Have a friend who dropped off a 1953 American Flyer Royal Blue 350 train set. Everything is in excellent condition , lights will come on but it seems the motor is seized up. Would anyone know if there is a good place to get a replacement motor for the Royal Blue or if one can even replace the motor. I cannot really see any way to remove the motor. I would like to get this operating for friend. Appreciate nay leads.
Al
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You usually don't need a replacement motor. Just take the chassis out of the shell, clean the brushes and commutator, grease the gears and oil the axles.
Shoot some electrical contact cleaner in the reverse unit and you should be good to go.
The motor is bolted the the frame, but the frame often breaks at the motor mount area.
A junker off ebay is the best hope for parts. I have brought 2 junkers to get needed parts for my Royal Blue. I have the O gauge version of this engine.
It is very close to the S gauge version and uses the same castings.
Interestingly I have just purchased a few Flyer items and it included a boxed 302 Atlantic.
The motor wouldn't turn and I had to strip down the chassis/motor to find out what was wrong.
It turned out that the old oil/grease was was solidified and locked the smoke gear totally. A bit of WD40 freed it off and it was OK again.
With the RB I would start with taking out the brushes and springs and make sure the tubes are clear of gunk and put them back in, then also check the fingers on the reverse unit as they are likely to be a problem
The motor is bolted the the frame, but the frame often breaks at the motor mount area.
A junker off ebay is the best hope for parts. I have brought 2 junkers to get needed parts for my Royal Blue. I have the O gauge version of this engine.
It is very close to the S gauge version and uses the same castings.
Frame problems are a pre war thing and not a post war problem. I have never seen a post war frame breakage as my friend has in his two pre war RB's
Thanks guys. I am a modern O gauger and these are new to me. I will take this puppy apart and try to recondition for my friend. Time to get my hands dirty.
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