LIONEL LINES BOX ELECTRIC (1956)

pic please

The 520 is considered one of Lionel's worst engines by the majority of collectors and operators, operation being one of it's many poor qualities. It was modeled after an electric in Chile. It doesn't command very much money - a friend of mine got one for about $80.

The 520 had a cheap body shell. The body shell is usually found with some kind of damage but it did come with a good motor with the 3 position reverse unit. My first set was the 520 in 1957 at age 4 which i still have and I did find a new body shell to replace the brokin one about 30 years ago at Madison Hardware in NY. Be sure to oil the armature shafts and put a little grease on the gears. There probably is gummed up 3 in 1 oil from years ago.

Cool loco, I got to run one allot when I was a kid. You may have over oiled things a bit. The electric brushes and armature to be more specific. Carbon brushes wear out over time gunking up the armature slots over time with conductive dust stopping smooth operation. They should be clean and dry, and under enough spring pressure to distribute the power correctly "inside" the motor. remember grease & oil are no good for motor windings, just gears and shafts. I don't own one or remember the drive setup, but If you couldn't see a gear, its likely just a worm gear on the end of the armature driving one gear centered on an axle. Also worm gears don't like to be forced to turn by the wheels. Did you take the shell off and inspect it from the top? Did he leave it with you?

As founder and president of the long-standing "Friends of the 520" society (formed back in the AOL train boards days), I must chime in here.

The 520 boxcab--the least expensive and most prototypical Lionel locomotive of the period--ranks as my favorite of all Lionel locomotives.  I like to think that my intensive lobbying, with the assist of other members of the Friends group, led K-Line (and K-Line by Lionel) to re-introduce an updated version of that locomotive.  There now are thousands of 520 look-alikes running on layouts all around the country, and RMT is supposedly going to release yet another update in the prototypical red 520 paint scheme.

The originals of the postwar period were simple in design, and their open-frame motors were real "growlers" but quite easy to maintain.  These engines were intended to pull just three or four lightweight O27 cars, and at slow speeds (just like the prototype).  Any postwar repair manual will have all the info needed to service the motor and lube the running gear.  All that's normally required is to clean and burnish (or replace) the brushes; check brush spring tension; clean the armature slots, and give moving parts a light lube.

The most fragile part of the original 520 is the plastic pantograph, which was easily broken or lost.  Replacements are rather readily available.

Long live the 520!  

The 520 is powered by a 2034 motor that has the e-unit lever facing up instead of down. Contrary to what some have said, I've found my 520s to be reliable and easy to work on. With a little effort, they can be made to look and run as good as new. 

I agree with Jumilo, I have owned a number of 520's. They are very reliable, and run fine. It is true that they do not pull like a Berkshire, they were a much less expensive engine. I think they were made in 1956 only (not positive)

Thanks for the comments. As mentioned above, this engine has been in a box for 45-50 years. With a little soap and water the shell will look really good, there are ZERO  scratches. I took the shell off to oil/grease the gears I could see , I used can air to blow the dust off. Before putting the shell back on, I spotted a very small gear that had not been lubed, a spot of grease, back on the tracks WOW , that little engine did run (not fast but smoth).  John left last night night a happy "railroader".  he mentioned a Christmas Layout, I told him I had some extra Fastrack he could use.

Thanks for the comments

Brent

The shell on a 520 box cab electric is held in place by a screw on one end and two plastic tabs on the other. The tabs are commonly broken, so if they are still there, be careful with them. Happily, the shell will stay in place without them. There should also be a plastic pantograph on the roof. They are commonly missing or broken. Reproductions are available.

Here is a question for 520 fans. It was cataloged is a couple of cataloged and uncatalogued sets in 1956. It was also cataloged in 1957 for separate sales. Or was it?

I have never seen a separate sale 520 box. maybe they used the remaining units in inventory for the uncatalogued Chun-King set after the catalog was approved for publication?

I did not recall that the 520 was cataloged for separate sale, but sure enough, I saw it in the 1957 catalog.

I did not see any reference to the 520 in the regular 1956 catalog, but I may have looked too quickly. I did see a 520 set shown in the 1956 accessory catalog that was printed by Elliott Rolland. It shows the 520 with a 6014 baby ruth boxcar, a 6012 gondola, and a caboose. This is the set I am familiar with. What were the others?

A while back, someone had a "boxed" 520 on Ebay. I saved the pictures. It is legitimate? Decide for yourself:

By the way, does anybody know the story behind the Elliot Rolland 1956 accessory catalog? It is black and white, pulp paper. The printers name is printed across the bottom of the catalog cover.

Wow. That is the first time I have ever seen a box for the 520. Looks legitimate. The 520 was the power for a promotional set featuring a 6014 boxcar lettered for Chun-King foods. My one concern is didn't the 249 steamer come out in 1958, a year after the 520 was discontinued? Maybe Madison Hardware packed some up in 1958.

