# My Lionel C&NW Baldwin Switcher



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Overall I like it. Good body, good paint, and a large can motor.
When I had my floor layout down I pulled some cars with it. The
engine had no idea they were there. Now, to the things I do not like.
No handrails along the sides. Also it has no slow speed. Not good
for a switcher. Tom has a few of these and he says the same thing.
Even with my ZW transformer the slowest I can get it is about 40
scale MPH. That is too fast to ram a car with. I saw an article on the
same engine in Classic Toy Trains. The guy that wrote the article
said the same thing. No handrails and no slow speed. He had an idea
that I am going to try as far as slow speed. He had not done it yet, but
it might work. Can motors are DC and they have 2 wires running to them.
His idea is to cut one of the wires and put a resistor inline. After I do it I will
let you guys know how it works. Like I said these are nice locomotives
and if I could slow mine up, I would love it. I slowed up a O scale engine
by rewiring it. The locomotive was wired parallel and I changed wiring to
series. It cut slow speed in half. The engine was a Williams and they are
noted for no slow speed. Mine has it now.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I am uncertain what kind of current these draw at different loads but pick a middle of the road 1/2A at 10V with a string of cars in tow. That means the motor is showing an impedance to the power supply of 20 ohms. That is a lot higher than the DC motor resistance. To cut the speed in half with this example requires a 20 ohm, 5W resistor. I would use the 5W resistors sold for the 755 Talking Stations to convert them to 755A's, I recall they are 5 ohms. Try one to see what the speed range is then add one or two more in series to get slower speeds. If one proves to be too much resistance just put two of them in parallel to cut the resistance in half. Good Luck!


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I have some resistors I used for Leds. I have no idea what watt they are. They will cut 12 volt down to3 volt for LEDs. I understand an LED and a can motor are different. I will try these first because I have them. Not sure why Lionel did not cut down the slow speed on a switcher. My Lionel PAs have slow speed. Nice for coming in to a station.

Williams O scale switchers have a neat thing. They know their engines run a little fast. On
the switchers they have a switch on the bottom for switching mode. Slows them up. I think
it changes the wiring like I did.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

If the resistors are for LED's they would be 1/4W or less. Watch for smoke!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Looks nice?  
What's it look like?
Picture(s)?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Ed, will get you a pic tomorrow. got people coming for dinner.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

In the interim here is the Lionel catalog cut.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks Tom.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Mopac, no problem. What I especially like about that photo is the track. The insulators are black and the undersides of the ties are grey. Since it is the 2007 catalog it was shortly after Lionel bought K-Line so that track must have been an early Lionel production run of the former K-Line track. This predates the release of S gauge Lionel FasTrack. Lionel should make another run of the 27"R curves and the 36" straight sections. I bet they would sell a lot of it.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Speaking of K-Line track, one of those Christmas train sets with K-Line track has showed
up on Ebay. Brand new, still in the shrink wrap. Start price of 274.00 if I remember correctly.
Around 350.00 Buy It Now.

High shipping. $50.00. I have no train money right now.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I was on ebay early this week just to look for a specific U33 Legacy diesel. That Christmas set showed up with a buy it now price of $350. Good thing I already have one.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Do you remember what you paid for yours?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Do you remember what you paid for yours?


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I bought the 6-49621 set from a vendor at the San Diego train show (Del Mar Fairgrounds) in December of 2009. He had two sets, one was opened for display but not run, the other was MSOB. He offered the open set for $275 and the unopened one for $300, which I purchased. The MSRP was $350. That was in 2009 dollars, the escalation, or depreciation of the dollar in the last 12 years would be a lot more than $50 on a $300 purchase.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Here is a repost of the set contents from the Lionel catalog. The Christmas music car is pretty neat.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Here is a pic of the C&NW switcher. The side rails are off. Still working on it.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Something funny about this engine Tom. The wheels do not pick up any power. Just those 4 spring
loaded rollers pick it up. And 2 of the wires were off the rollers. I still like the locomotive but sometimes
Lionel design leaves me wondering about them. 2 spring rollers on each side. One of the headlights
burned out after about 15 minutes of running. Poor quality. And why no handrails?


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I will not attempt to defend what Lionel produced. The lack of handrails is most unfortunate on an otherwise near scale engine. I have those rollers on my FlyerChief GP7 and they work great. By not having the power conducted through the wheels, axles and chassis it eliminates the possibility of the infamous oval wear that occurred on the Gilbert diesel chassis.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I don't mind the spring rollers. I just did not like how the wires attached. Not soldered just a rubber boot
that kinda held the wires against the spring posts. I am soldering them to the posts. You are correct
Gilbert did not have the best success with diesels. I don't have a single Gilbert diesel. Gilbert nailed
the steamers. Lionel was not the greatest with S scale diesels either, unless they were Legacy. I
just have no problems with lionel O scale. I just hate 3 rail track. The rubber boots on the S scale rollers
was not a terrible idea, they were just short and kinda one time use. Soldering will work, not much room
to solder but I will get them. I think My FlyerChief Berkshire has the spring rollers. Nice engine
and so far no problems. I do sometimes wish someone other than Lionel had picked up
American Flyer.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I just took a close look at the connections to the rollers on my FlyerChief GP7, without removing the truck sideframes. They appear to have a rubber boot, not sure how the wires are attached underneath the sleeve. There appears to be adequate wire for the trucks to swivel and the wires to the electrocouplers also have some slack. So far the GP7 has been problem free.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

The wires have some insulation stripped at end of wire and the boot holds wire next to the post. The idea
seems to work. Saves factory installers from soldering. The boot is not durable if removed from the post.
Kinda a one time use device.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

The Christmas set did not sell. It has been relisted. Seller lowered the start price
by $6.00 and shipping by $11.00. Shipping was high. $50.00.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I just looked and see there are now two sets for sale. Both have the sell price @ $350, one is "or best offer" the other says $268.95 starting bid. It appears both are still in the clear plastic but the outer shipping carton has been opened so some of us hard core collectors would say neither is truly MSOB. My set still has the factory sealed outer carton.
Maybe if I could get one for $300 including shipping I could open it and run it. The problem with that is I just know I would spend another $300 shipping the engine back and forth to Ed for a TMCC installation.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

mopac said:


> Ed, will get you a pic tomorrow. got people coming for dinner.


Almost looks like mine.
The only S scale locomotive I have. 

What is wrong in my picture?


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Yep, just newer Lionel decorating rather than the old Gilbert painting.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Love your pigeons. What is wrong? 3 rail track. Love the bridge also.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Big Ed said:


> Almost looks like mine.
> The only S scale locomotive I have.
> 
> What is wrong in my picture?
> ...


Broken front steps, broken fuel tank, rear panel and steps broken, and broken horn.I have 3 of these sets at home, Dad bought me one when it was first issued..


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

mopac said:


> Love your pigeons. What is wrong? 3 rail track. Love the bridge also.


Yep, 3 rail, lol 
I knew someone would notice that.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

flyernut said:


> Broken front steps, broken fuel tank, rear panel and steps broken, and broken horn.I have 3 of these sets at home, Dad bought me one when it was first issued..


Hey ! That is the pride of my S scale.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Big Ed said:


> Hey ! That is the pride of my S scale.


Well, you asked,lol!!!. Like I said, I have 3 complete sets, and I also have the red Baldwin with the 3 red stripe passenger cars.


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