Awwk: Broken lantern retainer on Lionel 022 switch.

I broke one of those myself doing the same thing you describe.  I went out and bought the new lantern retainer, but never actually followed through on the repair.  I don't have a rivet press / gun and don't have much use for one outside of this little project.  Plus it was much quicker to buy a new replacement switch online and it showed up right on my doorstep.

My suggestion is to keep the one you have for parts or use it in a location that you cant see.  Go and get  yourself a new switch.  You could probably save a few bucks if you only purchased the motor.

If you intend to follow through on the fix, I can send you the lantern retainer for the cost of shipping - I'm not going to be using it.

I never wrote up in detail how to do the repair, but when I had around 40 of those switches, I did smack a lot of rivets.   I still have O22 spare parts in my parts stash if you need something specific.

Thanks JD and John.

I have a section of my track where two switches must always always be in sync, or else a derailment will occur.     One is in the outside of the layout, which allows the train to enter into the modified figure 8 inside, and the other is near the center, as part of  the modified figure 8.  The switch near the center is situated on a diagonal line, so when I am at my control board on the side of the layout, all I can really see is the corner of the latenrn, with some red and green peeking out on both sides.  Pretty confusing lantern view and not very helpful.  The switch on the outside is right in front of my, with a side-on view, and I can see its lantern perfectly.

So, I think for now, I will put the switch with the broken lantern retainer in the center of the layout, remove the bulb, and wire the control posts to the control posts of the outside switch, so that it is a "slave switch" to the outside switch.    After that, I will just watch the lantern on the outside switch only, and just know that the inside switch will always operate in sync with it.

Thanks for your info and advice

Mannyrock