Lionel 2333 gear question.

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Awhile back, the wheels on the front truck of my 2333 started to lock up, mainly in the reverse diretion. After coaxing them both ways, the finalyl started to turn again. I didnt know why at the time, but I just kept running the engine.

Then, last night (Christmas Eve of all times) I started noticing a funny sound sound while running, a sound you would know that something was wrong with the gears, because it happens in regular short quick intervals. The wheels started locking up again.

I took it apart and both the motor and trucks were turning freely, no locking up. Thats when I noticed about 5 or 6 gear teeth of the worm drive where bent.

I went ahead an ordered the worm drives while ordering a part from my 736. My question is; is it normal for gears to be bent like that from years and years of use or is something else going wrong in there causing the metal gears to be bent, or could they have been bent before even leaving the Lionel factory 60 years ago?

2

I suspect you could bend the worm gear teeth by attempting to back-drive the motor by turning the wheels. Or if your axles/wheels are binding bad enough from something else the force from the motor into the worm against the axle gear (which is binding) might be enough to bend them. The worm teeth (and axle teeth) will be worn much thinner after several years (decades) of wear…they’d bend even easier after that.

My 2 cents

Roland

3

Brass gears do wear out. Be sure to check the axle bushings for wear. If they are worn the extra play will wear out the gear.