I am kinda new to Lionel trains as i have only been tinkering with them for a short time but I have read that post-war scout steam engines are hardly collectable and no one wants to mess with them…its almost like they have the plague [|(] Anyways i was just wondering what all of you have to say about them good or bad. I thought about trying to restore a few of them but i don’t want to waste my time and money on them if they are more trouble than they are worth…thanks for your input…[4:-)]
I have a PW scout from 1951. It was my first electric train from Santa. The problems include: no magnatraction & no electic uncouplers. Also, not much detail. Mine has a manual uncoupler, but I can’t remember how to install in on the track (&/or it is missing pieces).
With no magnatraction they derail very easily. I crashed mine onto cement garage floor about 1956. Just replaced the motor this year. I wouldn’t think of getting rid of it for sentimental reasons. I have heard there is a magnatraction motor that will fit mine available new old stock (NOS) for about $60.00. Someday I’ll get one of those.
If you have one from your youth, keep it. if not, probably better to buy higher end PW products. I have two others from my youth, a 2035 and Seaboard 601, both strong runners. Have purchased a Santa Fe 2343 & MO Pacific, too.
Hope this helps,
wyomingscout (guess where the name came from)
I have what I consider three Scout locomotives. All of mine have the E-unit reversing scheme. These are easier to get running than some of the other Scouts. As far a bad rap, it is a matter of what you want to do with your trains. All of mine I like to have run, and with the smaller cars, and smaller setting the Scouts can offer enjoyment. If you are going out to purchase an engine though, I would go with something more substantial, that offer greater pulling power, magnetraction, and easier to maintain.
I already have a 675, 2025 and a 2035…i was just looking for something a little smaller to work on. I can’t afford a berk, turbine or a hudson right now. Are some scouts better than others?? What would be the best one to try restoring ??
They have a couple of issues that give them a bad rap. Besides the smaller size, lack of pulling power (I know it can be increased with some weight, but they are not the best), and lack of detail, they also have motors that are difficult at best to work on. In many cases, the best option is to just put in a replacement motor. I have a few, and they work, but also have some shells and parts that I plan on using for scenery and for experiments. They offer a good test run on how to do repairs, etc., that I plan on some more expensive items. Personally, I may use them for projects, and if they run, run them for fun. At the end of the day, I would rather save my money and buy better locomotive power than mess with a scout.
Dennis
In the four drive wheel range I would recommend an 1130 or the 2034. Same engine with an e unit No plastic housing. Actually a bakelite frame but designed like the better motors with side frames and rivet spacers.The 2034 is cast boiler. My 1130 is a great runner with broken edges and everthing. That is why I tracked down a 2034. It is just as good.
The bad rap is from the plastic engine casing. It breaks. I read somewhere the Scout had trouble with switches and crossings. I have a 1062 from 1964 the myth doesn’t hold true.I bought parts for the 1062 at a train show. The dealer said I was the first person to look into the box in two years. He told me the parts costs more than the engine was worth. I just said yeah but this is MY engine and I want it to run.
The 1062 came in a junk box. I am sure more will find their way to my collection.
So keep it running and enjoy it.
True Scout locomotives are more tempermental than most other steam engines, and in general are more difficult to repair. These engines have a plastic cased motor, and typically have a fiber switch sticking out of the top, just about at the center.
If you want to learn about repairing trains, a good choice would be something along the lines of a 2018,2026,2036,or 2037. These engines are relatively inexpensive, relatively simple to service, and have most of the elements that are common to better Lionel engines, such as 3 position e-units.
You could also start with any of the “scout” locomotives with their motors made with sheet metal sides.
In my area you could probably find an OK 2018 with a non-whistling tender for around $40.
A serious design weakness of the Scout motors with the integral reversing function is that, if the brushes or drum contacts ever fail to connect, there is no way to cycle the reversing function, as you can with a separate e-unit. You must go to the locomotive to get it started again. The design concept also precludes any possibility of a neutral position.
Cabooseboy, the last 4 comments sum things up pretty well. All that aside, getting yourself a Greenburg Lionel Repair Manual and working on one of the Scouts is a very good way to teach yourself a great deal about repairing trains in general… it’s a good starter lesson and with no real loss if you fail.
As mentioned, the plastic enclosed Scout motors are a bit of a pain to work on, but it CAN be done. In addition to some of the other problems, there’s one one more drawback I discovered. The pickups are just copper cylinders that are mounted inside a space of the plastic housing of the motor. There is very little clearance space between the bottom of the loco and the track with the position the locomotive wheels are placed at.
So when the loco runs over some uneven track especially an uncoupling track or possibly a switch, the locomotive tends to bump as it hits these tracks and then can automatically (and often unwanted) start going the opposite direction.
My fix to this (again, the Scouts are good lessons in repair, restoration and creativity) was to remove the pickups on the locomotive and place roller pickup assemblies on the trucks of the tender. Then I wired a tether wire between the loco and the tender. Low and behold, the sudden unexpected changes in direction stopped.
Again, the Scouts can usually be found pretty cheap. It’s not a bad idea to find a couple similar ones so you can cob parts from one to another. It you want to learn about repainting and do some extra detailing, these locos are great because they aren’t expensive. The boilers and smoke boxes can be painted a different color. You could paint the roof over the cab a different color as the Pennsy sometimes did. Holes could be drilled into the shell and additional handrails added. Lots of little things like that to make the locos look more detailed and expensive than they are.
I’ll add that everything I’ve
Brienel O27
How do you mount the shoes on the tender exactly? I have thought about doing that myself. It would help some locomotives that I have.
Thanks,
George
George, many Scouts came with the sheet metal tenders with the different Scout-style coupler trucks. I either replace the tender or the trucks on a tender I like that has the Scout trucks. Tenders are cheap enough. If you like the tender you have, you’d drill out the rivets and then replace the trucks using a small 8-30 Truss Screw and a Stop Nut or Lock Nut.
This has become a standard proceedure for me, that I always have a stock of these screws and nuts. I remove ALL riveted trucks on nearly everything and replace the rivet with the truss screw-lock nut arrangement, which has had the benefit of cutting derailments when the train backs up in reverse through my challenging layout down to nothing.
You can use a variety of trucks, but the modern MPC-era and later trucks work the easiest as they are very easy to find along with the snap in roller pick-up assembly. The post-war late 50’s plastic AAR style trucks could be used, but you’ll need the correct pick-up assembly and those are now around $7 each. You could use the postwar metal staple construction truck too, but you want to find one with a roller pick up assembly in it. I suppose those are still available as repro parts, but I’ve never looked. I also remove the rivet on those trucks, attaching them as mentioned above instead of the usual “C” clip method.
I soldered a couple wires from the loco and used a mini-plastic snap male-female connecter. You could easy go with just one wire soldered from the inner pick-up strip, which you’ll see once you remove the loco pick-up rollers. I also soldered a ground wire as I added a “traction tire” made from 3M Traction Tape.
The whole job was not that difficult and improved operation of the loco quite a bit, so it was well worth the effort.
The scout engines are great for the younger kids.My 5 year old son loves to run my 1110 and I dont have to worry about any wrecks.We just use a pw slope back tender and some cheap cars.