This is one of the few times I had something to share on the Forum, and my search revealed the same or similar topic, so I'm reviving this one.

Yesterday, my 7 year old grandaughter and I were each running a freight train pulled by an LC+ loco, each with our own remote unit,  on separate main lines. We were having a great time doing that.

Unlike most young children running trains, my grandaughter was very content going nice and slow, occasionally blowing the whistle or ringing the bell. I was doing the same. Neither of us was racing our train. She ran hers flawlessly.

I decided to back up my oil tanker unit train into the siding to the right of the O22 switch on the right side in the photo below, leave the tanker cars in that siding, and have my LC+ Jersey Central Pacific Steamer pick up passenger cars on the other side of my layout.

Notice how close the track is to the edge of the table in the above photo. Also the O22 switch on the right, if thrown straight, leads to the siding where I was trying to park about 7 or 8 tanker cars; if thrown to the left curve, then the train would continue along the reverse loop.

The switch was thrown straight to back the tanker cars into the siding. The cars did not have enough clearance from the back wall, several cars derailed, and one tanker and the locomotive and tender fell off the table striking the concrete floor 4 feet (about 48 inches) below the table.

2 metal ladders were dislodged from one tanker car. I found them on the floor, and inserted them back on the car, so no harm done. 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

I now have  the tender on the track in another siding in the middle, not the edge, of  the layout. I won't touch the tender for at least 24 hours to give the Superglue plenty of time to dry/set.

I have always known that my trains are in danger of falling off the table when running near the edge of the layout where the locomotive derailed and fell. I'm thinking of putting pillows on the floor there when running trains so if they fall off the table, it would be a soft, not hard, landing to minimize/eliminate damage.

What do you think?

Arnold

Below is the follow up on LC+ loco that took a dive yesterday.

After letting the Superglue set for 15 hours, I decided to test my Scrounger's Blue Comet, the LC+ Jersey Central Pacific, this morning.

This is a very happy ending. I powered it up, heard the sounds (which were music to my ears), ran it 2 inches forward and backward, and everything is fine. Also, there are no chips, scratches, or other body damage, so the loco is unscathed from the fall. IMO, this is amazing considering the it fell 4 feet onto a concrete floor.

I will leave the tender on a siding for another approximately 8 hours to make sure the Superglue completely sets.

This particular LC+ loco, which is now my #1 in my collection, seems to be as rugged and reliable as its classic Postwar ancestors. LOL. Ruggedness and reliability are qualities I most cherish in my trains.

I feel like my Poor man's Blue Comet and I have dodged a bullet! Arnold

Arnold, my tracks also run close to the edge of my layout. I have a crossover on a straight section of the track where I also had a drop of 40 inches to concrete. My little 0-6-0 Gilbert switcher took that fall, it had damage to the headlight and little else when I ran into a turnout set out. I ended up adding a 1x2 around the layout with a rabbit cut to allow some clear flexible plastic to be set in to keep errant trains safe.

Ray

Been there done that. I was reaching over the layout to uncouple a car and my shirt sleeve caught my 0-6-0 Docksider on my elevated loop. I didn't even feel the tug on my shirt buy my heart sunk when I heard the loco hit the floor. Miraculously it must have landed perfect flat on its side.

The engineer took a tumble out of his chair and was checked out by paramedics on the scene and released. One of the side rods was slightly bent but no other damage otherwise. I'm much more careful now.

In the aftermath of surviving the big dive, there is no question that it is wise to design the layout so the trains don't come to close to the edge of the platform. This is especially true for those with expensive engines like Visionline.

My layout is designed so there is room to do other things besides trains in the basement, some of which are necessities such as the laundry. LOL. Don't think I'm not grateful to be married to a woman who tolerates my insanity, which includes running trains within inches of her right elbow when she is loading dirty clothes into the washing machine! LOL

Since I like my trains going to different places, and space for them is modest, I will keep my layout design "as is," and consider having pillows on the concrete floor to cushion any potential fall. Arnold 

Not dropped, but I launched this (undecorated) S Scale GP while test running it during its construction.  It attempted an Evil Kenevil leap across my removed lift out section when I wasn't paying attention.  I picked up the pieces and threw them into a box.

It was several years before I worked up the ambition to put the pieces back together and finish the project.

Rusty

Lift-outs are a recipe for disaster.

