Burl Route: I recently converted a 1950 Lionel #736 Berkshire to DCS. The series wound motor would run happily on either AC or DC, & I could have inserted a full wave rectifier between armature winding and field winding, to make it reversible without an E-unit by reversing polarity through the PS2 board. However, I was stumped by the issue of how to mount a tach sensor tape, and eventually went the Frank Timko motor change route, buying a can motor from him. His prices are reasonable.
I then gutted the loco & tender and installed PS2, the board going into the tender. These efforts were detailed, with pictures, in 2 threads within the last couple of months on the DCS forum.
I am having a non-DCS problem in that, at slow speeds, there is a noticeable binding on each driver revolution. Having a problem pinpointing the cause. But it does run slower than it would under Lionel conventional, which is why the poroblem hasn't shown up until now. I have another old Lionel, a C&O diesel switcher, that is awaiting my hand. I'm not sure if it's worth the effort
Note that the #736 & the #624 are worm gear locos. I don't think one can get a replacement motor for the Lionel side-frame, spur-gear locos.
The #624 has been my test loco for many years. In late 90's I had it set up so the e-unit wouldn't activate until 20 volts was applied to the track, and holding the 20 volts for 2 seconds would operate the couplers. Later on, I installed a full wave rectifier and large capacitors to provide smooth DC to the motor.
