# Holy Catfish!



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

This is the 1666 that was in the box. All I can think of is that the springs are used for track detection. Not a bad idea really. Today you can dress a postal car with a small spring to make contact with a postal pole. It would work. but it is not a fancy infrared sensor or reed switch. Thought you would enjoy it. 

It even has a homemade lead weight attached. Lead and trains what a combination. I may have to paint it. Exposed lead is frowned upon these days.


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## PW_Lionel_Collector (Jul 13, 2009)

T-Man said:


> This is the 1666 that was in the box. All I can think of is that the springs are used for track detection. Not a bad idea really. Today you can dress a postal car with a small spring to make contact with a postal pole. It would work. but it is not a fancy infrared sensor or reed switch. Thought you would enjoy it.
> It even has a homemade lead weight attached. Lead and trains what a combination. I may have to paint it. Exposed lead is frowned upon these days.


Hey T-Man,

Where did you pick up this monstrosity? (E-Bay?) Looks like someone did experiments on this engine. Anyways, have fun fixing the 1666.:thumbsup:

PW


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The boxes are shown here. Post 567. It will keep me busy for a while.

The engine cleaned up well but the drum on the eunit was broken. I have a spare. So rear wheels and the pickup assy are on the to get list.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

On the left is a trailing truck on a 224. I have one missing wheels. My option is buy 10 wheels for 10 bucks plus 6 shipping. buy another truck for 18. OR USE a Marx axle on the left. It is a tad short but the wheels work. They give it a low rider look. They are smaller than the original but the width works.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Rear Trailing Truck*

The Marx wheels being small will work. The axles were short so I went with a 4 pennny finish nail. I had to grind the heads smooth for the length. The points had to be grinded flat just a little to fit. 

Next I need to swage for the wheels. I also need a locking bracket to hold the axle in.

A 6 penny nail on top. On the bottom the original Marx axle from the car.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*BAD Tab*

Today I cleaned up the old pickup. I borrowed some sliders from another engine. One tab broke. The pickup has to be flat when installed. This one was curved and proved difficult. I got it in with the snap ring pliers. The tab was super glued in.

The Lionel tab cleaned up beautifully with scotch brite. The wheels too.










Track testing was ok except fot the loose armature end. The engine did not like going over the 022 switch. The Xmas engine is the same motor but this engine bumped around alot.

Next I have a picture of the rear cabs. One is flat-prewar, the other round-postwar. The 224 also has this variation.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Bulb wire changeout.*

The 1666 needed a new wire. I placed the iron on a clip. With a set os needle nose pliers I held the base and pulled the old wire off and added a new one on.
The neat thing is the light base comes off the front truck clips so the truck is removable with out disconnecting the light.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*1666 oddities-mounting*

The front motor mounts with slots directly into the stem chest. This was also done with the 1668. The rear mount screw is actually inside. Normallly the screw goes through the top to the motor.











The steam chest sprts a fake movable knuckle. Weird but neat.









Another amazing feat is that nothing is broken.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

T-Man said:


> This is the 1666 that was in the box. All I can think of is that the springs are used for track detection. Not a bad idea really. Today you can dress a postal car with a small spring to make contact with a postal pole. It would work. but it is not a fancy infrared sensor or reed switch. Thought you would enjoy it.
> 
> It even has a homemade lead weight attached. Lead and trains what a combination. I may have to paint it. Exposed lead is frowned upon these days.


My bet would be that it was converted to outside third rail, a common practice of early scale modelers trying to get away from the unrealistic look of three rail track. It was used in real life on some electric lines, thus the justification to do it on models. Both Frank Ellison and John Armstrong (the layout designer for MR magazine) used it. You'll see a set under the cylinders on this puppy...


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Trailing Truck clip*

That's interesting. I read about the outer rail before but have not seen anything until now. I am just glad it was ugly and ended up in the junk box.

This e clip will work with a little grinding to hold the axle in. I need four. The piece is slotted in the back.This is just a fit up.The best part is no shipping. Dremel Time!!! A little grinding on the insides should do it.


I got the rods on today. The front truck is on. I will have to run it more to see if it is a problem with derailing. The motor runs nice.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The clips were annoying. Some broke. The hardware store had the 1/4 and 5/16ths mixed up. The 1/4 needed very little alteration ,just in the center and they held on. I had to use a vise grip to hold during grinding . The dremel bit was tungsten carbide at high rpm. That is a homemade axle.

The Marx wheels don't work the are too small so during the test I got lots of sparks.











So far we have had little snow with the south having all the fun. Today it will change.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Nice work, T. You're a craftsman.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Thanks. I am not sure if the part is still sold. 1666e-6 journal clip. I have axles now, I need to et the larger wheel. It was an interesting study.One axle was tied on with fine wire. The e clip looked liked the easiest to use.

I am happy I have both the 1666 and the 224 running. A good deal no matter what

Question on AF, did they incorporporate a magnetraction on engines?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Finished*

I took a second look at the Marx box and found the tender. The wheels are larger and work. They have a prewar look. Now I have to add some to the 224.










I guess I wasn't the first to try this I noticed on my other 224 that the clip was replaced with a simple piece of copper wire. Since the discussion includes Marx I added a 999 a future project, but I have to finish some others first.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

A while back I talked about swaging a nail to make an axle.

A number 6 finish nail was used. Well times change, today the major supplier is GripTite and they increased the circumference of the nail by a 1/16th and don't fit the wheels anymore. They have a green box. Now the Prudential nails worked in a yellow box but I cannot find them. HD and Lowe's nada along with Aubuchon Hardware. I also used these as 027 track pins.

Let me know if see any.

If you find the thread that I discussed the technique with Ed please tag it as "swage". I have the pictures in my gallery but can't find the post.

It is in my gallery the link
and it cannot be tagged.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man said:


> ... they increased the circumference of the nail by a 1/16th and don't fit the wheels anymore.


Can you mount the larger nail in a drill press chuck, spin it, and file down the diameter to where you need it? I've done that with Lionel prewar axels, pinewood derby car axels, etc.

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

If I get desperate. It may be worth a try, since I have never done it. I was trying to get another box when I noticed the difference, so beware, it may not fit.


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