# train won't run



## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

long story short,,my 50 year old o27 lionel train was stored at my dads house all these years..got it out to give to a friends grandson who at six, is nuts over anything trains. all track pieces have the three pins in the ends and snap together fine..the transformer has plenty of spark, the wires are securely snapped into the piece that attaches to the track,,yet the train will not move..it has been stored in a box for 50 years but a few years ago it was taken out and worked fine then,,moving the small switch on top of the locomotive (number 384) doesn't help..the train is not damaged at all, and was played with less than a day when i got it for xmas in 1959 from sears where dad worked at the time. guess i was dissapointed that it didn't look like the displays they had all over the toy dept then lol,,can someone help me with getting this thing to run..i rebuild vintage motorcycles and have rebuilt a few cars..but i'm stumped on this..the only thing i can figure is the motor in the engine has just died..thanks..and HELP !!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

It has no power at all?
It does nothing? 
Not even a little groan?
I don't see how but maybe a wire came off. Take a look at the engine wires.
While you have it apart lube and oil it. (get the right lube and oil)
Did you try putting it on the track and give it a little helper push?
Do the wheels turn by hand?


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

wheels turn by hand, pushing does nothing..i suppose a wire could have come loose..i'll go get it and bring it hlme and have a look..i gave the train all the track and assessories to the little boy and showed his dad how things hooked up..didn't think there would be aproblem..thanks for the help..i'll check back in when i have more intel


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

deltas69 said:


> wheels turn by hand, pushing does nothing..i suppose a wire could have come loose..i'll go get it and bring it hlme and have a look..i gave the train all the track and assessories to the little boy and showed his dad how things hooked up..didn't think there would be aproblem..thanks for the help..i'll check back in when i have more intel


Check the brush plate to to see if the brushes are free. Add a couple drops of oil in the hole on it too as long as your in there. You should be able to check the brushes with out taking the whole body off.

I have had a wire just come off in storage. Don't ask me how. LOL
A little solder job and it was as good as new. 
Let us know what you find.

Heck before you bring it home make sure he hooked up the track right. And it's not shorting out. And it's not the transformer too.


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

thanks for the advice guys..i'll check it out


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

i'm not see how you could hook up the track wrong..it's plugs together only on way..correct ? as far as the transformer i plugged it in the wall and quickly brushed the ends of the wires together..plenty of spark there..i just took the body off the engine (number 248 by the way)..and i see no burnt spots on the wiring, no loose wires, nothing looks to be out of place, the wheels turn freely with no rough spots.. i see no reason this train should not run..any ideas? and thanks pj


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

i'll see if i can this this understandable..at the rear of the motor on top is a small lever that protrudes through the top of the body,,just below that is a round coil of wire ..in front of the coil is a small contact arm that goes left and right..but i don't see how it is changed since you can't access it with the body on..i assume this reverses the polarity of the motor and makes the train go forward or backward ? under neath the round coil is a small round piece that slides up and down inside the coil ..almost like it's supposed to be attached to the lever on top..could this be broken and the source of the problem ? loks like if it were attached to the lever it would trip the contact arm back and forth..thanks again pj


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Yes that is called the e unit it reverses the engine.
The lever is supposed to move from the top.
looks like it's broken.

Most likely it's a three position switch.
Try moving it with a small flat head screw driver. On the three way switch there is a stop position. Try left, middle, right side separately on the track, see what happens. 
You should pickup power in one of the positions. If not I would say you need a new e unit.
Someone must have dropped it. Maybe


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

the lever omly has one contact..it moves only back and forth..no left .right, or middle..one way it makes contact, the other it makes no contact. looks to be just an on/off switch. there are a set of small contacts in front of the round coil underneath the switch..but moveing the lever does nothing to them,,you can filp them left or right..but no middle position. i lubed all the gears and the wheels do move much more freely..they mave have been too stiff from sitting 50 years to move with the current applied. i'll see when i put it back on the track..i imagine it would be cheaper to replace the engine with another one rather than buy parts, if available to repair this one.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

What you described was the e-unit Deltas... When the switch is in the position so that it is on the "contact," the engine will cycle between directions (forward, neutral, reverse, neutral)... When you move the switch off the contact, the engine is locked in the last direction you ran it in...

The round coil that you see under the switch is the electromagnetic coil... When the switch is on the contact and you give power to the track, the coil magnetizes and moves a metal rod in the center of the coil upwards... There is a little hook on the bottom of this metal rod which when lifted rotates a barrel with four different contact patterns on it (forward, neutral, reverse, neutral)... When power to the track is cut the metal rod drops and next time power is applied the process repeats...

In my experiences, if the switch is on the contact and power is getting to the e-unit then you will hear a buzzing/humming sound...


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*248*

The 248 is a Scout Engine. Look at this thread and see if it the same motor. The casing should be plastic.


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## deltas69 (Aug 20, 2009)

ok..that makes sense to me now..i can see how the electronic coil works..so that is not broken..i'll put it on the track and se what happens since i've lubed everything..thanks..hope to make that little boy happy today


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

While what he describes as an e unit on his engine is causing me some confusion.

If it is a 248 then it is a scout engine.

As far as I know they came with no e units.

As the reversing mechanism is part of the motor itself. And it only has three positions forward,reverse,forward.

deltas69........,
"the lever omly has one contact..it moves only back and forth..no left .right, or middle..one way it makes contact, the other it makes no contact. looks to be just an on/off switch. there are a set of small contacts in front of the round coil underneath the switch..but moveing the lever does nothing to them,,you can filp them left or right..but no middle position"

Could he be seeing in the above quote..... the field wiring?
I thought the reversing lever on the scout engines were all in the middle of the motors?
Where is he seeing what sounds to be an e unit?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Delts69 has probably not seen an e unit. Yes ,I think he is looking at the field coil for the motor. I guess the thread help him. With that kind of motor you can clean the top of the armature with an eraser through a small hole under those reversing drums. Replacing them back into position can be frustrating.
At the moment I do not have a picture of it.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

BUMP

Boy I wish they would come back and tell you what happened.

It's like reading a book and never reading the ending!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Now that I am home I can post these.


















My show and tell model broken bits et al.
You can see the motor coil that resembles an e unit.









Blurry but visible e unit


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks T. (for him)

The way he described it it sounded like he was seeing an e unit.
Maybe he had the wrong engine number.

I guess we will never know. lol


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