Finally got back my old Lionel Set that was passed down to me. It hasn’t run in 25+ years and I’ve been dinkin with it the last few days. I’d really like to have it up and running for the holidays. I’ve got a 53-54 Lionel 2055 with the 6026?w Tender, all running, with a 1033 transformer. I’ve searched around here a lot and am now stuck. When I was a kid I remember having the transformer worked on so that’s where I started. Found a short in the Whistle/Direction switch since it was lose, got that tightened though it still wants to work its way loose. Can I Loc-tite it on? Checked all voltages (A-U, B-U, C-U) and everything was pretty much dead on. Have even got the whistle to work again which shows progress from day 1.
Then when I put the locomotive on the track the tranformer got hot real quick and I couldn’t get the whistle to work. Then I figured it could be a locomotive problem, searched some more and did some cleaning of the brushes and commutator, looked for any obvious shorts, wiring all looks good. Put the locomotive back on the track, powered her back up and the light came on, smoke started coming out, the motor hummed, I got excited, but she wouldn’t move forward. Tried the whistle and it worked, first time that it had worked with the locomotive on the track, then everything stopped working after I released the lever. Noticed the switch was loose again, tightened her back up and got the whistle, but no lights, no smoke, no hum from the motor, but a really hot transformer, which has me back to page one. Both times the transformer got hot, voltage out of U-A and on the track dropped from 12ish down to around 2 volts, but only when the Locomotive was on the track.
I’ve all but accepted that I will have to send her back to the shop at so
Your transformer should have two handles and no switches, so I’m a little confused as to what you’re trying to glue down.
The left handle controls direction and whistle and the right controls speed, correct?
As far as getting your engine ready to roll:
Make sure there are no shorts anywhere. Hopefully nobody ever made the FATAL MISTAKE of using steel wool, bronze wool or any other type of metallic scrubbing pad on your engine.
Your E-unit may also be sticking. A shot of TV Tuner cleaner may do wonders to get the contacts freed up again.
Yes I ment handle, but I’d call it’a switch once you look inside, the “nut” that holds the centering spring on keeps sliding down, that’s what I was going to loctite.
No shorts on the track, have voltage all around. I only have problems once I put the locomotive on the track. With it off everything works fine.
The Drum did break, just found it. Is that a part I could order and a somewhat easy fix? Thanks for all the help. Guess she won’t be running for Christmas.
Call Jeff at the train tender 585-229-2050
and he should be able to fix you up. He might even tell you how hard or easy it is to do it as he use to repair trains also. But doesn’t no more just sells parts.
I found some broken/bent fingers and the drum was badly worn on my Lionel 675 and decided to just replace the entire unit. Very simple swap out. I got it from Jeff Kane - The Train Tender - see above post for the phone number. I think a new e-unit will cost around $30.
I was able to pull the old drum, superglued the “nub” back on and cleaned it out a bit, and now my locomotive moves forward, no luck with reverse yet but I’m satisfied with that for now. Which has brought up a whole slew other questions but one problem at a time. Even was able to get the Horse Car and Corral working, now only if I had horses for it.
