# Picked up Lionel 2018 today



## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I found a 2018, tender and a nice mix of cars today. The poor old engine is in kind of rough shape. Although it does run and the e-unit cycles everything needs a serious cleaning.

Worse yet, somebody scrounged the screw from the steambox and removed the smoke pump assembly.

Maybe the worst of all . . . they painted to top of the engine and tender gold. That's right, gold. Who knows why. So, I'll be giving it a paint job as well.

I really don't want to lose the numbers from the engine. Does anybody know what font Lionel used for those? When I strip the engine, they will get wiped and I want to reprint them.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I forgot to mention that I've already asked Jeff at Train Tender if he can find the missing parts, and get me a smoke conversion kit. 

Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Jeff is my first stop, but there are plenty of other places that you might look if he doesn't have the parts. He's so good about stuff that I give him the first look.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Like those cobwebs hanging from the cab? All the cars that came with it are all covered in a nice pile of grime. Tomorrow, they'll all be getting a bath. My favorite car that I got with this set is an old Baby Ruth box car. Definitely cool.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The engine is the same for the 2016 and 2026. I have one of each.I bought one for parts but it ran better than the other two so I kept it as is. I try to get old engines whole and avoid the part chasing.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I thought the cobwebs gave it character. 

I regularly wash my acquisitions in the kitchen sink with dish-washing liquid and a sponge. Obviously, I remove the frame, I just wash the body. I also wash the 022 switches I get before I start work on them. Really grungy track gets washed as well.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Yeah, I'd like to be able to find the engines whole. But my collection is just getting started. In O I now have a grand total of 2 - the 2018 and a 2026.  It helps that I like tinkering.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Erk,

Nice find. What's up with the cowcatcher on that loco? Broken off, or is it a separate/removable part?

As far as renumbering, I've used Woodland Scenic dry-transfer decals to retag a few locos now, with pleasing results. I have two sheets of numbers, one white, and one silver, each with several rows of digits in various font sizes. I don't recall the WS item numbers right now, but I thing I spell that out on one of my threads ... 221 or 233, perhaps:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3483

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=5245

The nice thing about the dry-rubs is that you get just each digit, and only that ... no "clear film margin" like you would with a wet-transfer decal. Relatively easy to apply, too. I've left mine "virgin" for light use. However, one might want to clearcoat the number area for extra protection from peeling if heavy/rough use is expected.

Good luck!

TJ


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks for the recommendation TJ! Yes, the cowcatcher is removable. As a matter of fact the screws that held it to the body are missing. But I have all the missing parts on order and they should be here tomorrow.

Another suggestion I received was from Jeff at Train Tender. He recommends using Vaseline to cover the numbers, and then repaint the engine with Krylon #1613 semi-flat black paint. When the paint is dry rub off the Vaseline with a rag.

That's a trick I use when painting cars too. I just hadn't thought of using it on something like this.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I've started breathing life back into the 2018. Over the past couple of days I've been working on a facelift. After a good washing, and some time with steel wool I got the body ready for the paint. Jeff at Train Tender recommended Krylon 1613 Satin Black, and it really did the trick.

I masked the numbers on the cab before shooting. In the end I really like how it's turning out. . . 

First coat:



















About ready to start getting the motor ready for the now-sleek looking body  :


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

You can't go wrong with satin black. Stripping gives the best result and I also like to use a primer. Black is just had to show, isn't it?


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Yup, it's definitely hard to show. Normally, I would strip this back down to bare metal, use an etching primer and then top coat. But I was really worried about losing the numbers on the cab. I just don't trust myself to not strip them with everything else. 

I also wasn't sure how to re-do them if it came to that. In the end the black turned out pretty good. It didn't completely cover the gold. There is still some gold showing around the edges. Oddly enough, it actually looks really cool like that. Kind of a bronzed / aged look around the edges.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

This weekend was a big turning point for the 2018. I'd been holding off on getting it running until I had my layout to a point that I could have two engines on it at once. My celebration was breathing life back into this beast. 

It had a few things wrong with it when I bought it:

1. Missing smoke lever assembly
2. Missing screws from the steam chest
3. Eunit was intermittently functional
4. Miscellaneous bent components in the wheel hardware
5. Front trucks bent
6. Covered in dirt and grime
7. Rusty / corroded wheels

So, I spent yesterday digging into it. 



















I dismantled the smoke assembly, removed the headlight, removed the Eunit. 

