Does anyone have experience converting Lionel Legacy locomotives to 2 rail? I primarily need advice on the wheel sets. The Lionel axles are .156" diameter, so you can't use Standard NWSL wheels (they are for a 1/8" axle) or MTH 2 rail wheels (they are 3/16" = .186 diameter).
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John,
I am curious. What engines are you talking about that are available from Lionel and that have not been done in 2 rail?
I wish I could answer your question but I have no experience in 2 railing engines.
Best of luck,
Ed
John,
I use the NWSL wheels with 1/8" axle holes and drill and ream them to 5/32" on my lathe. For the insulated side< i drill and ream the wheel to 0.249" and press in a pieced of 1/4" Micarta rod with some Loctite 609 Retaining Compound. After a dayfor the Loctite to set, I face off the insert and drill and ream the Micarta insert to 5/32". I install fiber washers on the back of the insulated wheels to keep them from contacting the truck frame. On most conversions of Lionel diesel models, I insulate the non geared side of the trucks but not always.
Same for older MTH diesels but I drill and ream the wheels to 3/16".
Joe Foehrkolb
Here's a Lionel Shark cTr... (Choose the Right)
Thanks Joe! I suspected it would be something along those lines
Stephen, nice job. Mind telling me how you did it?
John. It's pritty much as Joe explained it. I didn't use mi arta for insulation is the main difference. The Lionel blocks sometimes unscrew to release the axels, so that makes life easer , and I didn't use a lathe, even thou I have one. I just drilled the wheels out on a drill press, kept every thing square and level, and used a fresh, unresharpend drill. And let the drill find its Center don't force it.It would be nice too insulate on the non gear side but the shark has a die cast frame, so cuting the frame was out,so one block is insulated on the gear side, and now has pickups, not realy that hard. I hope that helps. O! The model was then lowered to scale hight. cTr...(choose the right)
Thanks Stephen!
John,
Stephen does some great work... What diesel are you converting?
Here's some ideas:
Lionel PRR RF-16s, 3RSinated (By Norm)
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