Just bought a Legacy steam engine that is 10 years old and still sealed in its original shipper(!)
Considering it's been sitting for so long, is there anything special I should do before running it for the first time?
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Item no. would be helpful, incase there’s some tricks with a specific item......we don’t know what you have other than it’s steam.....other than that, follow the instructions and lube all the points suggested by the mfr......also prime any smoke unit(s) suggested by the instructions....check traction tires for stretch/dry rot.......
Pat
since it's new old stock you need to fill the smoke units as per the lionel manual and let let stand without running engine so wick will absorb the smoke fluid wicks into the wick material. otherwise you could damage the wick and char it! also put a new battery in the engine before you try to start it!
Alan
10 years or 1 week(or 40 years) old, I partially disassemble everything out of the box for grease & oil as the chinese production is notorious for poor lubrication at the factory.
@harmonyards posted:Item no. would be helpful, incase there’s some tricks with a specific item...
Whoops, should have included that. It's PRR 460 Lindbergh Special 6-11224.
@Alan Mancus posted:since it's new old stock you need to fill the smoke units as per the lionel manual and let let stand without running engine so wick will absorb the smoke fluid wicks into the wick material. otherwise you could damage the wick and char it! also put a new battery in the engine before you try to start it!
Alan
Do new engines typically come with smoke fluid already loaded? (I'll fill the smoke units regardless, more just curious about this in general)
Always add fluid. I'm not sure if they do not at the factory. It doesn't matter as it takes weeks for the Loco to get to the States so any fluid added would have mostly evaporated.
Put .5 -1.0 ml of grease into the gearbox "grease screw" port . A couple drops of light oil on the bronze axle bushings between the drivers and the chassis and a drop of oil on all of the rod pivots and on the cross head guides.
Disassembling this particularLoco won't help you lube it, but it will give you a large headache trying to put it back together.
New or Nos. I usually run it in forward for 10 or 15 minutes. Then backward for 10 or 15 minutes without cars to break things in a little.
You may need the re oil the bushing etc after you run it a bit.
Rick hit it right on the head, so do as he suggested, .....also if it’s NOS, chances are the manual will be in there....familiarize yourself with what info the manual has to offer before touching a thing ....( just a suggestion) if this is your first new to you engine.....,,all the lube points Rick mentioned will be outlined in the maintenance section of the booklet.....I wouldn’t take the shell off unless you’re comfortable doing so....no need if it seems to run ok, and everything is working as advertised.....motor is supposed to be maintenance free, but some oil on the end shaft bushings is a plus,......but again, I’d run it first after you wake it up from it’s slumber with the points Rick laid out......
Pat
Follow up question:
Has anyone used woodland scenics lube or oil? Will it cause more harm than good?
Unfortunately my LHS is out of the Lionel maintenance kit that has lube/oil in it and I used the last that I had on my prewar locomotives a few weeks ago. (I'm assuming Lionel's stuff would be best for Lionel engines but if not please let me know)
In terms of lubricants you can't go wrong with LaBelle products either.
Labelle stuff is good if your LHS has it.
Otherwise Mobil 1 grease and 5W20 synthetic motor oil will work.
Thank you all for the advice, the engine is up and running! Yesterday I made sure to lube/oil all the places listed in the manual, let it run for about 10 minutes, then reapplied the lube/oil.
Check it out!
Nice! Love the woodsided passenger cars!
Prr7688 - Great looking engine and passenger consist! (The pictures of the engine in Lionel's 2010 catalog don't do it justice) It must have been an 'express' train the last couple of times it passed the station - judging by the speed it was going. (lol)
Incidentally, I don't recall seeing any smoke coming out of the smokestack in your video. Did you just not have it turned on or have you not added smoke fluid yet?
@PH1975 posted:Prr7688 - Great looking engine and passenger consist! (The pictures of the engine in Lionel's 2010 catalog don't do it justice) It must have been an 'express' train the last couple of times it passed the station - judging by the speed it was going. (lol)
Incidentally, I don't recall seeing any smoke coming out of the smokestack in your video. Did you just not have it turned on or have you not added smoke fluid yet?
Thank you! Other's in my house are bothered by the smell of the smoke so I have both smoke units turned off.
In the not-so-distant future, I am going to try JT Mega steam's 'NADA' smoke fluid which is advertised to be 99% scent free. If they aren't bothered by it, then I will have the smoke units on full blast! I'm especially excited to use the whistle steam feature.
The major issue with the Lindbergh Atlantic was the gasket around the smoke unit for the smokestack was oversized and prevented the smoke from going up the stack. I bought this engine when ot was first issues and it made about four trips to Lionel for both the stack smoke or the whistle smoke or both. On the forth trip to Lionel Mike Reagan called me to tell me they were refunding my purchased price because they could not get the smoke to correctly work.
I already bought the two car passenger set so I purchased another E6 Lindbergh off the internet. First time I ran it no whistle smoke so off again to Lionel. When I got it back no stack smoke or whistle smoke. Sent it back to Lionel but emailed Mike Reagan about all my problems with the smoke, He responded and said he would personally fix my engine. Got it back and both stack and whistle smoke worked great and till today still works. The engine runs great, has great sound and never had any other issues.
Long story short if you have any smoke issues send the engine to Mike Reagan at Trainworks and he will take care of it.
JohnB
@Prr7688 posted:Thank you! Other's in my house are bothered by the smell of the smoke so I have both smoke units turned off.
In the not-so-distant future, I am going to try JT Mega steam's 'NADA' smoke fluid which is advertised to be 99% scent free. If they aren't bothered by it, then I will have the smoke units on full blast! I'm especially excited to use the whistle steam feature.
Skip Nada and use Eliminator. It has a slight lemon smell to it but dissipates almost instantly. Since Jeb came out with that, I’ve quit using “regular” smoke fluid.
@Boilermaker1 posted:Skip Nada and use Eliminator. It has a slight lemon smell to it but dissipates almost instantly. Since Jeb came out with that, I’ve quit using “regular” smoke fluid.
So is Eliminator a smoke fluid itself? (does it produce visible smoke?)
Yes, it is a smoke fluid. And it works well for the purpose. Its primary function is to de-stink a smoke unit thats been burning other scented fluid.
