My father in-law recently gave me a train set that was his when he was a child. I have never really been into trains but after getting this older train in good condition it has kind of sparked an interest. It was purchased in 1950 (still has the receipt) and it is a Lionel Union Pacific Diesel O scale. I know next to nothing about model trains but i set up a small oval just to see if it would run. After a few sparks it did slowly move along the tracks but it was making a lot of sparks at the tracks and wasn’t moving very well at all. I cleaned the armature and brushes and tried it again, it moved a little better but still not very well. Are there any hints or tips you could give me so i don’t end up burning up the motor.
That is probably the 2023 “anniversary ALCO”: 1950 was Lionel’s 50th anniversary.
It sounds like the track and perhaps the locomotive’s wheels need cleaning. Clean the track with Scotch Brite. Clean the wheel treads with whatever will scrape off the black stuff that might be caked on them. You will probably also need to replace the grease in the worm gear between the motor and the truck and on the spur gears on the side of the truck, and oil the axle bearings.
Can the truck be taken apart so it can be cleaned and greased easier? What is the best way to replace the grease? I have a quote of 45.00 to have the engine rewired and cleaned, does that sound like something should do?
Yes. Take a single screw out of the bottom of the power truck to separate the motor and truck. Clean out the old grease with Q-tips, screwdriver, paper towels–whatever works. It doesn’t have to be antiseptic before you put new grease in. Here is the service information for that locomotive: http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/2023.htm
It’s up to you whether you want to clean it yourself. It’s not particularly tricky to do. Unless the wiring is clearly deteriorated, there is no need to rewire.
What about the transformer, should i have it rebuilt? I’m not sure of the exact model number. It is black a black knob for direction and whistle and a red one for speed. One of the things i noticed when the train was running is that it wasn’t responsive to where i had the speed selected on the transformer. The train also didn’t respond to the direction knob.
If you can’t find any numbers or letters on the transformer, look through these http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd2g.htm and see if you can find it. Or describe it in a little more detail: What size, how many terminals, labels on the terminals, shape of “knobs”, etc. It sounds like you might have wired to the wrong transformer terminals and put a constant accessory voltage on the track.
The transformer i have looks like this one:
1144 Multivolt Transformer
Okay. You should wire terminals A and U to the track. Is that what you did?
I will have to check when i get home, if not i will try that. Not to go backwards but can i spray engine degreaser in the truck to clean out the old grease? What kind of grease should i replace it with and how much? Sorry for all the questions, i am new and i ma getting very interested in it.
jgregor,
A clean and properly lubed 1950 Alco #2023 will ordinarily go like a jack-rabbit. May I respectfully suggest starting with the U and B terminals rather than U and A.
The reason is that U-B gives you a throttle range of 6 - 16 volts (moderate) whereas U-A gives a range of 10 - 20 volts. Try U-B first and move up to U-A if and when you need the extra juice – and are willing to forgo slow-speed operations.
It doesn’t really matter at this stage, but I believe Lionel’s convention for a single-throttle transformer like the 1144 would suggest connecting the U post to the center rail and the B post to one of the outside rails.
Hope this reaches you before your wonderful new locomotive goes sailing off your workbench…
Incidentally, I doubt that your transformer is “bad.” It sounds as if you connected the track to one of the fixed voltage combinations (A-B = 6 volts fixed) which would explain both the snail’s-pace and total lack of throttle control.
Check the site at Olsen’s (link posted above) and DO follow the advice of replacing the cord if it shows any signs of cracking or crumbling.
And please post your progress.
Don’t worry about the questions, there are others who are starting out and may gleen some information for themselves. I would not just spray degreeser into the truck, you can’t be carefull about where it goes and you want to avoid any fluid getting onto the brushes and armature. If you follow the instrucions on Olsen’s site or if you purchase a Greenberg’s guide to postwar train repair, you should be able to do a fairly good job of servicing your engine. One thing to be sure to check, many older transformers have cracked power cords, check and if so, either replace the cord, or the transformer. You can get a #1033 postwar transformer off Ebay for about $15.00. This is a good unit and may be worth it if yours is bad.
Welcome to this forum and please come back, ask the questions and update us with your progress.
Dennis
Some people here have greases that they swear by; but I just use ordinary automotive bearing grease.
jgregor: There’s a place where there may be damage: the horn required a battery to operate and these were often left in when the loco was stored and then leaked.
There is also a lever on the lcomotive that turns the reversing unit (called an Eunit) on and off. Check out the olsens site for instructions.
Ok, so i checked and i did have the wires on wrong. I cleaned the truck and greased it plus i lubed everything the instruction book showed to oil. The train ran a lot better but when i hooked up some cars it didn’t want to pull them. I had 6 cars plus the dummy engine and it was all the train could do to pull it. I cleaned the armature and the track but i don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions or do you think i would be better off taking it to someone?
That may be all it will do. It’s not a strong puller. I put a power truck into my dummy unit just so I could pull a decent-sized train.
I still think something is not right with the motor. Sometimes when i turn it on i have to power it up all the way then back down and then back up before it will move. It makes a noise but it won’t move until i turn it off and then back on. What is a power truck and how does it work?
The power truck is just the truck with the motor on it. It is possible to modify the dummy unit by putting a power truck into it so that both units are pulling.
Do you understand the operation of the e-unit–the reversing unit? Each time you turn on the track voltage, the locomotive should do something different. It should run forward, then stand still with the lights on, then run backward, then stand still with the lights on, then forward, and so on. Could it simply be standing still in the neutral position when you “have to power it up all the way then back down and then back up”?
I know once you power it down it stops and then the next time it changes direction, but it makes noise when it is standing still like it is straining and can’t move. I haven’t meesed with it a lot because i am afraid i am going to burn up the armiture. Would i have to do any mods to the dummy engine to put a power truck on it. I would like to do a long train with elevation changes but it doesn’t look possible with what i have now.
The noise is unfortunately normal for the e-unit. Some are noisier than others. You shouldn’t need to turn it all the way up just to step through neutral.
To do the power-truck transplant, first you need a donor, that is, a truck from a powered unit of the same general type as your 2023. You can see a list of Alcos here: http://www.postwarlionel.com/diesel.html . But watch out–most of these (generally those in the 200’s) have an inferior later type of motor; you want one that looks like the one in your 2023.
You will also need to replace the crossbar that the motor swivels on, which is different for powered and dummy trucks. Then you will need to wire the motors together. The simplest way is to wire the new motor in parallel with the old one, which requires three wires between the units. The new truck will also have an electromagnetic coupler, which you may want to wire to the other unit, making 4 wires. The motors can also be wired in series, to get better slower-speed operation; but that is more complicated. I tie-wrapped the wires between units to the coupler drawbars, effectively locking the units together, since I always run them as a set and prefer not to mess with connectors unnecessarily.
thanks for the info for making a power truck, i may look into that. When you are first starting the train should you have to tunr the speed all the way up to get it to move? In order to get mine to start i have to power it all the way up, after it gets going i can power it down to a slower speed.