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Are Free trains always a good thing ?   A guy in my community brought me a box of old Lionel train stuff.  He said the boxes had been kept high and dry and not opened for at least 20 years.   

I like this little switcher because I do have some F.E.C. freight cars.

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Looks like moisture got in there somehow and rusted things up.

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These pictures are after I wire brushes a lot of the rust off.   Is the horn replaceable ?     How is it attached to the frame ?     

I have cleaned the wheels, brushes and armature plate.  When power is applied the E unit drum will rotate but motor won't turn.  ( it will turn freely by hand )

How do you measure voltage at the brushes ?   If I have 10 volts going to the track should I have 10 Volts between  the brush and ground ?  Is it worth the effort of fixing ?

Thanks for any advice you may share,

Doug

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More than rust, what you have there is damage from a leaked battery.  The battery holder is garbage, the horn and horn relay could be saved.

If you have 10 volts at the track you should just about 10 volts are the motor.  The motor and e-unit look pretty good.  You can wire the motor directly to a transformer, bypassing the E-unit.  For a price of zero it should be worth some time to clean it up.  You are not really going to know much until you get it apart and clean it.

Can anyone tell me how the battery holder and horn come off the frame and is the horn relay part of that holder ?

It looks like two tabs coming up from the frame close to the relay and two tabs going into the frame from the holder just behind the horn.  They're pretty rusted so hard to tell if that's what's holding it in place.

Does all that have to come off before being able to remove the trucks ? 

Doug there are two tabs (formed by part of the frame) that stick up through the "rear" of the battery holder, the "rear" being the part closest to the horn relay. Just gently 'untwist" them until they are straight enough to allow the horn relay, battery holder and horn assembly to lift off as one piece. Disassemble, being careful to preserve the insulating fish paper, as it will likely be reusable. The horn relay unscrews from the battery holder assy. Be careful of the single (insulated) wire coming out of the horn, it's not uncommon for the wire to break right where it exits the horn. Unsolder all the wires, being careful to write down where they go or simply take closeup photos from different angles. Once the horn is free, grab a D cell battery and touch one end of the battery to the horn frame and the other end of the battery to the wire coming from the horn. If it works, I'd be really surprised. It should at least click each time you make and break electrical contact with the battery. If it doesn't even click, it's probably a goner! Using a 9 volt battery can sometimes free up stuck contacts, if it doesn't make a sound with even the 9 volt battery, try loosening then tightening the adjustment screw (hex-head) on the back of the horn 1/4 turn, then give the battery another try. If you can't get a sound at all out of the horn by this stage, start looking for a new new (used) horn and battery holder assembly.

I would begin by soaking all the rusted parts in Evapo-Rust, available at your local discount store for about $20, soak the parts in a container, cover it with saran wrap to avoid any splashes or evaporation. For the horn and battery assembly (don't submerge the relay), I would look for a plastic container or tin can that would allow you to stick the horn face down into the Evapo-Rust. The rear of the horn will likely be airtight, so by putting the horn into the container face down (open hole down), you may be able to keep the Evapo-Rust from creeping under the diaphragm and filling that area. You will also conserve the liquid rust remover by using an appropriately sized and shaped container. I typically soak mine for a day at a time, then wire brush the rusted area, then soak it again for another day. That horn will need a few days. Evapo-Rust will remove the black color from chemically blackened parts like the motor side frames, so try not to get in on such parts. The engine's frame will need a repaint anyway, so go ahead and soak that part. When done, rinse with water, thoroughly dry, sand and  paint.

On your body shell, look at the front screw hole - they almost always break/crack on that engine, sometimes whole chunks will break away - see if yours is worth saving or reconstructing

Your e-unit is the most likely culprit in the motor-not-turning scenario. If you have repaired e-units before, prepare for another repair! If you have not, there's a bit of "knack" required to get it apart for a proper repair. You can try spraying some CRC contact cleaner directly on the drum and contacts while working the drum back and forth. Be careful, some of the contact cleaners are quite flammable and could give you a singed beard or worse

George

Thanks everyone for your input and good suggestions.

I did get it running after spraying electronic cleaner in the E unit and cycling it about a hundred times.  The wires going to the brushes were broken off so I soldered them back on. 

At this point it goes pretty good nose forward and not so good going cab forward.  The jury is still out about having a horn.

Doug

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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