Let's Not forget the Post-War turbines!

Pulling 24 cars no less! Very nice Bob!

I have the first model and the 681 and now the 682, all smooth runners except the very first one is a bit noisier. Love them, they just hum along and great to open up and work on.  Has anyone put a can motor in one in place of the original  ??

681 also took a turn today handling the delux "Liberty Limited," an all K-Line Fleet of Moderism semi-scale cars.   

jim pastorius posted:

 Has anyone put a can motor in one in place of the original  ??

That's blasphemy! 

Always loved the turbine...always wanted one. Don't want Postwar...hope MTH will reissue the "Bantam" 0-27 turbine. The somewhat recent Imperial model was HUGE....couldn't fit on my layout!

I've had a 671 for years. Last year when my Uncle Jim was down for Christmas, I had it running under the tree. It runs good, but it has some wheel slip. Jim mentioned that his 2020 runs smoother. a couple weeks ago when I brought his trains home, and set his platform up, I oiled and lubed his 2020, and when I took the shell off, I discovered that it has the factory weight that my 671 doesn't.

I recently picked up a 2020 and it is a great runner.

I have my Dad's '46 2020. She growls a lot, but runs smooth as silk. Haven't run in a few years. I probably ought to get her out and run her for the holidays.

The early 2020/671's have similar drives to the early F units.  So they have that spur gear growl to them.  The up side is one rarely wears out the side rods like the later single worm gear turbines and berkshires do.  This is because it has both front and rear driver axles driven.  Great pics and nice long trains being pulled.  That extra weight can be found thru many parts dealers if you want to add it to your turbine. I have been tempted to swap my 2343 F3 pair for a nice 681 turbine, but my wife said no, she likes the Santa Fe's.     Mike

Coincidentally, I acquired a 2046 and 681 at about the same time, earlier this year.  After the usual maintenance they both are as smooth as silk

Anyone wishing a can motor in a turbine has the Williams version as an option.   The compromise is the Sleuth smoke generator.

Bruce

I like all of the Postwar Lionel turbines, and the MPC 8404 too.
My first high quality postwar Lionel locomotive was a 1946 version of the 2020. It was given to me along with its entire set by my aunt. It had one broken drive wheel, which was replaced with an NOS one purchased from Madison Hardware (NYC).

Never did get into all the wheel variations that occurred in the 1940's.

I have an early 2020 with the smoke bulb, a later 681, the MPC version (nice paint) and the Century Club unit (nice paint, swoosh sound(no unrealistic chuffing) great whistles (different in the 2 different tenders) and steady smoke). They all run great. The 2020 with smoke bulb smokes very well. I put some postwar smoke unit material in the depression in the bulb and wet it with smoke fluid. Works great. The original tender whistle still sound superb. These are all great locomotives.

"The early 2020/671's have similar drives to the early F units.  So they have that spur gear growl to them.  The up side is one rarely wears out the side rods like the later single worm gear turbines and berkshires do.  This is because it has both front and rear driver axles driven.  Great pics and nice long trains being pulled.  That extra weight can be found thru many parts dealers if you want to add it to your turbine. I have been tempted to swap my 2343 F3 pair for a nice 681 turbine, but my wife said no, she likes the Santa Fe's.     Mike"

Mike-  I got a nice with your name on it, just waiting for the missus to relent, lol!

Going to open up my old 671 today and clean it and lube it. I have never opened up but the others I have.

Here are a few pics of the double worn drive and the later version.

Being a Pennsy fan and a Westinghouse retiree I can’t help but like the post-war turbines.  It’s too bad the single prototype wasn’t as successful as the Lionel models!

My 681 turbine runs very well and has the honor of being the only post-war engine I regularly run on my layout alongside the modern Lionel, K-Line and MTH locomotives.  It pulls with ease a long string of Lionel MPC 16000 series PRR passenger cars.  Occasionally I give it a rest and run my 682 instead which runs just as well. 

Bill 

Love 'em I often wonder about the prototype and what might have happened if Baldwin put a torque converter inside the bull gear instead of the shock springs. A converter would have performed the rail shock absorption the springs did plus allowed the turbine some freedom in winding up RPM without necessarily moving the locomotive. This should have resulted in more power transfer to the drivers without extremely pulling the boiler pressure down as was happening with the direct gear drive.

Bogie

I have always been interested in the Turbine engine. It was a first prototype and never had a chance. Several years ago I was helping an antique dealer clean out an old, nice house in Pittsburgh. I came across a 1945 Westinghouse employee magazine with a detailed story in it about the real turbine and Westinghouse's gear drive in it. It was based on a ship's gearbox and had a small reverse turbine on it. Also, the drivers had a special design center section that I never had a chance to figure it out. I gave the magazine to Kalmbach and some of the info was used in a CT article they put out. But a lot of interesting things weren't used. Too bad.