'Wore out all ready' and my 3-rail railroad.
My 75 year Lionel 2035 2-6-4 steam engine's brushes wore out already!
Thanks to Davis on ebay :
https://www.ebay.com/mye/myebay/purchase
he provided me with the needed new brushes and springs.
The 'old' and 'new' brushes.
all better!
Reassembly.
Re-soldered the smoke and light back onto the E-unit.
This screw secures the back of the motor unit to the boiler.
The recessed screw secures the front of the motor unit to the boiler.
Took a few 'tries' to get the correct orientation of the 'bent' rod mechanism that provides the smoke 'chuffing' where the piston rod pushes on the 'bent' rod.
Also, cleaned up the motor contact surfaces.
All 'back' together.
When I was 5 I got this engine...
that came with a metal box, tank...
and a metal caboose along with
this 2026 steam engine and 3 metal cars. I'm pretty sure they were all used when I got them for Christmas.
Got this Lionel SF set when I was 7.
Best Christmas ever had or will ever have.
I was seven. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, we had Higbees, May co and Halley’s down town department stores. After Thanksgiving, each would have an entire floor full of toys. Of course the best was the train area where there were Lionel and American Flyer layouts set up. I’d stay there for hours watching them run and, of course, there were free catalogs.
Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I pointed to the Lionel SF diesel A-A and 4 beautiful aluminum passenger cars and said ‘that’. At 90 bucks, mom said we can’t afford that. Dad worked at Midland Ross steel and, if he made that in a week, he was lucky!
$90 in 1953 is over $932 in 2021: imagine spending that much on a seven year old, today, for one present!
I remember getting up that Christmas morning and seeing the large rectangular box all wrapped and knew exactly what it was.
As in ‘Christmas story’, that was the best Christmas I ever had, or ever will have.
And it still runs great!
Lionel always made high quality toys. These trains run like they were made last year! One can't say that about anything made 70 years ago!
Around 2000, I built this layout and added 'things' that I wanted as a kid.
This Lionel NYC F-3 set pulling Williams NYC grey aluminum passenger cars is nice. Lionel should have brought out a set like this.
Most of the items are post war. A few are contemporary, ie h@ll gate bridge. (website thinks that word is bad so makes it into Asterisks)
The PRR 6-8-6 671 is a 'back up'. Surprised it doesn't pull as well as the 2035.
With my HO layout and RC planes in the summer, I'm only keeping what I had as a kid and the rest of the 3-rail items have been listed for sale. About 17 grand has been sold but I still have quite a bit left for sale as listed below:
You can 'click' on each for lots of pictures and a description.
There's several nice MTH Premier engines and passenger sets available.
No reasonable offer refused! (see shelve pictures at bottom)
Lionel lighted coaling tower 6-37912
https://ogrforum.com/...oaling-tower-6-37912
3 MTH premier engines: GN R-2 2-8-8-2, GN S-2 4-8-4, SF PA A-B-B-A set.
https://ogrforum.com/...-4-sf-pa-a-b-b-a-set
MTH Z-4000, DCS remote control system, DCS remote controller, TIU, Z-750 with remote controller
https://ogrforum.com/...th-remote-controller
Lionel circus car/corral, horse car/corral, cattle car/corral, barrel loader, barrel loader car, gateman shanty, twin bin coal dump car, crossing gate, merchandise car, crossing gate, crossing flasher, PA diesel, floodlight tower, billboard, bins
https://ogrforum.com/...tower-billboard-bins
Never out of the box stuff: MTH Railcon gon with coils, lionel 497 coaling station, 264 forklift platform, forklift car, 282R triple action magnet crane, 128 newstand, MTH sawmill
https://ogrforum.com/...newstand-mth-sawmill
Lionel culvert loader/unloader/car, starlite diner, Lionel sawmill, radar antenna, Gabe the lamplighter, MTH Gabe, Lionel #38 water tower, MTH log loader, Lionel rotary beacon, coal dump car, gondola's, lighted bumpers, MTH semaphore
https://ogrforum.com/...umpers-mth-semaphore
Lionel generator car, log dump car(2), animated newstand, cop/hobo gondola, control tower, forklift and car, poultry car, coal dump car, dispatching station, trestles, lumber loader, K-lined statue of liberty, MTH street lamps, operating coaling tower.
https://ogrforum.com/...rating-coaling-tower
MTH Railking Burlington Zephyr train, Lionel PRR 6-8-6, Williams 4 car passenger streamliners, Williams F-7's NP A-B-A and Lionels two sets of NP 4 aluminum passenger cars
https://ogrforum.com/...minum-passenger-cars
MTH railking Erie Lackawanna PA A-B-A set plus 6 passenger cars, 4 car set and 2 car set:
https://ogrforum.com/...-set-and-a-2-car-set
MTH railkind UP ABA set plus 9 passenger cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...ts-and-one-1-car-set
Lionel switches:
https://ogrforum.com/...-and-022-31-switches
Lionel transformers, etc.
https://ogrforum.com/...and-tmcc-to-tiu-cord
Freight cars and cabeese:
https://ogrforum.com/...ionel-weaver-16-cars
Williams GG-1's and cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...-set-and-a-2-car-set
MTH GN train set and cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...-dome-passenger-cars
Lionel 8 NP aluminum passenger cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...dome-passengers-cars
MTH 12 ore cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...ine-dmandir-ore-cars
NYC Hudson and 7 passenger cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...-side-passenger-cars
N&W J and 7 passenger cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...eight-passenger-cars
Burlington E-7's and 8 Zephyr passenger cars:
https://ogrforum.com/...ephyr-passenger-cars
MTH Erie E-7's and 8 passenger cars.
https://ogrforum.com/...lus-8-passenger-cars
Williams D&RGW F-3's:
https://ogrforum.com/...-pack-passenger-cars
All but a few items have their original boxes.