# Lionel 1646 Freight Set, circa 1961, with 233 Loco



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hi guys,

Another Lionel set project on my end. A few months back, my sister dug up dirty/rusty box of old Lionel trains from an estate cleanout, and tossed them my way. It's a #1646 freight set, circa 1961, with a #233 Scout-type loco and 233W whistle tender. Unlike most other Scouts, this one featured a smoke generator and magnetraction.

While I've been leaning more towards the older / prewar era stuff, I don't have the heart to ignore the t.l.c. that this set needs. So, it's been added to my project list. Here's what I'm starting with:

#233 loco -- plastic shell with nose/cowcatcher all bashed away. I hooked up power and do see signs of life with the motor, though I must say that I am NOT a fan of these plastic-casing Lionel motors. As far as I can see, the left/right halves of the casing can NOT be pulled apart without first removing the drive wheels, and I really don't want to do that. Am I wrong here? Anybody have experience? I've pulled off the brush plate holder and stumbled on a "2 disc drum / 2 position e-unit" that I've never fiddled with before ... built directly into the motor casing (rather than hung off the back like other e-units.) It'll be a learning exercise for me.

I attended a Greenberg's show the other day, and got lucky. I found a cheap and undamaged #246 loco shell that's a perfect match for this #233, except for the number tags, of course. I'll repaint and renumber the 246 shell, and swap it over to replace the 233 damaged one.

Smoke generator -- I'm clueless ... never fiddled with one before. T-Man ... I'll likely have some questions coming your way at some point over the next few weeks.

#233W whistle tender. Dirty as hell, but I got the thing whistling with little effort. It'll need a massive cleaning, inside and out, and a rewire of one of the pickup power leads. But not too bad at all.

#6162 gondola ... dirty, with some heat-related pitting in the side shell.

#6476 hopper ... not too bad. Needs a new knuckle coupler finger, but fixable.

#6343 barrel ramp car ... this will be a tricky one. The single-piece plastic ramp has seen better times. Railing is gone. A few other plastic chunks missing. I was really hoping to find a used replacement ramp part at the Greenberg show, but no luck. I did pick up a repro brake wheel (for the missing one), and a set of repro wood barrels.

#6017 caboose ... big chunk missing from the roof. I was thinking about epoxying in a repair, but on my way out of the Greenberg show I found another 6017 in a junk bin ...dirty, but generally OK. I grabbed it for $4, and will simply swap it over to replace the one in this set.

#1073 60W transformer ... I really like the curve/looks of this guy! I opened up the case and found that a small permanent magnet had somehow/somewhere gotten sucked inside the shell, along with about 3 or 4 small nails that were touching other metal bits. Not good. I'm amazed that nobody got electrocuted along the way ... or maybe they did, and I just don't know about it! Anyway, I haven't hooked the thing up to a voltmeter yet, but I suspect it'll work OK. Surprisingly, the power chord is soft and flexible.

So, that's the new project. Not a tinplate, so I don't think I'm gonna go all out here, but if I can clean things up, get it all running again, then I'll be happy. And then, maybe sell it here, if anyone is interested?

Cheers,

TJ

Set as found:









That's the original 233 loco shell on the right, with bashed/missing cowcatcher. Near-clone 246 shell in the middle, and 233 motor and smoker on the left.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Nice, the 233 was a fancy model. You don't have to pull the wheels off. If it works let it be. I have one of those smoke generators i didn't reinstall it. It's getting to the point I can't recall what numbers I have. These little Scouts are multiplying like Tribbles. This is what the motor looks like.


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for the reminder of that Scout motor thread, T-Man!!! I'll have a closer look. I also have the Greenberg's service manual info that I'll read up on a bit.

Ohh ... I see from your thread link that the copper face of the armature is accessible under the dual e-unit drums. I haven't dug that deep yet on mine. Good to know.

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hi guys,

I've made some progress on this #1646 freight set. As mentioned earlier, the cowcatcher on the 233 loco was broken and gone. I got lucky and found a 246 shell at a local train show ... essentially, a clone, except for the number tags.

Fortunately, the 246 shell is black plastic, no paint. I was able to buff away (wet sand and Dremel polishing wheel) the original "246" heat stamped tags, and get down to "virgin" black plastic. From there, I applied "233" dry transfer decals from Woodland Scenics.

This is the first time I've fiddled with a plastic-casing Scout motor. I removed and cleaned the brushes and dual e-unit drums, cleaned the armature face, and degunked the wheels, axles, etc. The Greenberg's service manual was quite helpful to make sure I got the drums back in the proper position/orientation. I left the rest of the motor casing untouched ... one would have to remove the wheels to get to the inside, and I took T-Man's advice here: if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Loco now runs just fine. Smooth.

I cleaned the #233-50 smoke generator, though I don't have any smoke fluid, so I'm not sure if it works. I'll pick up some fluid this weekend, and hopefully get some puffs before Christmas!

I cleaned all of the components of the whistle inside the 233W tender. Other than grime, most of this was in OK shape. I did rewire the two center-rail power pickup leads.

