One of my original, used Marx 1590 metal frog switches, installed 44 years ago, started acting slow when activated and also would not lock in place when thrown. I attempted the usual lubrication of the moving switch track section and pivot parts and working it dozens of times. It is a very important switch on my inside layout loop and part of a loop and figure eight. It would cause many derailments when not locking position and would require lots of work and effort to tear out several sections of track and other switches to repair or replace. The solenoid cover is held to the switch with 6 or so metal tabs bent under and is not accessible without removing the switch from the layout and removing the two rivets that hold the switch top and bottom together.
Switch in question is on the bottom below
I had a trash Marx 1590 switch with a bad coil and without the switch bottom plate and metal solenoid cover to study.
See it below at the bottom. I determined the solenoid piston rod and inside the solenoid cylinder, the slide mechanism and the slot where the solenoid angled rod rides should be lubricated or freed up.
I settled on the black spot on the cover is where would drill a 3/32 in dia. hole to be used to spray WD 40 inside the solenoid cover. (Notice the black hole on the layout Marx switch solenoid cover bellow) I used an awl to make a dent to hold the bit and drilled the hole and used two 1/2 inch small magnets on each side, in a feeble attempt to keep metal drill filings out of the hole.
After cleaning up all drill filings, I made three quick squirts of WD 40 into the hole using the plastic tube that comes with WD 40. One squirt to the left, one center and one down and used a rag to keep the WD 40 from coming out of the hole.
Next I turned on the layout and hit the switch buttons several times. The switch worked much quicker with the normal "snap" that is typical of Marx switches. I then checked the moving switch track section and it locked in both positions. Eureka, it is fixed. I did this on 1-24-2021 and it still works correctly every time ,even today, 2-3-2022.
I do not know if this fix would work on Lionel switches or even if they have such a problem. If so it may be worth a try.
Charlie
