Lionel 2055 Steam Engine

Could be the smoke unit. The piston that pushes the air up through the unit is metal on metal. The shell comes off with a few screws. Its not that complicated. Try some dry graphite or powdered teflon on the piston. Don't use grease or oil. Labelle lubricants makes powdered teflon. Graphite available at most any hardware store.

Pete

You've inherited a handsome steam engine. One of Lionel's best of the PW era.

Though it's been several years since I've disassembled a 2055/2065-type of Lionel engine, I do recall they're not that hard to disassemble.

What do you plan to do with your inherited gem?

Andre

I inherited my 2055 from my Grandfather's collection. It's been a real workhorse for several years on his layout and now mine. Good aesthetics and a reliable runner. Persevere in your diagnostics and correction of whatever is squeaking. Remember these were rugged toys of the 1950's. They are not that hard to service, and don't need much more than a small collection of miniature tools to service. Watch some YouTube videos on postwar Lionel train repair and DIY. You'll be rewarded with bringing back a piece of history. With proper service it will run for many more years. This forum is a good place to ask questions. There's also some good postwar train repair forums on Facebook if you're into that.

@laming posted:

You've inherited a handsome steam engine. One of Lionel's best of the PW era.

Though it's been several years since I've disassembled a 2055/2065-type of Lionel engine, I do recall they're not that hard to disassemble.

What do you plan to do with your inherited gem?

Andre

Isn't that one of the (many) great things about stuff built back then? Ease of trouble-shooting, repair and re-assembly? 

Case in point (which has nothing to do with trains):

I've got an old Stromberg-Carlson rotary dial phone I use for my land line; (got tired of having to go back to Staples every few years to replace my "modern" phones due to failure.) Anyway, it sits close to where I am as I type this, and the bell ringer is very loud. It was really easy to take it apart, dampen the bell with a piece of soft foam and then put it back together again. I guess back in the day, "repair not replace" was the norm.

So yes, you should be able to track down the source of that "squeak" with little effort. 

Mark in Oregon

The 2055 is a fairly easy engine to work on the side rods are not connected to the body. This one after clean up and lube.

Never know what can cause a squeak I found this even though the it ran fine. You can see one end of the armature shaft here needs lubrication.

Check your brushes and clean your armature.  I had a squeak in a 1615 and it was old brushes.

Lou N

A common problem with a very easy fix.

A drop of oil on each end of the armature shaft will fix your squeal.

@franktrain posted:

Never know what can cause a squeak I found this...

 

 

...   ...

Mark in Oregon

@franktrain posted:

 

 

Boy, that 2055 sure got screwed.

Andre

Yep, Magne-traction at its worst.   Check the teeth on that back wheel, the screw may have caused some real damage!

Thanks for all the suggestions. A drop of oil on armature shaft fixed the problem; but it look two hours for my clumsy fingers to reassemble the locomotive.

Rick

Thanks for the followup @RParmentier! With this under your belt, next time will be easier!

@Ted S posted:

Yep, Magne-traction at its worst.   Check the teeth on that back wheel, the screw may have caused some real damage!

Yeah, had reassembly almost complete on a smoke unit install and dropped one small screw had to reverse assembly to find it. No shaking that out!!

@laming posted:

Boy, that 2055 sure got screwed.

Andre

That is why Magnetraction is unwelcome on my workbench and my personal collection is 1949 and earlier.

The first time I repaired a coil coupler, I didn't know that there was spring behind the plunger which flew away when I pulled the plunger.  So I bought a few plungers from my parts supplier.

A few months later I was trying to get an F-3 working and it seemed to be jamming.  On careful inspection of the wheels, there was the plunger.

So the 2055 has Magnatraction?  I took mine all apart, cleaned, oiled and it runs GREAT after it warms up a bit, maybe 2-3 minutes before it stops squeaking, any suggestions.

Thanks

Frank M