Just opened a chest of Postwar stuff

Now that is a great find!

The Erie locomotives are a great find. The really run smooth when they are right, and the horn is really loud!

Everything looks like it will clean up pretty good. The engines will need a complete cleaning and lubrication obviously. You can use scotch-Brite pads for the wheels but if you have a Dremel tool with a wire wheel or similar wheel they will clean up much quicker.  You can get repro cows ,milk cans pretty easy on line.Try Hennings trains on line just do a search for cows. They have them.  I wouldn’t use the transformer maybe clean up the outside just to display it I wouldn’t put voltage to it.  

http://www.henningstrains.com/  

@Cmschroeder456 Thanks, I'm glad I found them after they were forgotten for at least 40 years.

@Steve1964 Glad to hear it, I was looking to build a freight line and I'm betting that engine will have the power I need. The motor looks beefy. And has some serious weight. The front wheel truck with the connection to the motor seems to have a very worn down brass gear in it, It was also not attached to the train when I opened the chest. I will put the screw back in that holds the wheels on and see if there is enough teeth left to connect to the motor. Fingers crossed. if not I will probably have to learn to rebuild that gearbox.

@Chris Lonero Thanks for the info, Glad to see I can still get those cows and magnetic milk cans. I just put in an order for 9 cows to add to the two I had found in the chest. I was considering using chrome polish to try and clean up the old ones but a few of them are very rough. Question on the track cleaning, those old (and pretty rusty) tracks are solid steel right? so I should be good to scotch-bright them till they shine right? The track seems to be the black tie variety and probably came with the Alco engines from 1954 Is a wire wheel a bad idea on them? I do have a dremel and wire wheel for it. (also a bench grinder with a wire wheel on it but that is probably way too much for even the track I'm sure)

Nice find!

Regarding the concept of modifying the engine to run on LionChief, you might have quite a bit of work to do there, if it's even possible.  Most engines using LionChief are DC motors, but the PW engine is most certainly AC. (probably all Lionchief are DC, I only say most as I am not 100% sure there is not an odd exception out there, but I'm fairly certain there is not)

-Dave

I agree with Dave about the Postwar Erie AA locomotive. After it's properly cleaned and lubricated, it should be a good puller with its heft and Magnetraction.

LionChief Plus is wonderful. IMO, rather than converting your fine Postwar Erie diesel, you can add to your collection of LionChief Plus in years to come. Arnold

Dave45681 posted:

Nice find!

Regarding the concept of modifying the engine to run on LionChief, you might have quite a bit of work to do there, if it's even possible.  Most engines using LionChief are DC motors, but the PW engine is most certainly AC. (probably all Lionchief are DC, I only say most as I am not 100% sure there is not an odd exception out there, but I'm fairly certain there is not)

-Dave

Thanks, And as soon as you pointed that out I double checked it and it turns out they are "Universal motors" AC or DC should be fine, Though I would certainly have to do custom electronics to control the horn but I am prepared for that. I will make sure whatever I do to add LC is undo-able. I have no interest in ruining an engine from 1954. The O27 steam engine would be much harder since it has way less room, especially with the whistle in the tender. The Alco Diesel has plenty of room on the other hand from what I can tell. (didn't open them up to confirm anything yet though).

Some reading on this form tells me at one point Lionel even sold a car battery hookup with a resistor to run these very trains on dc in the past. Thanks for bringing that up though, Glad I looked it up now.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I agree with Dave about the Postwar Erie AA locomotive. After it's properly cleaned and lubricated, it should be a good puller with its heft and Magnetraction.

LionChief Plus is wonderful. IMO, rather than converting your fine Postwar Erie diesel, you can add to your collection of LionChief Plus in years to come. Arnold

Glad to hear it. I definitely wanted input from the community before I do anything, If there is enough community opposition I wont go beyond what it takes to get running again. I certainly respect the age of the engine. I must add though that if I did anything like add LC+ Bluetooth control to it (something I would love to develop in general) I would not do it in a way to remove anything or even make it permanent.

I could even add a switch to the bottom to allow original transformer control or LC+ control. Part of the motivation too is I have certainly overspent in building a split level figure eight layout out of remote switches and all new fast track, so I am not sure when I will be ready to afford a similarly powerful LC+ Engine.

Adding my own LC+ control is almost a budgetary necessity at the moment. I have a pretty solid background in electronics and am sure I would be able to put anything back the way I found it if I needed to. Plus the switch I mentioned will let me have the best of both worlds, Bluetooth when I want it, Conventional when I don't.

The milk car doors can be found at most train show parts dealers. They come complete  with springs etc. and just snap in.

Nice find.

