2023 Vision Big Boy Inside

Thanks so much for sharing! I'll likely open mine up for inspection once I know it's clear of any warranty-relevant problems.

That grease situation is baffling I know this happens to other locomotives too. Shocking stuff there.

Seems like Lionel needs to have a talk with the factory about grease. I’ve noticed my last few that I’ve had to add a decent amount of grease to be what I considered correct.

Thanks for the look inside. Now you’re reminding me. I have to replace the speaker in my boiler from the older big boy.

Stripped screws and almost no grease. At least Lionel is consistent.

Steamers are easy to grease. Think of all of the dry diesel gearboxes out there.

I grease every new engine after a brief test run to make sure it operates correctly. Diesels require a fair amount of  disassembly to do so.

Z, Was it a special screwdriver to remove that gearbox cover?  Looking at mine it appears they are.  Did I understand you correctly that it is only 4 small screws to lift the top off?  thx.

I forgot to Mention while I’m use we’d all would add some more grease both gears did have a very thin coating over them so not like they were dry.

@42trainman posted:

Z, Was it a special screwdriver to remove that gearbox cover?  Looking at mine it appears they are.  Did I understand you correctly that it is only 4 small screws to lift the top off?  thx.

The gearbox cover has two very small Phillips (or possibly JIS) screws. I think I probably used a 00 Philips driver with no issue.

as for the shell Just like the other legacy big boys 4 screws 2 under the front engine by the smoke box and 2 under the cab. I’ll be honest I wouldn’t recommend anyone try unplugging that antenna connector unless you comfortable really nosing around I was afraid that I’d break the solder bridges onto the main LCP3 board. But it’s a long wire you can nose around with that still attached

They are indeed JIS screws. ( Japanese industrial standard ) ….if you guys don’t have JIS tipped screwdrivers, y’all are %!@@$*# in the wind, ….you’ll cause more damage and more heartache not using the right tools for the job. Moody makes a very affordable 4 pc. set of drivers available at all the popular shopping sites for small money, …….

Pat

Thx Gents.  Just in case Monday morning warranty call goes poorly....

Yes please buy a set of JIS drivers! Hozan is another name that sells a nice 4 piece set that will cover all your train repair needs. A measly 19 bucks and you can stop camming all your screws out on your expensive engines.

I have a JIS set the Phillips is more organized and honestly I swear I had more issues using that JIS set than the wiha set. I’m not going to say it’s right, might need to look into a better JIS set.

@zhubl posted:

I have a JIS set the Phillips is more organized and honestly I swear I had more issues using that JIS set than the wiha set. I’m not going to say it’s right, might need to look into a better JIS set.

You shouldn’t have, ….Whia is a decent tool, and pretty much a standard in the electronics industry, hence the crossover into our hobby, ……I’ve caught my boys using  JIS tools on non-JIS screws, and naturally, this wrecks the tool,…..They’ve learned when a replacement set comes out of their paychecks ……

Pat

Just ordered the Hozan 4 piece for 19 off Amazon.   Hopefully, I don't even use them this time.  I'm VERY hesitant.

Interesting they didn't use a baffle. I might have to try to fit one now