After an early near-disaster I fail-safed it:

That is a Maytag dryer door switch seen here in it's normally open position, cutting off 120VAC power to the layout. Putting the lift-out in place depresses the button which supplies juice to the layout. Quick, simple and cheap.

My brother and I had "train races" and would roar with laughter watching the engine (steam) going off the rails on a curve.  And hitting the bare concrete floor.   Not so funny now....but I admit I still chuckle a bit thinking about the trials.....and after the launching, the postwar engines always seemed to run.

Lew that’s a great safety feature and surly a necessity as a fail safe as we certainly get tunnel vision when we are operating or troubleshooting a problem.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I have always known that my trains are in danger of falling off the table when running near the edge of the layout where the locomotive derailed and fell. I'm thinking of putting pillows on the floor there when running trains so if they fall off the table, it would be a soft, not hard, landing to minimize/eliminate damage.

What do you think?

Arnold

The problem I see with pillows is that they'd have gaps between them.  And the universe being what it is, the falling locomotive would inevitably roll into the nearest gap and meet the floor.

I had a similar experience when I was only seven years old.  I decided to see how fast my 2026 could go around its 027 curves.  I found out, when it launched itself from the rails, off the layout, and rolled across our living-room floor.

Mitigating my foolishness was the fact that our Christmas train layout was only about eight inches off the floor.  But the real lifesaver was our living-room braided carpet.  The 2026 rolled across it over and over, scaring the pants off my seven-year-old self but doing no damage whatever.  It was completely unharmed, and sits on our coffee table today, in honored retirement.

My point in confessing to this youthful folly is that whatever kind of padding you put on the floor under your layout should be firm enough to absorb the momentum of any falling trains without harming them -- and that there should be no gaps into which the trains can fall or roll.

Of course, the real answer is to catch the errant trains before they fall, preferably with a wire-mesh or plexiglass fence around the layout's edges.  And if I am ever able to scrounge up the space for an elevated layout of my own, that's what I intend to do.

Oh, and by the way, I learned my lesson from that experience with the 2026.  Never again did I run a locomotive too rapidly through a curve.  And I've been obsessively careful about letting anything fall ever since.  Near the beginning of this thread, I posted an experience I had when I let that caution slip for just a few seconds.  Never again.

Wow, it's hard to believe this thread is really so old.  Where did the time go?

All very interesting comments. 

I agree that normal pillows we rest our heads on in bed may not provide enough protection for a falling loco.

I have an old sectional couch in my basement. It's the one my 7 year old granddaughter dances around on when she runs LC+ locos with the remote, that can be seen in a few of the videos I previously posted on other threads. I can take a couple of the couch cushions off and put them on the concrete floor beneath the layout edge. 

Problem is my whole layout has track on the edges of 35 plus feet of plywood tables. 

Maybe gerryrigging  some mesh just beneath the layout edges is the answer for me down the road. In the meantime, I will be very careful running trains. Arnold 

When my oldest son was about 4 we managed to accidentally launch Thomas off the table at about warp 3 going around a curve.  3 ft down to a solid floor. Primary damage was a broken coupler.  My son still talks about it.

This video was taken about an hour after my Williams By Bachman B&O E-7 dropped about 3 feet after I accidentally left the walk thru on our clubs layout open to test run it.  Luckily it landed right and the only damage was one of the pickup rollers got bent back which was an easy fix.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

All very interesting comments. 

I agree that normal pillows we rest our heads on in bed may not provide enough protection for a falling loco.

I have an old sectional couch in my basement. It's the one my 7 year old granddaughter dances around on when she runs LC+ locos with the remote, that can be seen in a few of the videos I previously posted on other threads. I can take a couple of the couch cushions off and put them on the concrete floor beneath the layout edge. 

Problem is my whole layout has track on the edges of 35 plus feet of plywood tables. 

Maybe gerryrigging  some mesh just beneath the layout edges is the answer for me down the road. In the meantime, I will be very careful running trains. Arnold 

 

 

Pillows? Furniture?

No.

They invented plexiglas for model RR layouts; a well-kept secret.

Some months ago; work in progress - adding on to turntable whisker tracks (I moved the workbench). The edges of my layout are protected by this stuff. The piece of wood is there because I ran out of plexiglas. Thin wood (I often use old paneling, ripped appropriately) at the edge of your layout, even if it only rises 2 inches above the layout top, will prevent 99% of all loco diving.

Walls also help.  

Mitch

I know stuff like this happens! But is guess I have learned how to do preventative measures with my postwar trains.