Those Erie Alco AAs are still one of my favorite Lionel postwar items. Just classic.

Lucky enough to have a like new set.

The track can be cleaned with Scotch-Brite or even you wire wheel on your bench grinder if you have a lite hand on it. So long as the top of the rails are clean and you can use the Dremel to clean up the pins you should be fine. You might need to tighten up around the pins so the track is tight. 

It's always so nice to hear this kind of story. My neighbor keeps telling me about his trains that his sister has stored away...

It makes me wonder how many more boxes of stored train stuff is out there waiting to be discovered?

Conductor Earl posted:

The milk car doors can be found at most train show parts dealers. They come complete  with springs etc. and just snap in.

Thanks, I had no idea anyone was still making those. Very cool.

johnstrains posted:

Nice find.

Those Erie Alco AAs are still one of my favorite Lionel postwar items. Just classic.

Lucky enough to have a like new set.

Thanks, and yours look great.

Chris Lonero posted:

The track can be cleaned with Scotch-Brite or even you wire wheel on your bench grinder if you have a lite hand on it. So long as the top of the rails are clean and you can use the Dremel to clean up the pins you should be fine. You might need to tighten up around the pins so the track is tight. 

Good to know, I have a lot of work to do on those tracks since they were on the bottom of the chest and saw the worst of the moisture.

I have hope though because I took two of the worst looking tracks and was able to make them shine with the scotch-bright. I will take some before and after pics soon.

stangtrain posted:

It's always so nice to hear this kind of story. My neighbor keeps telling me about his trains that his sister has stored away...

It makes me wonder how many more boxes of stored train stuff is out there waiting to be discovered?

Thanks, I was so thrilled to learn I could double my layout size and most importantly build my first freight line. 

We know this stuff is out there. Like you said people just need to find it.

Ryaninspiron posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I agree with Dave about the Postwar Erie AA locomotive. After it's properly cleaned and lubricated, it should be a good puller with its heft and Magnetraction.

LionChief Plus is wonderful. IMO, rather than converting your fine Postwar Erie diesel, you can add to your collection of LionChief Plus in years to come. Arnold

Glad to hear it. I definitely wanted input from the community before I do anything, If there is enough community opposition I wont go beyond what it takes to get running again. I certainly respect the age of the engine. I must add though that if I did anything like add LC+ Bluetooth control to it (something I would love to develop in general) I would not do it in a way to remove anything or even make it permanent.

I could even add a switch to the bottom to allow original transformer control or LC+ control. Part of the motivation too is I have certainly overspent in building a split level figure eight layout out of remote switches and all new fast track, so I am not sure when I will be ready to afford a similarly powerful LC+ Engine.

Adding my own LC+ control is almost a budgetary necessity at the moment. I have a pretty solid background in electronics and am sure I would be able to put anything back the way I found it if I needed to. Plus the switch I mentioned will let me have the best of both worlds, Bluetooth when I want it, Conventional when I don't.

Ryan, they are your trains. By all means, do with them whatever brings you and your loved ones the most joy and happiness. Arnold

If you need parts milk cans, cattle etc. Call Jeff kane, he will have everything you need. or go on line "jeff@ttender.com

Great find or should I say a sort of gift.  Be very careful of using a wire wheel on anything.  Unless the wire wheel has brass bristles, I would not put it near any post-war trains.  Others may disagree.  Scotchbrite pads, the maroon ones, are good for metal.  

they might be common trains, but it's still great to see old trains saved and brought back to life. HAve a blast with them.

Jeff Kane is the go to parts guy.

Congratulations on your great find! Any toy train we get for free is a real treasure.

I would not run the engines without servicing them with oil, grease and cleaning. The accessories could be lightly cleaned. Be careful not to damage the paint on anything.

The transformer should be opened up and to have the works cleaned and make sure the cord is in good shape.

The steamer looks like it caught the water, or it could be rot. if it is only mold it can be cleaned and repainted. As is there is not much value in her. If you do paint it make sure you rebuild and lubricate everything internally.

As for the track it probably has seen it's day.

In any case, have fun! 

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Ryan, they are your trains. By all means, do with them whatever brings you and your loved ones the most joy and happiness. Arnold

I welcome the feedback though, being new to the hobby and the forums I wanted to do something other people would also enjoy seeing too. (I think that probably sums up layout building in general it seems. Sharing personal effort to make others happy). I don't want to have any "how could you do that" responses if possible.

Your feedback already made me realize I definitely would like to add an off switch for any extra features I add. I realized I would like to still be able to use the traditional transformer control.

