This is a prewar engine set that I am looking for suggestions on where to find a parts diagram and other sources for doing repair and or servicing. If it is shown in a Greenberg repair book, that would be good to know. Trying to help a friend that has this set.
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I was able to find a copy on the secondary market of the DVD that Trainpaper.com produced several years ago of Greenbergs Guide to pre-war parts and instruction sheets. I have many of their DVDs and thought this probably has the parts list for the 250E engine. The DVD will arrive in a week. When it arrives, I will post an answer to my question to close the loop, in case this question comes up again.
Yes, that is the book you need. But… the original 250E has two distinct versions with many different parts. I am not aware that this has been documented any where. To complicate this the 250E has been remade maybe four times by various manufactures including Lionel and MTH. Lots of parts are available, but some of them may not be right for your locomotive. My 250E need a lot of work and eventually I got everything I needed to get it going. But I went through a fair number of parts that did not fit first.
Thank you, David Johnson!
In talking with the owner of the set, Debbie, her grandmother had received it for Christmas, in 1939, when she was under one year old. Apparently, great granddad had been expecting a boy. We think 1939 is the correct date based on her grandmother's birthday and the fact that they had the Type T Trainmaster Transformer that was introduced in 1939. The set has been lightly used over the years and handed down from Deb’s grandmother to her mother and now to Debbie. So, not a lot of wear and tear. It has not been run for about 20 years. I am hoping that a light cleaning, new brushes and springs will get it running. Not sure about the wiring, if that will need to be replaced. So this could mean new wires for the e-unit.
I did get the DVD from Robert Osterhoff. He used 19 vintage stamps for the postage. I don’t know if he has any more for sale. There was enough in there to get me started. His DVDs are fantastic.
The documentation for the e-unit is not extensive, it looks like the functionality is similar to the post-war versions.
So far, I have only seen pictures of the loco, so am trying to get the basics done first to see if I can get it running and the whistle working.
I will probably get started in a few weeks and will post pictures as I progress.
Thanks again!
www.mthpartsandsales.com has some reproduction parts for the 250E. Search “Hiawatha”, filter “tinplate” for the list.
Late prewar and post war 3 position e-units fall into two basic groups. There is the 259E- and the 100-. Although they look and function similarly, in my opinion the 259E- is far superior. If you repair the e-unit, try and find 259E- parts, even if they have to come from used e-units. There are lots of different numbers for the basic 259E- unit due to design changes, most minor. Even something as simple as the length of the wires would result in a part number change. When you hear people complain about a buzzing e-unit, it is the 100- unit that they are talking about. The 259E- had a paper wrap between each coil layer. It also has more turns of smaller wire for a higher resistance. The 259E- unit will work on DC, the 100- will not. I am not sure when the change occurred, maybe about 1951. I think the primary reason for the changes was cost reduction.
hi Guys, thanks for the responses. I have a parts order with Jeff the Traintender, he had all of the brushes, springs, bulbs and the e-Unit parts.
@david johnson, I really appreciate your insights on this Locomotive and will probably need your help on this. Best, Dave
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