Handrail Stanchions

These plastic stanchions are very fragile, as you discovered.  Several years ago I needed 3 of them but they weren’t available as an individual part; you had to order the handrail which came with the stanchions.  It might be available that way for your locomotive.

Since then I have had a couple of others break.  I repaired them using black silicone applied and shaped with a toothpick.

I've been looking for a similar item for over a year. I've bought brass castings on 2 occasions, listed as O scale & honestly they are closer to HO. Still no luck.

Hi Doug W. I lost one of the stanchions on my Big Boy 6-11104. So I went to the Lionel Parts web site and you go to Replacement Parts then go down to Replacement Part Number or Name and type in stanchion and it shows many stanchion part numbers. You'll need to look at one you have to know the size you need. I hope this helps you find a replacement part.  Gary

@ironman1 posted:

I've been looking for a similar item for over a year. I've bought brass castings on 2 occasions, listed as O scale & honestly they are closer to HO. Still no luck.

Like this, and many other Lionel steam engines, the handrail is the antenna.  That is why these stanchions are plastic.  A metal casting will ground the antenna and your locomotive will not receive any signals.

I think I should be able to find what I'm looking for on the Lionel parts list. Thanks for the info!

Joe

Why not use a piece of plastic dowel to fit hole and drill a hole in the dowel for the wire.Paint it black and go run trains.

Hi Nycfan I was able to find one from that goes on the 6-38055 Santa Fe 3751. At .80cents it was cheap enough and I was ordering other parts at that time anyway. I wouldn't order it alone and pay the $10.00 shipping for one .80cent part. I didn't have to make one from some other kind of material and then paint it black. I have found that if I can't find a part for a certain locomotive I will look at another similar locomotive to see if I can find a part that works.

Tried using this chart, appeared to be very similar, and part number but no luck. The response from Lionel was just as  I assumed it would be, to replace the broken stanchion buy a new  boiler shell. I'll find some type/style plastic to create something similar.

Guess I'll be dragging out my mic's and calipers, have to chase away the dust bunnies first.

You could provide sketch and maybe have someone 3D print some?

What’s the product number of the engine.

@romiller49 posted:

What’s the product number of the engine.

Halloween LionChief Plus Mikado, 6-83606

Searching parts on "stanchion" returns this.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...tanchion&match=0

The diameter is the hole diameter. Length is to the top from the base. You should be able to find something close. If the diameter is a bit large you can cut it down to fit.

Pete

Doug, if you can get those dimensions I may have a spare one.

Thanks for the offer Ron. The only info I could come up with extremely rudimentary, trying to get dimensions from the existing one is almost impossible for fear of breaking it.

The mounting hole in the boiler is 5/64ths".

The height of the existing stanchion is 9/64ths".

The diameter of the existing stanchion at the base is 0.078".

Doug, this one should work. Part #6108045315. Send me your address and I’ll stick one in the mail. Use my email listed in my profile.

@romiller49 posted:

Doug, this one should work. Part #6108045315. Send me your address and I’ll stick one in the mail. Use my email listed in my profile.

Thanks a bunch, e-mail sent last night.

When you find the correct stanchion you need order lots of extra. Maybe even order different sizes. If they are OLD, soak them in warm water before you try to fit them. It makes old plastic less brittle. I learned how easy it is to break old, brittle stanchions on my NOS Lionel 6-18056. The tender has many of the delicate, little, aggravating, breakable pieces of old plastic.

FYI, another source of handrail stanchions is Precision Scale. Most all they offer can be had in either brass or plastic.

Pete

Thanks Rod, worked well. Not quite an exact match but unless you pull out a magnifying glass for a really close inspection it isn't very noticeable.