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Maintaining Your
Lionel Trains
We normally think of the motor as the heart of an engine, but the
truth be told, the heart of your engine and your motor is the face of
the armature, and it is called a commutator. It's that flat copper
colored piece usually comprised of 3 segments cemented to the top of the
armature windings. Lionel was quite adamant about how important your
motor (and the armature and commutator) is to your engine. Although the
illustration below is for an armature and brush plate combination most
often found on a 671 Turbine or early 726 Berkshire, these components
are common to almost all of Lionel's motor driven items, engines and
accessories alike. These components may differ in appearance slightly,
but their function is the same.
If, as Lionel suggests, your engine seems sluggish and lacks power, the
first place to look is the motor. Take a look at the illustration and
compare it to your motor.
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Let's start with the Brush Plate. Lionel suggests
that you use Lionel Cleaner to remove dirt and grime
from the inside of the brush plate and brush tubes.
Lionel Cleaner (orange can) is still available, but it
is also somewhat toxic (by today's standards) and
flammable as are most cleaners necessary for the removal
of oil, grease, dirt, grime and carbon dust from a motor
and its components. Although our in house procedures are
a bit more elaborate given that our facilities are
designed around servicing Lionel trains, we have reduced
those procedures to their common elements so that you
may perform some of these tasks yourself. Let's move on to the next page and
into more detail on how to clean these parts
effectively. |
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