Tabs are fine, pantograph is on the roof. I don't think this engine has 45 minutes of run time but no one really knows. It does look good.

Brent

C.W. Burfle posted pictures below.

Brent

Lionel's 1956 Accessory Catalog is a treasure trove of factory prototypes. I wrote an article for CTT about that. For example, the 2350 NH EP5 "Jet" on the cover is actually two F-unit cabs spliced to make a double-cab body. But they aren't cut in half. The cuts follow air vents and other details to be nearly invisible. Another example is a 3927 Track Cleaner Car with a brush underneath and another brush (buffer?) fastened vertically in the rear. Every page has another surprise - sometimes a bunch.

quote:

My one concern is didn't the 249 steamer come out in 1958, a year after the 520 was discontinued? Maybe Madison Hardware packed some up in 1958.

Good observation. When that 520 was being auctioned, I was very tempted to bid, but I was not convinced that the box was legitimate. 

There were others who were willing to pay a premium for the box, I was not.

It seems that every odd ball item is attributed to Madison Hardware. I guess they were known to be rather creative with their inventory, but I think one would need to have proof.

Speaking of Madison, sometime in the 1970's I remember there being a little bin on the front counter, filled with 151 semaphore heads mounted on LTC lockon bases. They were illuminated, but the arms did not operate.
I wish I had purchased one. Does anybody on this board have one?

I guess I could make one if I knew how the head was attached to the base,

I triple that proclamation....here are three 520s combined into, I suppose, one 1560!

Jim

Madison Hardware seems to have been a secondary manufacturer for Lionel like that good cousin that tries harder to  be better.

Is anyone surprised that they would have the stamps to make a "520" box look like a 520 box? For me to be convinced it was true, I would need to see the box inserts and instruction sheet.

Madison Hardware was really a great place, I remember when I bought the 520 shell that it was $5.00 and Lou Shore offerd me 3 @ $10.00. But being my first electric train at age 4 that little bottom of the line set has the memories.

Only the post above suggests the 520 box was a Madison Hardware creation. There is nothing to support that it was.

CORRECT. It is complete supposition that Madison Hardware created the "520" box. It is clear I think that LIONEL would not re-use a box marked for one engine for another without blacking out the other number first or adding an "X" after the number.

So, who else? The only group around that was re-assembling and re-doing Lionel parts like the cars from the autoloader was MH.  And it seems that Lionel did not care at all that MH was doing this and even cooperated with MH by selling them extra unassembled out-of-date parts in bulk.

Once again no proof, just supposition. 

It's all just conjecture unless one knows and can show that the box insert was correct for the 520 boxcab.  It would have had a distinctive insert that really wouldn't have fit another locomotive of the period.

The 249-15 number on the box is the part number for the box, it isn't the stock number of the the item it held. That item number would be under the tape, around where the 520 is stamped on the tape.

Who could have done it?

Any retailer.  

The owner of the train.

There is nothing special or unique about either the plain tape or the rubber stamp.

Sure, Madison Hardware could have done it.

Would be cool to run 2 or 3 as a consist.

At least Lionel did it right with the original 520 back in the 1950s.  They gave it an 0-4-2 wheel configuration.  When K-Line/K-Line by Lionel came out with a repro years later, even though it was significantly improved in terms of detailing, they got things backwards and made it a 2-4-0.

At first glance, that would seem to make little difference, but that change has an adverse impact on operation of the locomotive when it pulls a train on tight curves or switches.  The two-wheel pilot really serves little function, but the lack of a trailing truck results in a limited rear coupler swing (side to side) that often derails the leading car of the train.

One can always run the repro in reverse, of course, but that results in the installed crew members facing the wrong way, and it puts the pantograph on the leading end of the engine when it more typically would be located near the rear.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that if/when the RMT version materializes--and I certainly hope it does--that Walter Matuch gets that wheel arrangement right like it was on the original.  It will make a darn fine little switching locomotive.  I suspect there will even be ample room inside for command control components to be installed as an aftermarket add-on.

If there's an RMT version in the future, I'd like to see it with two four-wheel trucks, like the prototype.  That would interest me.

I had no idea this was a postwar Lionel design!  I've eyed the K-line/RMT version on and off for a few years.  I never did understand why it didn't have a two-wheel truck on either end; the journal boxes imply that a fourth axle should be there.  Nevertheless, I have considered it as an option for commuter or yard work.

Aaron

I'm looking for the RMT version to come out also. They show 520 but the protypes were numbered 520-523.

Two #520's put together on GG1 running gear.  Don

Don, that is a very nice locomotive. I like it!

Don And Jim

NIce Kitbash!