Repair and Restore...one of the joys of old toy trains

I don't have any restoration photos handy, but I'll agree with you: it's one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. I tend to buy "runners" that need to be serviced (partly out of budget concerns, but partly because I like to take things apart. I have fixed trains for friends and restored and given away sets a couple of times, just for an excuse to work on something.

I like the green base flagman. Nice job on everything.

Your are Hired!

Nice work.

I purchased this old girl from C.Sam on the forum a number of months ago.  According to him, the original owner was pretty rough on it and the roughness definitely showed when I was cleaning it up.  The rear truck is a repro, the cab stairs are missing (still haven't replaced those), one wheel has a dent in the edge of the rim, the front keystone graphic was rubbed away and I had to replace the front  engineers side wheel because the original was stripped beyond repair.  When I received it, I began work immediately.  I cleaned out the 66 years of grime and old grease, rewired everything and relubed it before reassembling it once again.  I ended up having to rebuild the E-Unit and replaced the whistle relay in the tender with one a member of another forum donated to the project.

As with most postwar rebuilds, she runs great.  This year she put in at least 10 hours on my Redford Theatre train display.  When the normal steamer (a Lionel Mikado Jr) was acting up, I put the turbine on and she took right off.

It is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby. To me, planning the layout, building the layout, rearranging the layout, repairing and maintaining the engines are more fun than actually running trains.

I wholeheartedly agree.  I work at a desk all day, but I get so much joy from fixing a train that doesn't work.  Needless to say, I can't do anything with the new ones, but give me a "crippled runner" from the MPC era or earlier and when I can get that baby to do what its supposed to do, I can feel the smile on my face.

Well said. I also enjoy repairing old trains as part of my hobby.

Sometimes my work table runneth over! 

Ace, your work table looks like mine, except that your tools are stored more neatly. Service and repair is more enjoyable than any other facet of the hobby, makes looking for "fixer-uppers" more fun. 

This basket case 2056, restored as Reading T-1 2124 and painted by John Myers of Pottstown, PA, won First Place in the Fantasy category in a contest sponsered by the TCA Standards Committee at York a few years ago. Two 1666T tenders werer spliced to make a long T-1 tender. Some outstanding restorations have competed in that contest.

Ace,

   Your work table doth indeed runneth over, but I bet you know where everything is, just like me.

  We could have a Work Table contest. We could add a point or two if we can see the table. Or maybe add them if we CAN'T see the table.

I'm with you, David.

+2. I have done more than I can count but have only recently started documenting the work. Many after pics but few before.

Here are few. The first 624 is Williams but I received a Lionel 624 in even worse shape. Original lettering retained except for the hood decal on the Lionel.

 Williams as received:

Williams After:

Lionel After:

6420 as received:

6420 After: original lettering retained. Toolboxes remade using 4 broken boxes, not modern repros.

Toolboxes:

Pete

Repairing, restoring and customizing have made up my favorite part of the hobby for the last few years, as well.  A friend once commented, "If it's not working now, and it doesn't work after you've tried to fix it, what have you lost?"  Not TOTALLY true, as I  did make a couple things worse, but if I can't fix them, off they go to a repairman, the auction or my junk box.

beautiful work gentlemen! I'm the guy at the shows on the floor digging thru the treasure boxes. I got set of 2600 Prewar green passenger cars for $1 each. missing the roofs,lights, and most of the trucks. spent another $15 at the same show for other junkers to get the missing trucks. Jeff at The Train Tender had roofs from Madison Hardware, and had the rest of the missing stuff.and the original green is still good. Even made my own diner out of a fourth body.

another time I scored a lot off the bay. a gunmetal 225E shell,Postwar 1666 shell,671 Turbine shell, and a good 1666 tender. I scrounged parts, and the 225E and 1666 ran under the tree the past few years. I made a Vandy tender for the 225e out of scrounged(thanks Walt Hulseweder) parts.

 I've brought several steamers and cars back to life over the years. Need to hunt for some more winter projects.

Wow, so there are others out there who also enjoy repairing and restoring trains. 

I'm almost reluctant to bring the subject up again since it was soundly and shot down when I brought it up recently, but wouldn't it be great if there was a TOY TRAIN REPAIR AND RESTORATION FORUM on the internet somewhere that was available for people like us!   So my solution is, we could keep this thread going by continuing to add submissions.

David, I agree a separate forum would be great. How many times have you seen someone ask what kind of paint to restore a steam engine with or how to repair an e unit? I think we could keep a thread going though much like Richard E's vehicle thread.

Pete

Having a TOY TRAIN REPAIR AND RESTORATION FORUM would be a fantastic idea.  I don't know how hard it is to add such a thing to the website but I think if adopted it would be a big hit since repair and maintenance are a neccessary component of this hobby.

John.

For myself, repair/restore means I can own things I couldn't afford in operable condition. I can and have waited years for parts and pieces to show up. An example would be a #345 Culvert Unloader that I cobbled together out of things found under the tables at shows. Total cost was $125, works like new, and aside from some yellowing of the plastic looks great. Of course, it took nearly 20 years.......

So far, I have only done mechanical repairs (well, besides a cab replacement on my 265E), but I want to do a prewar Lionel Bridge soon, as a full restoration.

Yea I buy stuff like this all the time:

These came from 3 different auctions  and the parts box.  They have all original parts and paint, just cleaned and polished some.  They run great!!

I just got these off the bay as well...

These guys will be painted Lionel Corp. Orange and Blue  with a 249E..

Here is a set of 2600.01/02 passenger cars from 1939 almost ready to go back together once the roofs are finished.  These came out of Louisiana in the Wake of Katrina.

 The red set on the bottom shelf was repainted red and maroon but with the original yellow window strips.

And these last two are just some recent purchases that will be a 265E Blue Streak and a 1935 264E Red Comet

beautiful! I need some projects like that

Im restoring 2 tin plate trains for a member on this site..got his 318 just about ready to paint,,want it gloss black with red cow catchers and red wheels.

  I know I ain't right... I think at last count I had 20+ shoe boxes filled with partial or complete prewar engines to restore.  This is how I got my real 2347 C&O Geep, rusty frame and excellent blue shell...

That's a big part of the hobby for me.  I really enjoy bringing toy trains back from the junk pile.