Side Frame replacement Lionel LionMaster 6-52347

Bill, check to see if the engine has the type of truck that twists 90 degree and pulls off the frame.

That's not a twist-off truck.  This is one of the Lionel "puzzle trucks" from the TMCC era.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...04-LOTS-2004-6-52347

Here's the truck and motor mount.  As I recall, you have to take the single screw out from below, then remove at least two through the slot in the chassis from above to separate the motor mount from the truck to drop the truck.  I believe you also have to remove the pickup roller as well from the top slot in the chassis.

Oh my. Then good luck Bill. I had to do the broken side frames on my SD40-2. It was ridiculous. Take pictures as you go, and by all means only attempt the repair when you are in a great mood cause it won’t last long. Keep us posted.

Well friends, the short answer is I got the side rails installed with many hints posted from years gone by dealing with the need to remove the truck. The way is somewhat klugey as many of mine are. I was able to reach the screws on the long support on each side rail through the slots in the frame. It was at a little of an angle, but I didn't cross thread it. The other is the kluge, I turned the truck as far as possible, leaned is as far as possible they used needle nose pliers to remove the old screw and to fasten the last screw. Turning a small screw with needle nose pliers leaves the head with lots of scratches. Tweezers were used to hole the screw.  I got about an eighth of a turn on each grip of the screw.

GunrunnerJohn's posts from several years ago and the current one were good ideas to keep me from dropping all the gears and bushings in my hand. I loosened the two top screws about 2/3s of the way and took the bottom screw all the way out, but the truck would not wiggle loose any at all. so I got scared and tried the kluge instead. He is correct on the many ways the Lionel made the connection for the truck.

Thanks for hanging with me on this.