Since so few 261e’s were made in 1935, it’s difficult to find much of a description or a good picture in most of my reference books. However, in the TCA’s Lionel trains standard of the world, 1900-1943 second addition there is a good picture of it. As mentioned above by Ives 1122, unlike its predecessor, the 260 which had open spoke wheels, the 261e has solid cast nickel plated wheels with the gears a part of the wheel casting and with embossed spokes.
Also, the 249e has the same motor and has the same wheels. The mystery is, I removed from the smooth running 249e the two drive wheels and placed them on the 261e and it still continued to bind. I have replaced the two intermediate gears which did not help. I have a replacement pinion gear which will be my next move.
I guess I should have given up and started looking for a used 249e or 261e motor, however, it’s a challenge and I just can’t abandon trying to find out what is not working correctly. The gear plate on the engine looks as though it has worn more to one side and according to Jeff Kane, no one has made a replacement gear plate. I was going to remove the gear plate from the 249e to see if the uneven worn bushing was the problem however the 249e has an armature shaft diameter of .125 while the 261e has a shaft with a diameter of .112 so the gear plates are not interchangeable. I may wait until I find a used gear plate since changing out the gear plate is so much easier than removing and replacing a pinion gear.
Thank all of you so much for your help.
Jim
