I have a 65 Lionel Handcar. I was wondering what kind of environment is best to store the handcar?? I know it is prone to melting. How do you car for these 65 handcars?? As far as lube and oil and maintainence. Mine is a little bit jerky when it runs, how do you fix this? The two men have no melting, yet!! The yellow plastic is unbroken and has no chips or cracks. Just jerky when you try to run it on the track. And are they supposed to go over 022 switches with no problems?? Because mine tends to stop on the middle of 022 switches, just some of them. I will try to clean up those switches and put some of that blue track cleaner stuff I have on them. Stuff usually works great with engines, but I will try it for the handcar. And the two men, are they supposed to be made of soft rubber or stiff rubber material? I mean, will the arms ever break off or the hands that attach to the red handle thing, ever pop off?? Thanks.
lionel2,
Lionel hand cars do tend to be jerky at lower speeds due to the strain placed on the motor as each figure bends. The melting problem prone to the early 65s was due to a chemical reaction between the rubber figures and the plastic body. If yours isn’t melted by now, it should be fine. I"d suggest not storing in a hot area like an attic though. The 65 will stall at slow speeds through an 022 due to the short wheelbase. BTW, the Iron Horse is having a %15 off sale this Saturday. Did you get a card in the mail?
I am not on their mailing list, But I was told it was 25% off everything in the store. Its 15% off everything all month. The 25th is supposed to be like christmas in July. I will be there on saturday. I need to look for some stuff. Thanks.
Do the 2 men’s arms usually break off easy?? And way to prevent this from happening?? What volts does this 65 hand car operate at smoothly? Should I run it at high or low speeds?? I just dont want to break this old handcar. In my book its worth a lot of money. And parts i believe would be hard to find. thanks.
lionel2,
I have never seen any damage to the figures as a result of normal operation. I have never run a 65, so I can’t give you aexact answer for the speed. Did you make it to the Iron Horse today? I was there from about 12:15-1:05 this afternoon, and I bought a nice box of Flyer stuff, as well as ten 40" long O gauge straights.[:D] I also spent some time talking to Phil and Tom.
Yeah, I was there. Just bought (3) 260 Bumpers, the red ones. And some half straights O gauge ones. Also, I got some empty boxes for some of my accessories. Thats about it. It was too crazy down there. Oh well. Thanks.