Have a Lionel # 8368 Alaska Vulcan switcher which has decided to stop working. It runs very slowly in forward, in reverse it goes through a repeating cycle of speeding up and slowing down. Adjusting the pressure on the steel ball on the top of the motor armature does not help. Any suggestions?
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It sounds like it needs a good cleaning. Take apart the motor and remove the armature. Clean out all the old grease and examine the gear on the drive axle. If it is badly worn it will need to be replaced. Also check for loose wheels that may be binding. Otherwise light lube the gear and reassemble. Put a drop of oil in the top of the motor armature too. Those older MPC switchers were made exactly the same as postwar models and have the same problems with noise and poor running.
Neil
Thanks for the advice - a good cleaning has put this unit back into operation.
I'm not surprised. Like I said they were made the same as the originals from the 1950's. A lot of them are still running fine too. That little motor just needs to be in top shape to have enough to pull it around.
Neil
Glad its working again.
I think the Alaska switcher was the second modern era item made that was based on a #41 style chassis. The first was a Canadian Pacific snowplow.
Lionel made a couple of goofs on the CP snowplow. They had to put some washers under the brush plate to correct the errors. If you are working on a CP snowplow, be certain to re-install the washers where they were.
The Alaska switcher also has washers under the brushplate - two under each field mounting stud.
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