New Lionel SW7 switcher

Got my Southern SW7 today.  Glad to report couplers had no fallen off (I may need to check the snugness of the screws), unit ran with no problems.  Thankfully Lionel did correct the sub lettering on the cab to the correct GS&F vs the catalog illustration of 65&F.  Only issue is the bell should be brass as in the catalog, but I can fix that easily enough.  Early Southern SW7s had brass bells, later units (or shop replaced) had black cast bells.

@MrMuffin'sTrains trains contacted me after my comments above about taking a pass due to quality issues.  He sold me a NYC for $450 and also inspected it prior to shipping it to me.  It should arrive tomorrow.  He basically gets all my business.

John

I liked my Chessie SW7 so much I picked the C&BL SW7 up as well. I had a hard time finding one but Nicholas Smith Trains had one in stock. I thought maybe Lionel hadn't even made it because I couldn't find it anywhere. I just really like the paint scheme.

Nice NS1975!!

I initially was not going to get one of these engines because of the comments here.  @MrMuffin'sTrains contacted me and said he would look at mine before shipping it.  Here it is, on Steve's tracks  https://www.youtube.com/watch?...mp;mc_eid=4ca1c18876  .  It should arrive here in Chicago tomorrow.  VERY excited.  

Good to hear that most happy.

Mine came this week , MEC. Seemed ok until ran without the sound and it was covering the Gear tower howling and squawking. Tried in conventional and did not run as smooth as in the TMCC mode. Thinking some electronics are smoothing out the gearing problem in operation. Cosmetically it seemed ok however on close examination, the handrails and stanchions re missing from both sides of the hood, just holes ,no rails. Its back at the dealer now and dealer is contacting Lionel about repair or replacement.

Disappointing that quality has deteriorated. Hopefully thiscan be corrected. 

LIRR Steamer posted:

Good to hear that most happy.

Mine came this week , MEC. Seemed ok until ran without the sound and it was covering the Gear tower howling and squawking. Tried in conventional and did not run as smooth as in the TMCC mode. Thinking some electronics are smoothing out the gearing problem in operation. Cosmetically it seemed ok however on close examination, the handrails and stanchions re missing from both sides of the hood, just holes ,no rails. Its back at the dealer now and dealer is contacting Lionel about repair or replacement.

Disappointing that quality has deteriorated. Hopefully thiscan be corrected. 

When I opened the box I made sure to exam it carefully. I didn't see any noticable defects. It runs smoothly and I hope it stays that way. That's good your dealer is helping you out.

Brand new NYC Version making odd noises.

 Scratching sound or some kind of squeaking and yes I did lube it.

Robert Cushman posted:

Brand new NYC Version making odd noises.

 Scratching sound or some kind of squeaking and yes I did lube it.

Did you clean out the existing grease and then re-lube? Look at this post about 1/2 down the page. Help with new Lionel SW7.

I was having trouble with my SW7 also in reverse, found 'Help with new SW7' , thank goodness.   I did determine the small screw on the bottom of the Trunk toward the inside, not the large toward the outside is to lube up the gear box.  I used the same tube of grease I used on the grease hole on my steam engines for the gear box.  The front took 1 application the rear truck took 2, with a run in between to spread the grease around.  If your not sure about the correct screw loosen it several turns only then see if the truck has more vertical play, if it does WRONG SCREW, tighten it back up.

Thanks I’ll try it. I undid the big one and it was tough getting the drive shaft back together. But I’ll unscrew the small screw next to that and dump some lube in. 

This one correct?

Has anyone posted pics of these, fully disassembled?  I tried looking on the Lionel parts site and it's not there (yet?)   Thanks!

Yes Robert, that is the one I used.  My rear truck sounded like the one in the video, loud and squealing.  Even added a little to my NW2 even though that was not squealing.

I was messing with my Chessie SW7 (the one with the dropped coupler) today and noticed it was making the sound that has been described. Removed the large screw in the bottom of the truck with the engine on its side. The truck came loose in my hand. With the large screw removed I was able to tip the truck with wires attached enough th see the worm gear through a 3/16” ovel opening in the top of the trucks gearbox. Picked out the old grease I could get at and greased the worm gear with fresh grease. As mentioned the driveshaft is tuff to reassemble ( like one guy hooking up the drive shaft on a brush hog with a three point hitch) . I used the old Harber Fright tweezers to hold one end and guided the shaft back together. Be careful to check the wires attached to the truck and replace the large screw. Did both trucks. Ran the engine for a wile and the squeaky trucks ran quite.

