Lionel postwar 2025 wheel issues

Use a very small dab of red Loctite #262 threadlocker between the axle and wheel.

You've mastered the hard part, the next time(or you can do it prophylactically) use a tiny bit of Loctite at each wheel. I use CA/Eastman 910(the water clear, runny/thin super glue). If the mating surfaces are clean, you can put a drop on each axle end now and capillary action should take the glue into the joint and provide just the right amount of hold to prevent them from going out of quarter for a long time.

Years ago I had such a problem, which I finally took to Madison Hardware, asking for a new wheel.  'No, it's not the wheel that's loose, said the brother who usually made the repairs.  You need a new axle.'

Apparently the sintered steel wheel is either harder or more resistant to deformation than the axles, in many cases.  (From a former factory repairman, I also learned that certain shafts that had metal gears pressed onto them were hardened steel shafts, and when plastic gears were substituted, the shafts were no longer hardened.)

Perhaps the sintered wheels would crack if pressed onto a hardened axle.

--Frank

F Maguire posted:

Years ago I had such a problem, which I finally took to Madison Hardware, asking for a new wheel.  'No, it's not the wheel that's loose, said the brother who usually made the repairs.  You need a new axle.'

That is usually the case. If you could distress the axle or restore the splines in a fashion to keep it in quarter, then the wheel can be pressed back on for an interference fit, but if you replace the axle, you really should use a press & wheel cups to do it right.

WES97's 1947 did not come with sintered iron wheels.