Scrapyard find 390E

Great find!  Frame is straight you can get wheels from Hennings or Train Tender.  You can also get the trim and other missing stuff from the same vendors.  Will cost a few bucks, but that is a nice loco. Makes you wonder of the rest of the set was in the vicinity but out of site so your dad just wasn't lucky enough to locate them.   Or you could trade it to me for some Prewar O stuff lol

@Dennis Holler

I had the same thought, It is sad to think that the rest of it may have been there but out of reach or crushed already. I'll keep you in mind about the trade... this is one project among like 30 I have.. lol

Here are a few more pics. It seems like it is incredibly clean. Don't worry, the electric parts cleaner spray is for another project.. not this one.. lol

If you don't want to mes with it I can give it a good home.  Trade pre or post war Lionel or $$.

great find!

That frame is almost to nice to repaint.  They don't usually look that nice after all these years.  That will be a nice one to clean up, new wheels, gears, trim, siderods, etc.  If you keep it, just look out for 390 tenders on Ebay, sometimes they go fairly cheap maybe $30-50 and if your real lucky even less. Would make a great loco for the Christmas tree if you lean that way too.

defiantly looks too nice to repaint.

Finish that coffee check the brushes and jump some power to it

Scap yards were like opening another kid's toy box for me.

  One of the local scrap yards had a whole bunch of train stuff of all kinds, especially brass, bronze, & iron figures, but signs, lanterns, etc. too.. another has about a half dozen. Niether owner will budge on any, though I got the big collector to agree to selling any triples, and not at cut-throat prices (he won't even budge on doubles  

Very lucky find.  Not many scrapyards allow people to just snoop around anymore.  Ours does not, but I keep hoping I'll find a nice RR relic as our piles are replenished.  All I do get is the occasional old pickup truck tailgate.

Little contact cleaner and a little oil and it fired right up. E unit will even cycle. Got it on the bench just to get it going.

Right on looks pretty good.  Lots of life left in there.

Sweeeet

  I watched this again, up close this time, and saw some sparking from the shaft to ground.

Check the armature for a short to the shaft, excess brush dust that the power could be creeping across, etc.. An armature shaft shouldn't be sparking to to chassis ground that way.