For cleaning rust I would stick with the scotch-bright and avoid the wire wheels, Dremel or otherwise.  I just think they're too abrasive.   I would apply WD-40 as a rust inhibitor and lubricant during the cleaning process.  A little messy but on the tubular track it really helps to keep them rust-free.  Also, if you have access to compressed air, use it to blow out any excess lubricant or debris.

Mike

eddie g posted:

If you need parts milk cans, cattle etc. Call Jeff kane, he will have everything you need. or go on line "jeff@ttender.com

Thanks, I probably will look into him once I tally up what I am missing/need to replace.

Dan Padova posted:

Great find or should I say a sort of gift.  Be very careful of using a wire wheel on anything.  Unless the wire wheel has brass bristles, I would not put it near any post-war trains.  Others may disagree.  Scotchbrite pads, the maroon ones, are good for metal.  

Definitely agreed, yeah I think I will avoid the wire wheel and consider my track cleaning a new gym membership. I see how those maroon scotch-bright pads better than the green ones but they don't seem to come in the large commercial size packs I can get of the green variety. Is the difference that significant?

Steamer posted:

they might be common trains, but it's still great to see old trains saved and brought back to life. HAve a blast with them.

Jeff Kane is the go to parts guy.

Thanks, this has definitely been an exciting process for me too! Lots of fun to be had once they are up and running, I found the manual for the culvert unloader that clearly went with the culvert carrying car I found, (front right in the picture of the table) my dad seems to remember the culvert unloader but we haven't found that yet. I will probably end up buying that, the culvert loader, and the log loading accessory to go with the log dumping car (which seems to have a lot of corrosion)

gg1man posted:

Congratulations on your great find! Any toy train we get for free is a real treasure.

I would not run the engines without servicing them with oil, grease and cleaning. The accessories could be lightly cleaned. Be careful not to damage the paint on anything.

The transformer should be opened up and to have the works cleaned and make sure the cord is in good shape.

The steamer looks like it caught the water, or it could be rot. if it is only mold it can be cleaned and repainted. As is there is not much value in her. If you do paint it make sure you rebuild and lubricate everything internally.

As for the track it probably has seen it's day.

In any case, have fun! 

Thanks and agreed, full service is on deck for everything.

I am currently avoiding cleaning anything until I am sure I will not damage the original paint or plastic color on anything. From what I have read almost all cleaners have a downside it seems. Mission impossible it feels like.

I haven't tried cleaning the steam engine yet but it clearly seems to be the oldest piece and is likely prewar.(the pickup shoes instead of rollers are a clue apparently) I definitely  do think I will have to end up repainting it. Is it true that the prewar stuff used lead paint? On external inspection it seems to me that the cast metal under the paint is oxidized and that is what's pushing off the paint. I will follow up on that.

At the moment the transformer control lever is totally frozen, I was able to find the service diagrams for it thanks to the magic of the internet (to my amazement). But for now I am going to start off with a new MTH Z-1000. After everything else is good I would consider restoring it. I like the fact it is the first lionel transformer with a whistle button.

I think I will try and save the track for now. At the moment  I am just focusing on putting the tracks in fun configurations and looks are secondary to function right now, especially  considering budget. My scotch-bright test on a very rusty piece reviled that with enough effort I should be able to get it functioning.

Thanks.

USCG52 posted:

For cleaning rust I would stick with the scotch-bright and avoid the wire wheels, Dremel or otherwise.  I just think they're too abrasive.   I would apply WD-40 as a rust inhibitor and lubricant during the cleaning process.  A little messy but on the tubular track it really helps to keep them rust-free.  Also, if you have access to compressed air, use it to blow out any excess lubricant or debris.

Mike

Scotch-bright is definitely the new plan, I knew WD-40 inhibits rust but I was afraid to use it after some reading on the forum told me I should try to keep the tracks dry and to clean them with denatured alcohol only. I have 91% isopropyl on hand but I'm not sure that counts. Protecting these old tubular tracks was a big open question for me at this point. I thought I heard WD-40 would also only cause wheel slip issues for me.

I have an air compressor and I will certainly  try that, good idea, didn't occur to me.

Ryaninspiron posted:

I haven't tried cleaning the steam engine yet but it clearly seems to be the oldest piece and is likely prewar.(the pickup shoes instead of rollers are a clue apparently...

That's a late 1946 model 1666.

ADCX Rob posted:

Ryaninspiron posted:

I haven't tried cleaning the steam engine yet but it clearly seems to be the oldest piece and is likely prewar.(the pickup shoes instead of rollers are a clue apparently...

That's a late 1946 model 1666.

Thanks, your definitely right.

