Need a little help with a loose truck on my new Veranda

3railOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I have a Veranda but a 2002 variety. I highly debated buying the new edition.

I bit the bullet and purchased a new Veranda, #69. Lionel #2133502. I am on my 2nd one. The first one arrived with the front power truck loose and hanging by a wire. I contacted my dealer, and he immediately replaced the locomotive.

The second one, he removed and checked it out before sending. No problems.

It arrived, I lubed it up and have been running it for a week. Today, the locomotive lurches and jumps the tracks on tangent track. I go to rerail and as I pick it up, the front power truck is just hanging there, exactly like the first one. Very frustrating.

I will be the first to admit I am not a toy train mechanic and no precious little about fixing them. I can add lubricating oil and grease and replace a coupler or two, that is it. My fault for not checking all the screws to make sure they are tight.

There appears to be just one screw holding the truck fast to the flat metal mounting bracket. It certainly does not look too difficult to fix. I already scoured the tracks with a magnet, and the errant screw is nowhere to be found. Lionel has them in stock.

A simple matter of screwing the truck back flush to the truck mounting plate.

But how does the shaft of the motor engage the truck? Is it as simple as fussing around with the truck mounting plate and getting more of the motor shaft exposed and just wiggle them into position until they engage? Do I need to completely remove the body to get to the motor?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

Donald

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7/10/225:16 PM

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Vernon BarryOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Yes, just roll the wheels by hand and this can help pull the worm gear and motor into the truck.

This isn't the first and probably won't be the last time this happens unless you take action. The local dealer got one of these out of the box with the trucks loose.

Time to invest in a bottle of

For the record, the Lionmaster Lionchief Plus 2.0 bigboys also had the screws falling out, as did the Lionchief Plus 2.0 Cab forward that came into the local shop from distribution. Again, every large engine the local shop has gotten has had at least one loose truck mounting screw and most had the trucks hanging and screws rattling in the box.

7/10/225:45 PM

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3railOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

@Vernon Barry posted:
Yes, just roll the wheels by hand and this can help pull the worm gear and motor into the truck.
This isn't the first and probably won't be the last time this happens unless you take action. The local dealer got one of these out of the box with the trucks loose.
Time to invest in a bottle of
For the record, the Lionmaster Lionchief Plus 2.0 bigboys also had the screws falling out, as did the Lionchief Plus 2.0 Cab forward that came into the local shop from distribution. Again, every large engine the local shop has gotten has had at least one loose truck mounting screw and most had the trucks hanging and screws rattling in the box.

Thank you Vernon for the prompt reply. Much appreciated. Yes, I agree some form of loc tite is a good recommendation.
Donald

7/10/227:04 PM

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Hancock52OGR Forum Member

I had to fix this same issue yesterday. I think that there was a previous thread about it right after the Verandas started to arrive and that it was said you have to take the body shell off to put the motor back in place. That is was I ended up doing as I could not get the motor to drop back into the truck properly. In effect I had to hold the motor in place from above while re-fixing the single screw that attaches it to the truck.

I can’t work out what kind of assembly error would produce this defect in so many of these models - I even wondered whether some rogue factory worker has done it deliberately to irritate us! That can’t be the case but it is intensely annoying.

7/11/227:00 AM

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John HonOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

https://ogrforum.com/...5#159096765286575725

here is the previous thread on the issue.

7/11/227:06 AM

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FredstrainsOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

ALL

My Veranda arrived the same way! When I removed it from the Box, the front Truck fell off!! I called the Dealer and they had no more in stock to replace it. SO.......They arranged Preshipping Costs and an RA# from Lionel Service. It took approxmatly 2 weeks for the entire process. My only concern is if you try to repair it yourself, it might VOID the Warranty. But, suit yourself, its your Engine. I might say, that upon return, it runs like a Swiss Watch.

FREDSTRAINS

7/11/227:50 AM

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3railOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Here are a few pics of my Veranda with the shell removed and the motor / truck assembly. I took gunrunnerjohn's advice and using the flywheel, "screwed the motor shaft" down into the truck. It is now firmly attached together. Now all I need is that pesky screw. I ordered a few from Lionel. I ran my "magnet truck" around the layout a few times looking for the screw. No such luck. I also removed (8), not (6) screws to remove the shell from the chassis. In doing so, I unscrewed the rear smoke unit. Oops. At least it gave me a little more room to access the motor.

Donald