Update: talked to Lionel today. 
Talked with Katie who was cordial and professional, as usual. I asked her what the status of the motor I need. ( gave the number to her) she came back and said that their stock of replacement motors has already been depleted. Guess I'm not the only one with this problem with this engine. She said to call back late October and she would have a better idea if the motor is in stock/ will be available/ permanently discontinued. Drat. I guess I need to figure this out for myself. A couple of light bulbs went off in my head. The first picture compaires the locomotive motor to a handcar motor. The locomotive motor was about 10% larger. Speaking of which, you can't remove the plate as it will not fit over the worm gear. So the handcar motor is out. Next was John's (Lionel Parts) suggestion of a 8060 4-6-4 motor. Close, it may have worked, but the mounting holes were way off on the mounting plate. See pix's. one is blurry, but you get the idea. Can't upgrade the motor much, as a round motor will not fit, it needs flat sides as the motor sits in the narrow truck frame. Next I checked a series 2 dockside motor. ( Last pix )
Just about perfect, mounting holes line up, fits in the truck frame, I guess it is the same basic motor, and there is more than enough room in the body shell for the flywheels, something that the original motor did not have. Half the battle won. Now the challenge is removing and replacing the worm gear without ruining the motor or gear, or both.
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