I am interested in figuring out which of these cars originally went with that engine. I suspect the tinplate caboose probably accompanied it but not sure about the rest. (Just confirmed the caboose is also from 1946, model #2457)

The automatic gateman has a stamp under a roof that says "Mar 16 1954" and I am guessing the rest of the items are from around that date as well.

Here is a pic of when I first started pulling from the chest. 

Does anyone know if I can get the trucks that went on the trailer car that comes with the #460 piggyback loader?

This is one of the few things I didn't include in the pics above.

I've seen those on e bay and and train shows, usually cheap

I enjoy the challenge of refurbishing stuff more than layout/scenery stuff although I am building a runners layout ton a ping pong table now, one I can change frequently. I have some old rusty track soaking in some metal rescue now. I will report back on how it works. A lot say it is not worth it but it is cheap and I like the challenge. Old track can be refurbished with maroon scotch bright and some type of oil. Use a small drill or something for the pin holes to ream them to remove internal rust. Get a greenburg repair manual for Lionel trains

What a great find. My In-laws came across a box of old tinplate trains several years ago that pushed me over the cliff and back into the hobby. A friend recently founds is dad's old trains and gave them to me since he's not a train guy. I'm restoring them here.

Jeff at the Train Tender fixed me up with the parts I needed.

As all have said so far- the Erie diesels should be a breeze to clean up and get running. The post-war pullmore motors are practically bullet proof. Take the motor apart and clean it thoroughly. Clean the e-unit. Remove all old grease and apply fresh. Check the wiring for frayed or cracked insulation, etc. With your electronics background I'm sure this is all easy stuff.

The steamer looks a little bit rougher but if the body casting is solid then it should clean up OK.

If you don't own a Dremel tool then by all means get one. A million and one uses for these in modeling. I use a fine wire wheel to clean wheels, polish parts. Lot's of different blades and bits are available.

I have old track to clean from my set as well. I'm on the fence between wire wheel and scotch-brite too.

Good luck.

Bob

I have cows that need a car.  Original in a a box.  Email if interested.

Ryaninspiron posted:

I am interested in figuring out which of these cars originally went with that engine. I suspect the tinplate caboose probably accompanied it but not sure about the rest. (Just confirmed the caboose is also from 1946, model #2457)

The automatic gateman has a stamp under a roof that says "Mar 16 1954" and I am guessing the rest of the items are from around that date as well.

What you have is an incomplete 1405W or 1411W set.  Of your cars, only the PRR gon and the 2472 caboose were available then in 1946. 

The 1946 catalog shows these sets with the 1666.  All had the 1041 transformer, a 1019 uncoupler and 11 sections of track.

1405W - 1666, 2466W, 2452 gon, 2465 tank, 2472 caboose,

1409W – 1666, 2466W, 3359 dump, 2465 tank, 3454 merchandise, 2472 caboose,

1411W – 1666, 2466WX, 2465 tank, 2452 gon, 2454 box, 2472 caboose

There were equivalent sets without whistle.  The presence of a whistle button on the transformer is the key.

Your uncoupling track is the later version that came with magnetic couplers in 1948.

Ryaninspiron posted:

 

That locomotive and tender need scrubbing with WD-40 and a stiff toothbrush.  I've used Wd-40 on many locols and tenders that looked like yours.

Give us some photos of the loco and tender detail, and we can give you some ideas of what's needed.  

mlaughlinnyc posted:

Ryaninspiron posted:

I am interested in figuring out which of these cars originally went with that engine. I suspect the tinplate caboose probably accompanied it but not sure about the rest. (Just confirmed the caboose is also from 1946, model #2457)

The automatic gateman has a stamp under a roof that says "Mar 16 1954" and I am guessing the rest of the items are from around that date as well.

What you have is an incomplete 1405W or 1411W set.  Of your cars, only the PRR gon and the 2472 caboose were available then in 1946. 

The 1946 catalog shows these sets with the 1666.  All had the 1041 transformer, a 1019 uncoupler and 11 sections of track.

1405W - 1666, 2466W, 2452 gon, 2465 tank, 2472 caboose,

1409W – 1666, 2466W, 3359 dump, 2465 tank, 3454 merchandise, 2472 caboose,

1411W – 1666, 2466WX, 2465 tank, 2452 gon, 2454 box, 2472 caboose

There were equivalent sets without whistle.  The presence of a whistle button on the transformer is the key.

Your uncoupling track is the later version that came with magnetic couplers in 1948.

WOW thanks, for finding that, it sounds like I am probably looking at a 1405W set then, Maybe the tanker is still somewhere to be found. Glad you mentioned the 1019 uncoupler, I definitely have that in the back left corner of the table if you look at the pics. It all makes sense then, Thanks. Cool to have a date and a set model number to go with them.