Lionel 2026 (early) 2-6-2 repair

See if this helps.

Is the smoke piston moving up and down as it should?  Sometimes they can get stuck.

When I had it apart, the piston moved freely. I don’t see the lever actuating (pushing the piston up/down) while the locomotive is in motion. The spring is in place above the piston to the smoke unit, so the lever is just held in the “down” position.

@DMASSO thank you for that! Unfortunately the area I am interested in is what actually moves the smoke puffer lever. Other models I have use a different style from this older engine, so I don’t have a reference point. I’ve seen plenty of diagrams and notes for the later style 2026, but nothing (that the site is still up for) on the very early models.

The smoke lever has a projection on its right side that engages in a cam cast into the right-front driver. As the locomotive moves, the smoke lever is moved up and down.

See figure 2 in the service manual page.

Larry

From Olsen CD - 2026 48-49

Now that you have the unit opened, I'll share a suggestion for consideration. I have the same little engine (my first!), and it's been running like a dream for nearly 70 years.  A few years back, I converted the pill type smoke unit to liquid smoke, and it instantly puffs beautiful circles of smoke as it travels.  Not a difficult conversion, but you still need the piston to operate properly.

Also love the classic sound of the whistle tender.

Enjoy that little relic!

Michael

Thanks everyone! It’s a big help! I’ll need to separate the axle to inspect that lever/cam. But at least I’ve got a direction now!

So I did a little digging, after the above information. It appears the previous owner had installed the cam driver on the rear drive axle. I removed and pressed it into the front drive axle, however in the process of alignment the center axle broke! (I’m guessing it was previously compromised, given then other issues). A replacement is on the way and I’m looking forward to having a running and smoking unit soon!

in the meantime I procured a 2023 A/B set that had a completely seized motor and trucks/axles. (It was in a flood, and that definitely showed!)  After some cleaning and lubricating she is up and running quite well! As someone said in another post- most of the enjoyment on these older units is to be had in the repairs!