Hi folks: I just picked up an MPC era Lionel Santa Fe semi scale Hudson (6-8900), this is one of the famous American Railroads Series engines. It needs a good clean and lube, and as a guy who usually fools around with Marx stuff I’d like some tips on properly lubricating the motor (it is a Pullmor) and running gear, and any tips on cleaning the wheels (it has magnatraction). Thanks for any help you can give in advance. Oh one last thing, what smoke fluid do you use in these and is it ok to actually not use the smoke unit at all while running this engine? This is my first Lionel steamer so I’m looking forward to getting aquainted with them. Ted Parrott PS The “Electronic Mighty Sound Of Steam” is pretty funny, it sounds a bit like the tender has a frog in its throat!
Sparky,
Great find! Best thing to do is to remove the motor from the casting. Just back out the screws, and the motor will drop out.
Back out the screws holding the brush plate. Clean the armature commutator face with a pencil eraser until its all shiny again. Then using a toothpick, clean out the slots between the commutator segments. While you’ve got the brush plate off, clean out the brush tubes too.
And while you’ve got the shell off, you might as well spray some TV Tuner Cleaner into the E-Unit.
Lightly grease the spur gears, and oil the the axles on the front and rear trucks. Reassemble and play!
For Smoke Fluid I recommend JT’s MegaSteam. Their new"Nada" scent is scent-free and smokes up a storm!
Jon [8D]
The 8900 is a good runner but not a very good smoker. So a little smoke fluid will not be noticed that much. Or when you take the chassis out unsolder the smoke unit ground wire or add a small on/off switch.
Thanks for the quick response guys! I’m looking forward to working on this! I like the “add a switch tip” for the smoke unit too. I will have to try the no smell smoke fluid as well. Ted Parrott