An Early Christmas Surprise

Peter,

That's a great set!

You gotta get the operating conductor add on car, it has a Tom Hanks figure holding a lit lantern, and making a special announcement from the movie, and there are other add on cars too, and a tender with better sounds...Trainsounds.

We have that set, it's fun at Christmas, and lives under the Layout the rest of the year.

Very cool Peter. I'm sure you will give her plenty of use in the coming months. 

Paul 

Peter, before you start collecting those numerous add-on cars that Craig mentioned, procede cautiously. Unlike later and recent PE berks, those first run ones were manufactured with small series 1 motors, meant for and sufficient in their time for powering the basic number of cars original to those sets and not many more since back when those first sets were manufactured Lionel likely never envisioned the PE becoming the force it is today with the plethora of add-on cars since produced for it.

While it may run fine now, once additional cars are added to its consist, your PE berk will begin running progressively slower and the stress to its smaller motor of pulling those add-on cars will eventually cause overheating followed by failure. I speak from experience as that's what happened to my seies 1PE set's berk. (Fortunately Lionel ultimately replaced it with a conventional berk that had a series two motor.)

Btw, due to the design of series 1 motor frames, series 2 motors cannot be substituted into a series 1 PE berk frame.

So, Peter, enjoy your new set. It's found a great new home but procede judiciously in accumulating additional cars to run with it. 

Looks like the set has found the perfect home!

-Greg

Nice addition Peter ,

Peter,

I have several items to give you for your new train. Keep in mind, this is the engine Adrian rebuilt three times for me. 

Very Nice Peter. Enjoy.

My boys have a 1st run PE set, and it runs for hours every year pulling the entire PE line up of 9 cars.  Just a comparison datum.

Awesome PE set Pete!!! Somebody gave our club a complete lionel pe set with track and transformer. 

Good fortune Peter

Enjoy

Jerry

Putnam Division posted:

... In all my years of playing with trains, I have never owned a Berkshire....726, 736, etc.

 

Nice. I have Berkshire envy. All my O-gauge stuff and no Berkshire!

ogaugeguy posted:

Peter, before you start collecting those numerous add-on cars that Craig mentioned, procede cautiously. Unlike later and recent PE berks, those first run ones were manufactured with small series 1 motors, meant for and sufficient in their time for powering the basic number of cars original to those sets and not many more since back when those first sets were manufactured Lionel likely never envisioned the PE becoming the force it is today with the plethora of add-on cars since produced for it.

While it may run fine now, once additional cars are added to its consist, your PE berk will begin running progressively slower and the stress to its smaller motor of pulling those add-on cars will eventually cause overheating followed by failure. I speak from experience as that's what happened to my seies 1PE set's berk. (Fortunately Lionel ultimately replaced it with a conventional berk that had a series two motor.)

Btw, due to the design of series 1 motor frames, series 2 motors cannot be substituted into a series 1 PE berk frame.

So, Peter, enjoy your new set. It's found a great new home but procede judiciously in accumulating additional cars to run with it. 

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives. I have the original set, along with most of the add on cars that came out that first year, and I've never had a problem with it. However, this isn't the first time I've heard that there are concerns with the motor in the early locos. I'd hate to go through Christmas without my Polar Express set running, so I'd love to know what to look for, just in case I come across a deal in my travels.

 Earlier this year, I added the Polar Express FT set and the add-on 2 pack to go with it, so I can run both on my layout this season. Just something about those colors....

Scrambler81 posted:

ogaugeguy posted:

Peter, before you start collecting those numerous add-on cars that Craig mentioned, procede cautiously. Unlike later and recent PE berks, those first run ones were manufactured with small series 1 motors, meant for and sufficient in their time for powering the basic number of cars original to those sets and not many more since back when those first sets were manufactured Lionel likely never envisioned the PE becoming the force it is today with the plethora of add-on cars since produced for it.

While it may run fine now, once additional cars are added to its consist, your PE berk will begin running progressively slower and the stress to its smaller motor of pulling those add-on cars will eventually cause overheating followed by failure. I speak from experience as that's what happened to my seies 1PE set's berk. (Fortunately Lionel ultimately replaced it with a conventional berk that had a series two motor.)

Btw, due to the design of series 1 motor frames, series 2 motors cannot be substituted into a series 1 PE berk frame.

So, Peter, enjoy your new set. It's found a great new home but procede judiciously in accumulating additional cars to run with it. 

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives...."

Yes there are ways to determine whether your PE has the small motor with flat sides that is prone to premature failure, One way is remove the loco's shell and note the position of the circuit board. On 1st gen locos the boards were mounted vertically while 2nd gen locos have the circuit board mounted horizontally. However, you can also identify which motor you have without removing the shell and viewing the loco from it's side. I will try  to locate a post explaining what to look for and post a link.

Scrambler81 posted:

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives.

Piece of cake. Pull the screws and lift off the boiler shell. The little motor is, well little. Stands out like a sore thumb.

Gilly@N&W posted:

Scrambler81 posted:

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives.

Piece of cake. Pull the screws and lift off the boiler shell. The little motor is, well little. Stands out like a sore thumb.

OK, but what do I say to the dealer when he asks what the heck I am doing disassembling his merchandise? I get the feeling that conversation won't go well, so I was kind of hoping for an external hint.

Scrambler81 posted:

Gilly@N&W posted:

Scrambler81 posted:

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives.

Piece of cake. Pull the screws and lift off the boiler shell. The little motor is, well little. Stands out like a sore thumb.

OK, but what do I say to the dealer when he asks what the heck I am doing disassembling his merchandise? I get the feeling that conversation won't go well, so I was kind of hoping for an external hint.

There is an external way and I'll post a link to it as soon as I locate it.

ogaugeguy posted:

Scrambler81 posted:

ogaugeguy posted:

Peter, before you start collecting those numerous add-on cars that Craig mentioned, procede cautiously. Unlike later and recent PE berks, those first run ones were manufactured with small series 1 motors, meant for and sufficient in their time for powering the basic number of cars original to those sets and not many more since back when those first sets were manufactured Lionel likely never envisioned the PE becoming the force it is today with the plethora of add-on cars since produced for it.

While it may run fine now, once additional cars are added to its consist, your PE berk will begin running progressively slower and the stress to its smaller motor of pulling those add-on cars will eventually cause overheating followed by failure. I speak from experience as that's what happened to my seies 1PE set's berk. (Fortunately Lionel ultimately replaced it with a conventional berk that had a series two motor.)

Btw, due to the design of series 1 motor frames, series 2 motors cannot be substituted into a series 1 PE berk frame.

So, Peter, enjoy your new set. It's found a great new home but procede judiciously in accumulating additional cars to run with it. 

  Is there a way to tell the difference between series 1 and 2 locomotives...."

Yes there are ways to determine whether your PE has the small motor with flat sides that is prone to premature failure, One way is remove the loco's shell and note the position of the circuit board. On 1st gen locos the boards were mounted vertically while 2nd gen locos have the circuit board mounted horizontally. However, you can also identify which motor you have without removing the shell and viewing the loco from it's side. I will try  to locate a post explaining what to look for and post a link.

Enjoy it Peter. Rather than look for the positioning of the circuit board, I suggest you use your medical training and give it a stress test.

I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.

Gerry