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8 replies

How to best restore or repair

JonMichaelJonMichaelOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Looking for some advice.  My father gave my brother his first Lionel set circa 1950 ( when my brother was first born ).  Ultimately, he had #2343 Santa Fe AA Diesel, #623 AT&SF NW-2 Switcher, and #686 6-8-6 Steam Locomotive.   My dad passed to my nephew who just passed the remains of that collection to me.   All three engines run ( not great... but run ) and unfortunately, the couplers are mostly broken off.  I would need to find a repair facility to tackle this job including clean / lube all engines.... my question is there someone out there that might be willing to tackle such a job ( Dr. Tinker / Dave had already turned me down ).   Even if this option exist, should I just display these old (memories ) trains and buy current generation with all the bells and whistles ( pun intended ) of Legacy, LionChief Plus, etc.  

Thanks in advance for your thoughts / comments.

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L Lehigh74OGR Forum Member

Those post war trains are not difficult to clean and lube (and replace couplers) if you are handy.  If you are not up for that, look for a local hobby shop.

Should you just display your old trains and buy new ones?  I can’t really answer that, but I will say that some folks like the simplicity of older trains and some like the bells and whistles of new trains.  I run pre-war, post war, MPC and modern.  I like them all, but the newer trains get a LOT more run time.

radar493radar493OGR Forum Member

Frankly I would just clean up old oil grease and lubricate them yourself. See how they run then. If then they don't run well think about finding a repair shop. New or old? I have both. I'm now collecting post war steam ( no diesels ) . The "bells and whistles" are fine too but I really enjoy post war as that's what we had as kids.

Last edited by radar493
SJ Sam JumperOGR Forum Member

Something not mentioned yet is the cost of parts, the cost of repair (labor), and the cost of simply buying a whole replacement. A beat up 2343 pair can be found for $100-$150. Parts and repairs could be in the same ball game as the replacement. As mentioned, if you’re handy, that old postwar is easy to tinker around with if you want to try repairs yourself.

JonMichaelJonMichaelOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

My thanks to everyone for their ideas / suggestions today.  I spent the afternoon in the garage with some tools , degreaser, and lube...... I now have 3 engines that run pretty good.  I was not able to solder the rivets that failed on the coupler so not sure what I am going to do with those yet... still looking at options....  as was suggested, I might look for some units that do not run but have good couplers that I can swap out.... unless I find someone that has a better idea first.

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