Question Re: Lionel 610-8806 New Haven SD-18

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Folks:

I just purchased a Lionel 610-8806 New Haven SD-18 that was probably produced in late 1989 / early 1990. It’s an interesting transition engine since it has an electronic reverse unit and a large, vertical, truck mounted can motor (no flywheel though), but the shell is fastened to the chassis like a post-war GP-7/9 with horizontal screws through the ends of the shell rather than below the shell as in more recent production. Unfortunately the gears are plastic.

I downloaded the diagrams and part lists from Lionel and have cleaned and lubricated the engine, but performance is still very sluggish. The plastic gears make a heck of a racket and pulling power (despite the big can engine) is pretty poor. With four post war 027 passenger cars in tow the gears sound as though the worm gear is slipping. Performance with two cars is OK and there is no indication of slipping gears.

I was wondering if any of you have worked with this engine and have any advice to pass along. Apparently similar engines were made for ACL, CSX, and DM&IR.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Mike

2

Mike,

I don’t have one of the SD’s, but after looking at the parts diagram, it looks like the problem is worn idler gear pinions. A worn pinion would allow the idler gear to lift up on one side, eventually freezing it. This may have caused the worm gear to start turning on the center axle. Even if you secure the worm gear to the axle (Superglue or solder), the idler gears still could cause a problem.

This was a common-enough problem with MPC/LTI diesels that Jim Barrett did a Backshop segment on it. The procedure involved reaming the plastic pinions with a “tool” made from 5/32" brass tubing, making 1/8" tall brass bushings from the same tubing and securing them to the pinions with Superglue, and drilling out the idler gear holes to 11/64". If you’re interested, here’s a link to order the DVD with that segement - www.ogaugerr.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=V-Backshop-02&reference=/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3Dbackshop%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DTemplates/SearchResult.html