I recently acquired a 1936 American Flyer "Comet" train that was in storage for about 40 years. The car bodies had some dents from use a little abuse which I have mostly removed. Paint is mostly good. The wheels are all good. Only a tiny bit of rust on the inside of a couple of cars.
The motor is why I'm here. It has been clean and lubed and runs ok but the reverse mechanism has a problem. When power cycling the motor the reverser actuator arm tends to favor one side so it does not consistently reverse the switch. The arm moves freely on the pivot rod, no binding, a fair amount of play. It looks straight. After a few reverse operations the arm end that is over the motor frame moves a little off center. It must move a little at a time. I don't know if that is the cause of the problem or an effect from something else.
The moving part of the reversing switch moves ok but it does take a little force to make it move. It is does not move by itself. I have lubed its pivot.
Any suggestions on how to resolve the problem so the motor will reverse reliably are welcome. It's also possible that this design is simply not reliable. I know later S scale Flyers used a different design.
Note: I'm new here, this is my first post. I do mostly G and HO scale trains but have a standard gauge train and a couple of S scale Flyer trains. O scale in new to me. I do have an O scale RS-3 that is a part of a set of 5 RS-3s I use to illustrate the various scales, G to N. Those locos are all in Soo Line red and white (really a very light gray). My first train was a S scale Flyer many decades ago.
paul
