A LOOK AT THE LIONEL ACELA

No picture's Alex!

Nice looking engine, poor design.

Doug, actually the trucks are a great design.  The Acela powered unit runs exceptionally smooth.  Other features were poor.  I agree on that.

Alex, do not put a Lionel replacement tire set back on it.  Use the MTH diesel tires. If you do use the Lionel tires,  you will not be doing the job again in a year or so.  The MTH tires will get you done for the long haul.  Wow, that tire you showed was as bad as it gets.

Alex,

looks good!   Glad I didn't decide to change those traction tired myself!  I'd have trouble seeing those small parts!

Thanks!

Alex:

Thank you for taking time to document this process with some pictures. 

Bob

Holly Cow .  You sure "Got What It Takes" Alex!! 

Chief Bob (Retired) 

Wow, the technology that's on this forum. This is what makes This Hobby The Best and  Alex, you are one of the best. Thanks for posting all these photos for our review. The Acela is a fantastic train and maybe Lionel will bring it out in the Legacy system with some tweaking for many of us operators. Happy Railroading

Alex nice job and thanks for the pictures. I like your idea of using a towel not to lose the small parts. Now we understand why Lionel charges $100 to change the traction tired.

WOW Alex,

They are not kidding when they advise on the box that these trains are for age 14 and above. Maybe the Acela should say "For Ages 44  and above"

Thanks for giving us a peak into the Acela. I am glad my railroad in set in the steam / early diesel area!

Have a good weekend.

Richard

Alex, once again and amazing post

It looks like making that 2 rail would be quite a challenge.

I must be losing my energy. Otherwise I would already have one and be in there too.

Love the modern stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Alex-

Great job. Yes they are a bear. Are you going to change the IR connectors to plug ins?

Would be a great follow along project.

I still cannot get mine to zero out level...

WOW ALEX great job on the Acela.  I like learning from seeing what you are tackling.  Thanks again.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your great replies, it's great to talk about upgrades and repairs.

Marty, yes i only use MTH tires, i find Lionel tires to thick.

Angelo, not an easy task, but i love the challenge !!!

Doug, i totally agree with Marty about the truck design, excellent engineering.

CNJ Bob, my pleasure, and thank you for your kind words.

Bob, thank you for your kind words, i love working and repairing these engines.

Larry, beautiful words- thank you so much !!!!!

Kris, i find a nice soft towel works best, for parts and not damaging the engine.

Richard, thanks for the kind words, yes it's not a job for a novice. It's quite involved, but the more involved it is the more i like it.

Kevin, thanks buddy. I really enjoy sharing this with all of you on the forum.

Joe, it would be quite a task to change this engine to 2 rail. lol !

John, Thanks. The IR tethers are going to remain, unless the customer wants me to change them out. I will ask him.

Laz, thanks buddy, I really enjoy sharing my work with all of you on this great forum.

Some might disagree, but I think Lionel did some amazing engineering on this engine. !!!!

Thanks, Alex

Alex seeing the engineering alone reawakens my desire to own one of these. I have been hesitant to have one because of stories I have heard about their reliability. Thanks for showing us, I think you just cost me some significant capital.

Buzz

Alex

You Da Man!!!

Wow Alex, that was a nice picture sequence.  Too bad it's such a troublesome set, because it is a very cool looking set when it runs right.

Wow! Cool engineering, thanks Alex. For those that want (or have seen) this engine run, we (TCA Midwest Division) have been running this set at Trainfest in Milwaukee for the past several years. 

The two sets that I have been directly involved with work fine if carefully set up. It's amazing how many knob jobs say "oh, that's the Acela, I heard it does not run well" when one is operating right in front of their fat face. Must be a problem engine because the Internet said so...

Maybe learn to read the instructions, now there's a thought.

Charlie

Great job Alex. I don't think I will ever be doing a tire change on my set.

Gee, I wonder if the Amtrak repair facility  Paoli could handle it for me?

Buzz, if these units are set up correctly they will run great. I'm glad you're thinking of making the purchase. They are a show stopper.

John, Live Steam,  I keep hearing the set will run right if the instructions are followed correctly . I don't own the set so i can only tell you what I've heard.

Steve, thanks buddy.

Charlie, i agree with you 100 percent, you're the proof that if it's set up correctly it will run fine.

Mario, If you ever need the tires changed, i can do it for you.

Thanks, Alex

Hello everyone 

The Acela is all complete, up and running  perfectly.  Here's a video of it in action. 

Thanks, Alex 

Nice work Alex

Looking good Alex. 

OK, now I really want one. Thanks a lot!

Hi Alex,

Looks great!  Thanks for looking at this and repairing it for me so quickly!  

Like the guys here said you are top notch!!!  I will be sending all my repairs and upgrades to you!

Thanks,

Angelo

Looks awesome and sounds great Alex!

That is just plain cool!  Wait a minute.....how's it running with overhead power?    Nah.....Just kiddin'.   Nice Job Alex.  Now I know who the "Go To" Guy is for fixin' stuff!

Chief Bob (Retired)

Geez Alex, wish I knew you when I had the Acela. It was torture with almost nothing working.

I had to sell it to save my sanity.

Good job on this one though,  Angelo will be one happy guy. 

Dave

I am:

• Impressed that any Acela actually needs a traction tire change
• Again impressed that you boldly took that sucker apart, got it back together, and it still works
• Eternally grateful that I wasn't ever tempted to buy one of these things
  
  

Nice video. I do not recall ever seeing a video of one of these running....

Really nice.

Peter

Alex, Thanks for posting all of the photos showing the disassembly of the trucks. Wow is that some impressive engineering!!!

the video is awesome. The operating pantographs are out of this world. I sure hope this gets remade at some point with the bugs worked out. So cool. 

Nice engine. I enjoyed the video. Looks like one of the pantographs on the second unit needs repair.

Very cool.  I've always wanted one of these sets, but I keep reading about the problems and figure I'll wait for the Legacy model.

Hi guys 

Thanks for all of your input and nice comments. 

As you noticed, one of the  pantographs  wasn't operating during the video I posted. I decieded to take a look inside, and what I found was the motor  Assembly wasn't lining up with the pantograph lift arm. So it was just a matter of taking the  Motor assembly off, and lining it up with the pantograph arm. 

 While I was at it  I figured I would show you all the inner workings of the pantograph motor assembly.  Very nice engineering here

Thanks, Alex 

gg1man posted:

Great job Alex. I don't think I will ever be doing a tire change on my set.

Gee, I wonder if the Amtrak repair facility  Paoli could handle it for me?

If you mean Frazer yard, that's a SEPTA facility. They can barely afford to handle their own equipment.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Very cool.  I've always wanted one of these sets, but I keep reading about the problems and figure I'll wait for the Legacy model.

Gunrunner, it's not like you to take the easy way out.  :-). It's a great set and it will challenge your skill set...keep you sharp!  :-D

Oh, it really is like me to take the easy way out.

Alex nice job, this answers alot of questions I had. I posted a thread about a week ago on the acela. You just made me want one more and more. Do you have the cars. If so while you have them could you do a video of the whole set in action. Also could you show an up close picture of the cars IR couplers and how they work. You say if this set is set up properly it works flawlessly. Am I hearing you correctly. Or as marty suggested do you need to install the wired tethers between the cars for the most reliable preformance? The IR issuse between the cars comes into play when the set atomaticaly tilts going around curves. Cant this feature be turned off via a switch on the top of the engine. Would this help in preventing the IR transmition issue between the cars? Thank for any info you could share with us as you have the set in your hands.