Well! I just called and spoke with Steve, who sends you his apologies, Jay!

He said they recently closed their retail store (during Covid) and relocated the whole shop to a warehouse, where they *just* got the phone operational ystrdy.
They are anxious to speak with anyone who needs parts or service:

https://trainrepairparts.com

Steve's cellphone is 860-324-7462

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1970 240Z

Lots of good stuff in this thread, thanks guyz!

John, yes i did watch some youtube videos on this and there are a surprising amount out there too. Good resources since data for these is relatively scarce. Strangely enough I didn't see any trains that were just like mine though. They are similar enough in construction I was able to work it out. I have since put the set away again due to space in the house but I would like to set up a "scene" on plywood and create sort of a permanent setup for my kids to play with, though if I do it would have to stay in the basement due to the size.

Also the Middletown store does sound like a neat place to see at some point so I'll keep that in mind, and certainly reach out if I go. I've got so much planned (most of it not MY plans either btw) that I don't see it happening anytime in the near future. Everyone is trying to catch up from the last few years so our schedule got really booked this summer - wedding, several vacations, parties, etc.

Frank, I'm assuming from you having called Steve that you didn't end up making the trip there yet?

I tried a few different ways to post some pictures of my train to this thread and so far the file size is causing issues. I'll see if I can reduce it and get some posted.

Jay

Some highlights of the adventure.

From what I was able to find, it seems these train sets changed slightly from one year to the next, different cars and whatnot. Based on the info I saw my set was for sale in 1947 - which makes sense because that was the year my Uncle Jack was born. My dad told me that it was a gift from my Great Grandfather to Jack for his first Christmas or Birthday - not sure which. What is most significant about that to me is that my Great Grandfather was a coal miner and I know he and my great grandmother didn't have much money. They never owned a car in their lives, they walked everywhere they went. So this I'm sure was a pretty big gift for him to be able to give.

It's really nice to be the caretaker of something like that all these years later.

Jay

Wow Jay, that's a great family heirloom, well deserving of any restoration effort. Your's is the "4-4-2" wheel configuration. Oldsmobile was so jealous, they named a car after that Did you ever look inside the coal tender? I'm still curious.

PreZident John, I'm running up there briefly within the next few days. I think it would make a happy fun-run this summer to visit them for an hour, then continue on over the river to F-40 motorsports. Depending on how many Clubbies attended, maybe we could work something out in advance so we all could park together in front of Amato's.

I didn't know "Steve" was the owner! He sounded like such a nice, common guy on the phone. He said his brother did the train work; Steve just dealt with the public.

Frank T

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1970 240Z

Maybe one of the big wheels at Oldsmobile had one as a kid?

And no I didn't open up the tender, although I am curious what I'd find in there myself. I did see a video on how to service and repair one that was similar to mine - but I chickened out on taking mine apart. Figured I better quit while I was ahead.

The tender houses a switching mechanism, responsible for controlling polarity to create forward or reverse motion. On mine I know if the lever is positioned to the front you can select between Forward, Neutral, and Reverse by cycling the lever on the transformer. It makes an audible click each time. With the lever in the back position it will stay in whatever mode it was in whenever the lever was moved back regardless of what goes on with the transformer. Basically you can lock it in forward, neutral, or reverse if you want.

The locomotive side houses the motor, brushes, drive mechanism, smoke chamber, and some simple wiring. The wiring connects up to a bulkhead type of board at the rear of the locomotive, where the wiring from the tender plugs into on the opposite side of the board. An old fashioned type of connector by the look of it. Mine seems to have held up very well.

Jay

Jay,

Just another tip if you ever get to "play" with your train set. Use a 3M or Tuffy pad on the top surface of the train track rails and also on the tender's pick-up wheels (mine are brass) to clean off the deposits. When dirty, the train sometimes refuses to start or reverse or operates erratically when the transformer lever is cycled on and off. Also, make sure there is no continuity between the two rails of each piece of track. As you probably know, they are insulated from each other by paper inserted between the track rails and the black metal ties.

Good luck, stay healthy and never grow up

_________________
John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

Bad hat, PreZ.

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1970 240Z

Thanks for the tip John! And I love those pictures, that steam train is an incredible piece of machinery! I'm assuming they let you drive it and all

I ended up using some light sandpaper to shine up the track, but I like the idea of a tuffy pad or scotch Brite better.....I didn't think of that. My youngest son jumped right in and helped with the track work, he's like me that way. He loves to get in on a project. And yes, there were some continuity issues between some of the track pieces - fixed either by shining them up or carefully bending the male connectors for the track pieces so that they made better contact with each next piece. Thankfully none were shorted through the black cross pieces, something that I still find shocking.

No pun intended

Those insulators you mentioned look rough on my track but apparently still work. Oh, and if the train is on the track while you check for shorting between the rails you'll have continuity between the rails making them appear shorted because it passes through the train......ask me how I figured that out. That was borderline embarrassing when I realized what was happening. My wife saw the whole thing but she has seen me make bigger mistakes than that.

I spent a good deal of time cleaning pickup wheels too, and had to rebend one or two of the brass tabs that pick up the current from the axles. All simple and fun kinda stuff really, these old trains are great for people who like to troubleshoot!

I made up some new wires to connect the transformer to the track while I was at it. And resoldered the connections under that piece of track. I know, I'm a mess.

Jay

I have found the only stuff that works on my G Scale LGB track is Swiffer wet mopping cloths. I cut into small strips and rub a few strokes back and forth seems to do the trick. One of these days I'll set up a layout for the Lionel Standard gauge stuff, ton of track in the attic.
Colin
the old one

Looks like you have quite a collection Colin!

I'll have to try Swiffer heads next time I set it up and see how that goes, I didn't think to try that. Thanks for the tip!

Jay