As info, I was able to fix the dropped coupler. Found the screw laying along the right of way, reassembled the coupler parts and works fine so far. Now I’m a happy camper. It’s good to be able to fix some of the troubles. A lot of good people here willing to help makes it all worthwhile.

Thanks

S T E

I though I had fixed that terrible 'squawking' on mine as well - wound up pulling the truck apart (again) and adding more grease. One thing I noticed, the frame of this locomotive is warped or bowed slightly. Not sure if this is contributing to the noise, but I can definitely see a slight bow to the frame. I still have to figure out where the 'ticking' noise is coming from on the rear truck. Not sure if it's a traction tire issue or something else. 

I disassembled my gear boxes on mine and replaced the factory grease with White Lithium Grease. Not as much noise now.

Greased under that screw and the worm gear and it did cure some noise but still some clicking.

new updated video******

You’ll need to turn off the sound. I can’t hear any clicking over the sound. 

Here is how I took mine apart. I removed the trucks. Next the four screws for the pick up roller. Then the long skinny screw and short fat screw from center of the gear box. Plus the two screws on one side and single screw on the other. I took the horizontal gear out and cleaned it. I took both wheels out and cleaned them. I removed almost all the factory yellow in color grease and replaced it with White Lithium Grease. I did this while process for both gear boxes. So far it has been a big improvement in reference to the same noise as mentioned previously. Obviously I did this all at my own risk.

Uh oh... is that a plastic worm gear? Didn't they learn anythingt from the CCII Niagara?

RickO posted:

Uh oh... is that a plastic worm gear? Didn't they learn anythingt from the CCII Niagara?

On my SW7 it's a brass worm gear. I think that's the while lithium grease you're seeing there.

Yes, the gear is brass. This photo was taken after I removed the yellow/brown grease from the factory.

Updated video no sound on 

That sort of sounds like the tires are squealing. Does it make that sound if you run it off the track? I don't know if you have a test bench to run it upside down like that or not. If it's not the rubber traction tires making that noise it's got to be the gears. Did you dissemble and remove all the old / original grease or just add new grease? I believe when adding grease you should add the same type of grease. I'm not an expert on grease but I think some types don't work together and for that reason whenever I need to grease up a new engine (or new to me) I completely remove all the existing grease and add fresh.

Wow. That’s so loud it should be easy to identify. I would remove the body, place unit on blocks and run it till you find it. That is of course, a trip back to Lionel is not considered first. One thing for sure. It’s not going to get better. 

Robert Cushman posted:

Updated video no sound on 

I have two of the new SW7 models and I had the same problem with both of them. I took the shell off and there is nothing under there but a speaker in the cab, the smoke unit and motherboard. The motor is enclosed in a housing in the center of the body. The sounds you hear are coming from the gearbox. Possibly the front and rear. I found that the grease from the factory gets rather gooey after just a few days of initial running out of the box. This happened with both units in about the same amount of time. I cleaned out the old grease the best I could and used a different type. So far the noise has been eliminated. I will provide a video soon.

NS1975 posted:

Robert Cushman posted:

Updated video no sound on 

I have two of the new SW7 models and I had the same problem with both of them. I took the shell off and there is nothing under there but a speaker in the cab, the smoke unit and motherboard. The motor is enclosed in a housing in the center of the body. The sounds you hear are coming from the gearbox. Possibly the front and rear. I found that the grease from the factory gets rather gooey after just a few days of initial running out of the box. This happened with both units in about the same amount of time. I cleaned out the old grease the best I could and used a different type. So far the noise has been eliminated. I will provide a video soon.

All sounds turned down and no smoke.

