Dennis, thanks for your comments. I am using a fabric covered wire, #24 I think. I am looking for a brown paper tape for this application. The white tape is a high temperature glass tape, but it is thicker than it should be. A mandrel to push the tube in and out is a good idea. I have a friend who can machine something out of brass stock. I was going to ask him to make a tool to remove the slotted nut on the 400E and 700E brush tubes. By the way, I got the 230-10 couplers you sent me. Just exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for them.
A questions for you. Tom and I were discussing how many of the semi scale and scale 0-6-0 switchers were made by Lionel. He was thinking there were thousands of them made, but given all the design and tooling expense Lionel went through to make this family of engines, I was thinking it must be more than that, maybe in the tens of thousands. On the other hand they were never very prominent in the catalog. Do you have any idea how many of these locomotives might have been made during the few years they were in production? Thanks again. David Johnston.