GooGone and Armor Alll on both plastic shells. Some old-age dings and scrapes throughout, but not too shabby.

I'll begin to work on the freight cars, next.

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

*Lionel 1073 Transformer*

Gents,

The 1646 frieght set (circa 1961) comes with a 1073 transformer, 60 watts. Here, I've opened it up, cleaned out the gunk (including a little magnet and some small nails that must have gotten sucked in at some point!), checked the wiring (amazingly, the chord is still soft and pliable), checked the contact points, and put it back together. Dabbed on a coat of Armor All to shine it up a bit.

The 1073 workes like a charm ... 8 to 18 volts, on the money. Quite, too, not even a hum.

There is a circuit breaker in this transformer, though I'm not sure how to test it and/or make sure it works OK. Bruce or T-Man ... if you're reading this, any tips?

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

The 1646 freight set came with Lionel's very common 6017 caboose. Unfortunately, the one in this set had a a big chunk missing from its roof. I was thinking of doing a little T-Man epoxy add-on, and I generally prefer to fix (if possible) rather than replace, but ...

As I was leaving a Greenberg's show at closing time a couple of weeks ago, I spied another 6017 deep down in a junk bin. Dirty, but fully intact. I grabbed it for $4, cleaned it up, and that's what you see here. It'll replace the broken one, as part of the revamped set.

(I've pulled off the frames/truck of the broken one and set them aside in the future project parts bin.)

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Your caboose pictures didn't come out.
Body repair was more of a study to practice to see how to do it. The Caboose nowadays is almost a part car. You can change them around and have fun.

Normally you here a click when you have a short. Just connect the terminals and see. 
I have a 63 that looks similar and has a whistle button. If the contacts are clean and have pressure it should work.

You have fancy non tampering screws too! Naughty Naughty!


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

I see the photos just fine on my end. Anyone else NOT see them???

I had to fiddle to find a flathead screwdriver that "fit" those transformer screw heads ... a cheat, obviously. I've never seen screwheads like that before ... sort of a precursor to today's torx-head screws. Is there a name for that head type?

Cheers,

TJ


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> The 1646 freight set came with Lionel's very common 6017 caboose. Unfortunately, the one in this set had a a big chunk missing from its roof. I was thinking of doing a little T-Man epoxy add-on, and I generally prefer to fix (if possible) rather than replace, but ...
> 
> As I was leaving a Greenberg's show at closing time a couple of weeks ago, I spied another 6017 deep down in a junk bin. Dirty, but fully intact. I grabbed it for $4, cleaned it up, and that's what you see here. It'll replace the broken one, as part of the revamped set.
> 
> ...



No pictures in this post.


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

No pictures showing up on my wife's computer, either ... 

Not sure why ... will try to fix it tomorrow.

TJ

Update ... I reloaded the caboose photo links ... I hope you all can see them now.


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

*Smokin' ... Call the Surgeon General !!!*

I started smoking today! First time, and I'm hooked!

On my 233 loco. Chug ... chug ... puff ... puff ... I'm liking it. Addicted already, I think.

And, that's only for a mild hit. I picked up some Bachmann smoke fluid at a train show over the weekend, which I'm using in my Lionel loco. The puffs are pretty tame, and I suspect Lionel smoke fluid would have (???) a bigger blast.

But ... I'm happy with the first hits!

TJ


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

*Transformer Circuit Breaker*



tjcruiser said:


> There is a circuit breaker in this transformer, though I'm not sure how to test it and/or make sure it works OK.





T-Man said:


> Normally you here a click when you have a short. Just connect the terminals and see.
> I have a 63 that looks similar and has a whistle button. If the contacts are clean and have pressure it should work.


T-Man, Bruce, etc.

The 1073 transformer is all cleaned up, kicking out voltage OK, and runs locos around the track just fine.

I'm thinking of using this little transformer for our 'round the Christmas tree setup, and want to make sure that the circuit breaker works OK. Here's what I did:

Hooked up voltmeter ... 9 to 18 V AC just fine.

Shorted the terminals with a screwdriver. Voltage dropped to zero, and* I could hear the circuit breaker (presumably) clicking about once every second, repeatedly.*When I removed the short (screwdriver), the voltage jumped back up, and the clicking stopped.

Can you confirm that that's all normal. Seems so, to me ... but I want to be extra safe with the kids playing with this thing.

Thanks !!!

TJ


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That certainly sounds right. That's the normal behavior...


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks, John!

TJ


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hi guys,

A couple of #1646 set project update pics.

I've cleaned up the 6476 hopper (Dremel brush buff on the wheels/axles; soap clean and Armor All on the shell), and replaced a broken coupler knuckle in the process. Turned out OK.

The 6162 is more of a lost cause. I cleaned it up as best as I could, but the shell had been subject to heat damage / discoloration / distortion at some point. Let's call it "character and weathering"!

Battle scarred ... but getting there ...

TJ


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

They look worse than that when the real railroads run them after a time.


----------

