Lionel Alco Won't Reverse With Shell

Have you checked to see if a wire is being trapped when the shell is on?  If this is the case, and it is shorting to the chassis (Or somewhere else.), this could well explain the spark display and other problems.

Yes, I have.

There are no wires or anything coming anywhere near the shell. They are all suspended in midair from the motor on the front truck to the E-unit on the rear truck.

It sounds like the lever of the e unit might be forced out of position by hitting the end of the slot in the Alco shell.

How worn are the rollers? Groove in center of roller?  Do they roll freely?  I have seen when pick up roller binds and do not roll freely, it drags on rail causing sparks. 

I don't know if these suggestions will help.  It is difficult to get handle on problems without hands on.  I did the best I could.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Do you have a wire getting stuck in the open section of the motor, by the light bulb?

It's a long shot, but I have had it happen. Check for marks on the insulation

The set was brand new, or nearly new, when I bought it about a month ago. The rollers look perfect, round and smooth.

No wires getting pinched anywhere. The only wires in the unit are in a wad, stretched between the motor in front and the E-unit in back. Nothing dangling. Nothing sticking out.

Matt, we are doing our best.  Can you check and see, once you have e unit lever in position which works with shell off, carefully place shell on chassis and see if lever moves out of position.  I hate to mention this over again but it has happened to me before.  I had to adjust e unit bracket so lever made proper contact when cover was on.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Pictures, please!  Use the macro setting for close ups(that's the "flower" symbol on the camera).

quote:

No wires getting pinched anywhere. The only wires in the unit are in a wad, stretched between the motor in front and the E-unit in back. Nothing dangling. Nothing sticking out.

On the postwar units, it would be the wire to the headlight, or the wire to the coupler.

Your Erie's don't have the coupler wire. It would have the headlight wire.

I was writing about the wire getting picked up by the armature, and getting stuck in the motor.

quote:

 it reverses about 4", stops, buzzes like it's in neutral, and indicates a short on the transformer.

Certainly sounds like something is getting stuck in the mechanism. You could also look for a foreign object in the mechanism.

quote:

It sounds like the lever of the e unit might be forced out of position by hitting the end of the slot in the Alco shell.

There isn't any slot on this model.

The e-unit is mounted on the dummy truck, the lever hangs down between the wheels closest to the center of the engine.

Here is the service diagram.

Thanks CW - this is where photo's really help us try to help.  I hope he finds the problem.

Steve, Lady and Tex

It's really weird. All I have to do is set the shell in place on the chassis, not even lock it down, and BZZT...

I dunno. I can't find anything touching the shell or getting pinched or sucked in or anything. There is a lone wire that runs from the E-unit to the light, but that is nowhere near the shell either.

What's weirder is, now it works! I did NOTHING, but put the shell on for the umpteenth time... Forward, reverse, pulls the B and A dummies as good as ever. Remove and replace the shell... Still fine! Latch the shell down... Still fine!

Now if I could only figure out how to make it stop shooting sparks from the rollers...

Replace the rollers and see if that works.  G