It turned out the Eunit was all there and not broken, but nicely corroded. I pulled it all apart and polished the contacts and barrel, and then reassembled it.










Then I had a collection of bent pieces to straighten:



















Using the scotch brite pads, I cleaned up all of the wheels and driving gear. Then, lubed all of the important bits with light oil.

I cleaned up the smoker, and ran a fresh wire to it. 










Finally, reassembly! The best part.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Now that it's all back together, I took it for a spin on the track. I'm really happy with it. The Eunit is now working flawlessly. The motor runs really well and has good power. It's outperforming my 2026.

This weekend was a big turning point for the 2018. I'd been holding off on getting it running until I had my layout to a point that I could have two engines on it at once. My celebration was breathing life back into this beast. 

It had a few things wrong with it when I bought it:

1. Missing smoke lever assembly
2. Missing screws from the steam chest
3. Eunit was intermittently functional
4. Miscellaneous bent components in the wheel hardware
5. Front trucks bent
6. Covered in dirt and grime
7. Rusty / corroded wheels

So, I spent yesterday digging into it. 



















I dismantled the smoke assembly, removed the headlight, removed the Eunit. 

It turned out the Eunit was all there and not broken, but nicely corroded. I pulled it all apart and polished the contacts and barrel, and then reassembled it.










Then I had a collection of bent pieces to straighten: (Some examples here)



















Using the scotch brite pads, I cleaned up all of the wheels and driving gear. Then, lubed all of the important bits with light oil.

I cleaned up the smoker, and ran a fresh wire to it. Then rebuilt it with the liquid conversion kit from the Train Tender.










Finally, reassembly! The best part. 



















Of course it couldn't be a proper repair job without a problem cropping up. After ~15 circuits of the track, it suddenly stopped. I'm now kicking myself. When putting it back together, I double checked all my torques, but a cat stealing stuff from my workbench distracted me at a critical moment. Now, there's one tiny missing screw that I haven't been able to find.

Can you see the problem in the photo?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

FWIW, I have some small plastic dishes that I drop all the small hardware in while I work to avoid stuff like this. I still lose them, but I no longer have a cat, so it's less often.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I actually use a 3 tier Plano tackle box for the same thing. I should clarify - everything made it back onto the engine. I just didn't tighten that screw down. I had it in finger tight while getting the steam chest aligned. While tightening the other side, one of our cats hopped up and started running away with some of my heat shrink tubing. After chasing her around the room to get it back, I forgot to tighten down that last screw.

So, the engine made it around a few times before that screw shook out. Very frustrating!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

It's that Alzheimer's kicking in again.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

My wife agrees.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Erk,

Very nice work on the 2018, despite the "cat incident".

Though there are no cats-for-excuses in my house (it's mostly me and my fumbly fingers), I've started to stock up on a few extra shoulder screws for that very reason. Those things have a jumping mind of their own, don't they!

Cheers,

TJ


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm planning on raiding all of the parts bins when I go to the train show this weekend. I need extra everything.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Springfield, right? I might see you there ...

TJ


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Yup, Springfield. I'm looking forward to it. I'm working on my list of 'things to find'. The hard part is breaking it into the 'must haves' and the 'just wanted'.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Just bring the credit card with the highest credit limit, and get all the stuff you want and need.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

If we weren't bringing my brother in next month to rewire our house, that would be a lot easier to do.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Brother? He can wait for his money.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Hmm, good point.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I told you to put the cat on a leash!

I will change the leash, to a noose!

A train eating cat. I would ban it from the train room.

The engine looks good, to bad you can't make the wheels match the new paint.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

big ed said:


> too bad you can't make the wheels match the new paint.


I've been trying different options to spruce up wheel aesthetics:

Simple cleaning with GooGone, toothbrushes, etc. Gets out most of the gunk between spokes, but not all.

Dremel brushing ... better at degunking, but runs the risk of removing the original blackened finish.

Paint ... covers and colors nicely, but doesn't quite look "right" in black. It does look nice in red on some of my prewar tinplates.

Gun Blue ... next on the "gotta try that" list.

Cheers,

TJ


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Godzilla cat!


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I cleaned the wheels as best I could. I got the gunk out, but it didn't make it look good when balanced with the new paint.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Looks like a kitten, they're murder, they get into everything!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The cat could use a whisker trim.:laugh:

It has some lonnnng whiskers.

Look at it, sitting there eying up what it can eat next.:laugh:


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

She's 2 years old and just as much a kitten as she ever was.

And her compatriot is just as bad.


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