jeffrey O'Brien 082418 posted:Yes, plastic /nylon gear on the axle,inside the gear box; the "worm" is also plastic/nylon.
@jeffrey O'Brien 082418 I'm shocked at this. I wanna see pictures!
For those unfamiliar with the classic Lionel B6, the worm gear is on a lower layshaft driven by a spur gear train coming down from the motor.
I know that ONE of the spur gears is nylon, I think the pinion on the motor shaft, or perhaps an intermediate gear. And i guess it's possible that the worm WHEEL on the center driving axle is nylon, although I would be surprised if this were true. But if the worm wheel is nylon, the worm itself should not be. Best accepted engineering practice is that the worm and worm wheel should be of dissimilar materials. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer of 3-rail O gauge ignored best accepted engineering practices 
The original worm is multi-threaded and back-drivable (wheels can turn the motor.) I know some folks were disappointed that these switchers did not run as smoothly or slowly as expected. Since you're not the first owner, is it possible that a previous owner changed the worm and worm wheel for a different combo, as described in this post, perhaps in attempt to get a lower gear ratio? The factory gear ratio is 14.77 to 1. Is that what yours is?
