I bought this old postwar culvert loader at a train show, was told it worked, got home and realized it was a disaster. I have the Greenburg Repair and Operating Manual for Lionel Trains, it gave a simple parts blow-up and a little info but not a whole lot. I took the thing apart, cleaned it, oiled different things that i probably shouldn't have, rewound the de-waxed string, and got the thing moving again! That's when the real problems popped up.
First, it moves slow. I've played with the tension on the line, and it'll start moving fast and smooth but after a little bit of time it begins slowing down and binding somewhere, and then the whole thing grinds to a halt. The manual says the spring should be pulled out to 5/8 inch!! but when i tried doing that the wheels wouldn't move and the spring popped off!!! Maybe its a replacement spring, i dont know. the insides have been jacked with obviously. So, that's one problem, it starts going good, then just slows to a crawl.
Next problem, the conveyer assembly doesn't go far enough over the tracks to drop the culvert into the car. On the other hand, it doesn't go far enough to the other side to get a good hook on the culvert! Now, when the thing is running well and going fast, it hooks the culvert fine, but regardless it doesn't come over the gondola enough for the culvert to land in it properly.
So in short, this thing doesn't do anything its supposed to!! My biggest concern is the fact that it just doesn't run smoothly. The whole binding and slowing to a stop is driving me nuts. Does anyone have any knowledge of these old accessories that you can give me some help?!
Thank you so much,
Dominic Miele
