This is my third attempt at posting this. The only thing I can figure is I'm leaving the page before posting the reply.
I could use a little hope opening two engines for routine maintenance. It should be simple but I don' want to remove the wrong screws and set something lose other than the body shell.
First up is a recently purchase WBB70 tonner. The instructions claim it was lubed at the factory so I put it on the tracks for a test run. A half hour of run time later and it's still on the tracks. Before I run it much more I would like to check the gears and adjust the volume of the sounds. Underneath it has 6 screws, one each on the 4 corners and two more inboard of the rear truck about where the cab connects to the hood. It's obvious I need to remove th 4 corner screws but do I need to remove these other two to remove the shell? I don't know if these hold the shell or something internally.
Next is a Lionel North Pole Central 0-6-0T that has ben handling the Christmas Express for a number of years. It seems like it's slowing down a little so I thinks it's time for a total re-lube and re-grease. This one has even more screws underneath and two screws in the rear "pilot" beam on either side of the coupler.
I've got the footboard, coupler mounting ad pick up roller mounting screws figured out but do I need to remove the 6 screws in the black plate to remove the shell or do I remove the two recessed screws on either side of the front pick up roller and the two screws in the rear "pilot" beam to remove the shell? And what kind of nightmare can I expect accessing the gears once the shell is removed? With smoke, directional lighting a horn I'm sure there area lot of electronics crammed into a little space.