my pill-type locos. As the Chief once posted (I think), the pill turns to liquid so what's the difference.

The slowing down issue might need more information and is a question for the 736 experts. Jabaat, where are you?

Willy, have fun.

Mike

[Jumijo]

The motor in my 736 was sluggish and the rollers sparked excessively when it ran. Here's what I did to make it run better.

1. Cleaned the comutator until it shined, and cleaned out the spaces between the three sections.

2. Replaced the brushes and cleaned out the brush wells.

3. Oiled the drive shaft well! There is a fill hole in the front of the motor. I filled mine until it came out the top. Then I tipped the motor back and forth to get lots of oil on those bushings inside.

4. Cleaned all the old grease out of the gear well and off the gears. Re-greased with plenty of new Lubriplate white grease.

5. Replaced the roller assembly with new one.

6. Oiled the axles. No exterior gears to grease. 

My 736 now runs much faster at half the voltage it used to, and with no sparking. 

Jim 

[ADCX Rob]

The motor in my 736 was sluggish and the rollers sparked excessively when it ran. Here's what I did to make it run better.

1. Cleaned the comutator until it shined, and cleaned out the spaces between the three sections.

2. Replaced the brushes and cleaned out the brush wells.

3. Oiled the drive shaft well! There is a fill hole in the front of the motor. I filled mine until it came out the top. Then I tipped the motor back and forth to get lots of oil on those bushings inside.

4. Cleaned all the old grease out of the gear well and off the gears. Re-greased with plenty of new Lubriplate white grease.

5. Replaced the roller assembly with new one.

6. Oiled the axles. No exterior gears to grease. 

My 736 now runs much faster at half the voltage it used to, and with no sparking. 

Jim 

I'll add another important bullet to this list - the side rods transmit motor power and must be oiled too.  Use a full-synthetic like Mobil 1 in a needle oiler(it's very inexpensive this way too).

Rob 

[Jumijo]

Forgot to mention that. Oil those rods!

[phillyreading]

Jaabat,

You did good but you forgot to mention to clean the wheels as this is where the electric comes in from, even the little center roller pickup wheels need cleaning and sometimes replacing.  If you have a whistling tender you must also clean the wheels to get great electric pickup, and with a whistling tender from post war if it whistles when you don't press the whistle or horn button your track is dirty too!  Don't forget to clean your track, just because you don't see the dirt doesn't mean there is no dirt!

As far as oil goes you need to oil every axle that has a wheel set on it even the trailing axles to help cut down on friction.

Lee F.

[Jumijo]

Thanks for setting me straight, Philly.

[andregg1]

Hi

another thing I found in mine is a real issue with magnetraction.

the magnetraction all the time attract the rear wheel to one side plus the rotation the bushing lose the gap beetwen the wheel and the bushing, and the wheel start touching the wheel.

Now, the only solution is remove the wheel and insert shims or replase the bushing.

this is my two cent about.

Andre. 

[lionelsoni]

Andre, it is possible to insert a shim washer without pulling the wheels.  You cut a segment out of the washer just the slightest bit narrower than the diameter of the axle and then force the washer over the axle, between the wheel and the bushing. 

[andregg1]

Thanks for the tip.

I will try!

Andre.