NS1975 posted:

NS1975 posted:

Robert Cushman posted:

Updated video no sound on 

I have two of the new SW7 models and I had the same problem with both of them. I took the shell off and there is nothing under there but a speaker in the cab, the smoke unit and motherboard. The motor is enclosed in a housing in the center of the body. The sounds you hear are coming from the gearbox. Possibly the front and rear. I found that the grease from the factory gets rather gooey after just a few days of initial running out of the box. This happened with both units in about the same amount of time. I cleaned out the old grease the best I could and used a different type. So far the noise has been eliminated. I will provide a video soon.

All sounds turned down and no smoke.

NS1975 posted:

NS1975 posted:

NS1975 posted:

Robert Cushman posted:

Updated video no sound on 

I have two of the new SW7 models and I had the same problem with both of them. I took the shell off and there is nothing under there but a speaker in the cab, the smoke unit and motherboard. The motor is enclosed in a housing in the center of the body. The sounds you hear are coming from the gearbox. Possibly the front and rear. I found that the grease from the factory gets rather gooey after just a few days of initial running out of the box. This happened with both units in about the same amount of time. I cleaned out the old grease the best I could and used a different type. So far the noise has been eliminated. I will provide a video soon.

All sounds turned down and no smoke.

 

Slow speed with with no sounds and no smoke.

I’ll take it apart and regrease it tomorrow. If that doesn’t work I’m calling the place I got it from.

When I get to the worm do I need to take it off to remove the grease or is it attached on the drive shaft.

Also what about the other side with the ⚙️s ? How do I grease the entire thing without being able to move the gears?

Big thanks to NS1975 for the photos and the rest of you guys for the info. Running like it should and much quieter.

I wonder if there are some ever so slightly bent axles? In one of the pictures above, with 6 or 7 shots of the trucks, they appeared slightly bent.  Now if the frame is warped, I definitely would send the unit to Lionel.  At the prices today, even for a small diesel, it should run correctly.  Keep us posted as your gets rid of the issues. Thank you, good thread.  

One plus: Based on the photos in this thread, the wheels and axles are easily replaceable (IF the parts are available.)  Last time I checked, a complete parts photo wasn't yet on Lionel's website.

It would be easy to tell if the wheels or axles are bent by running the loco upside-down in a cradle.  Just look for shimmy.  Not sure you can tell this just by looking at a still photograph.  I would be surprised and disappointed if this turned out to be the reason why some of these switchers are quieter than others.

Didn't see this one posted here yet, so here you go.  Thanks to Mike & Tom at my favorite model train shop, Gardner the Train Doctor.  They looked it over and tested it for me and also gave me a great deal.  They also do in house repairs, fyi.

Does anyone have pics of thier BN SW7? Ive been on the fence on getting one to pull my BN crane/boom cars.

Robertejr posted:

Didn't see this one posted here yet, so here you go.  Thanks to Mike & Tom at my favorite model train shop, Gardner the Train Doctor.  They looked it over and tested it for me and also gave me a great deal.  They also do in house repairs, fyi.

I really like the Leigh Valley version.

Here is the lionel parts breakdown below for the SW7.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...6f-b6c7-156779e84ba6

NS1975 posted:

Robertejr posted:

Didn't see this one posted here yet, so here you go.  Thanks to Mike & Tom at my favorite model train shop, Gardner the Train Doctor.  They looked it over and tested it for me and also gave me a great deal.  They also do in house repairs, fyi.

I really like the Leigh Valley version.

Nice locomotive!  We have one Lehigh Valley left and some New York Central ones too!

https://jrjunction.com/product...high-valley-sw7-222/

LIRR Steamer posted:

Good to hear that most happy.

Mine came this week , MEC. Seemed ok until ran without the sound and it was covering the Gear tower howling and squawking. Tried in conventional and did not run as smooth as in the TMCC mode. Thinking some electronics are smoothing out the gearing problem in operation. Cosmetically it seemed ok however on close examination, the handrails and stanchions re missing from both sides of the hood, just holes ,no rails. Its back at the dealer now and dealer is contacting Lionel about repair or replacement.

Disappointing that quality has deteriorated. Hopefully thiscan be corrected. 

well Bad news folks. It went back to Lionel and apparently they were unable to repair or replace this unit. So Refund was issued to my LHS for me. Guessing that the Missing handrails might have been the problem which led to the refund. Dissapointing to say the least.