One of my favorite locomotives is my Lionel N&W Class A #1218. It is also one of the ones my son obsesses about. I spent the money years ago and put in a drop-in EOB board and for the last 12 years or so it has run flawlessly. That was until last month when the gear going to the rear truck wore-out. Now it chuffs but doesn't go anywhere. On-line on the Lionel parts site I found out that the gear is sold as a one piece including the trucks--and they do not have the parts anymore.
1) Find a gear that would work in its place
2) Take the gear out and have a machine shop make one.
3) Buy a used 1218 and get the parts out of it.
4) Buy a new Lionel 1218 and move the EOB board to it.
5) Buy a new 1218 from MTH and make the one I have a dummy.
At this point with all of my medical bills I really don't want to spend a lot of money here. Any suggestions?
Scott Smith
