I've got 2 Lionel reversing trolleys, a 1998 "Merry Christmas" version (6-11981) and the Lionel Village trolley (6-21969). After very moderate use, both have gone on the brink. One trolley just died completely. The other first showed signs of trouble with the reversing bumper mechanism. Instead of reversing at the bumper, the trolley would stop. After making a temp fix to the bumper mechanism, the one trolley ran successfully over a few days of operation then died completely.
Anyone have any ideas/solutions for repairing these? I'm thinking about replacing these with a DC motor so that the direction would be controlled by simply reversing the polarity with DC power. This seems like it would be a more dependable result, and allow simpler relay operation with several trolley's on reversing loops, spur's, etc.
I'm curious to hear if you think this replacement could work, along with any tips. Anyone have other solutions that have worked? It seems like I've heard of a lot of others having similar problems with these trolleys dying after light use.