I run multiple reverse loops on 031 tubular curves right at the very edge of the tables that is 4 tight curved edged areas. I  Run all my postwar engines without worry. How? Banked curves. Not only do the trains look good leaning into the curve, they don't derail. Most have magnatraction, an added plus. I try not to run trains not max speed. My locos like 031 at edge of tables. I was thinking I would need some kind of barrier fence at tables edge, NOPE, not one near miss has occurred,  I do have  rubber floor matting around my layout for foot comfort.  No derailments (yet). 2020, 2055, 736 are OK with banked curves. All my electrics and diesels from corporation days are still intact too.  I used flexible H O scale cork roadbed inserted a quarter of the tie length and fastened the insertion side of tie with a track screw. I intended to glue down the cork but hav not needed to. 

However on a switching layout i did have a disaster with a particularly hard to fine two rail atlas RS -1.  My finally obtained Loco was on a siding and I got distracted, left the power up, and threw the turnout , power went  LIVE and By the time I killed the power it took out a bumper at the tables edge and dangled on the edge of table me running 30 feet to see it go down 55 inches to the concrete floor! Well I certainly learned about edges and shoulder heights sooner or later. Atlas fixed the engine without cost ( under warranty) and I placed an emergency power kill switch at several points in the layout ( it was 37 feet long). Plus those three bumpers were fortified with screws and inch sticking up behind bumpers for inadvertent  high speed runaways! Never again, safety first!

Back in the NYC apartment days, I once had a point to point  8x 1.5 switching layout with fortified plexiglass at either end.

but another runaway postwar Geep took out the plexiglass! But it did hit the wall.

i remember my wife saying at least it didn't go out the window (very close to end of plexiglass).  It was a straight shot to the wall. And besides regardless of the five flights up, the fire escape would have saved it. Lol. 

No freight was lost. 

This is a two ended question, do you mean purposely or accidentally? Those who have had accidents, in most cases, are testimony to the strength of this scale. You can actually have a fall and recover with minimal repairs needed. I believe the despair and guilt that is felt after this happens is the most damaging part of an incident of the sort.

Dave

Arnold,

Sorry to hear of the calamity. I hope it does not dissuade your granddaughter from running trains.

My New Haven RS-3 #531 sometimes used to be parked on the stub track at the front corner of my layout. Careful as I am, I once brushed against it and it fell 48 inches to the carpeted concrete floor, breaking the front pilot in two. Atlas O had the part so it got fixed as well as new. Tracks are close to the edges of both my layouts. But it’s more likely that I could drop something while moving between shelf and track.

Photo by:

MELGAR

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

I now have  the tender on the track in another siding in the middle, not the edge, of  the layout. I won't touch the tender for at least 24 hours to give the Superglue plenty of time to dry/set. 

 

I believe the part that broke off is a AXLE BEARING / PLASTIC / PILOT / TRAILING TRUCK 6208616339 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...;submitButton=Search

I find it handy to have spares of these on hand.

An Atlas SW9 that belonged to another forum member.   $100 purchase, patience, new windows, from Atlas, and glue. 

I was thinking a little brush painting and a grimmy black over-spray.   That hasn't happen yet, a conversation piece. 

Crash model, be sure to save all the pieces. 

Last week a bookcase shelf collapsed and took my CC KLine New Haven EP-5 with it.  One of the cast truck side frames shattered. 

Peter

Mike CT posted:

An Atlas SW9 that belonged to another forum member.   $100 purchase, patience, new windows, from Atlas, and glue. 

I was thinking a little brush painting and a grimmy black over-spray.   That hasn't happen yet, a conversation piece. 

Crash model, be sure to save all the pieces. 

 

Way-back-when I knew a guy who had a body shop. He specialized in Corvettes. When he got the wrecker call he always brought along a couple helpers with a pickup truck, shovels and brooms. They would be sure to sweep up all the pieces of broken fiberglass and haul it all back to the shop where George would start laying out the pieces. Then he'd slowly reassemble the crushed fiberglass body work using epoxy resin, the stuff the panels were made with at the factory.  His bodywork was so smooth no customer ever complained and that is why the adjusters were willing to pay for new panels and George got to pocket that money. George was quite good at it.

Davety posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

I now have  the tender on the track in another siding in the middle, not the edge, of  the layout. I won't touch the tender for at least 24 hours to give the Superglue plenty of time to dry/set. 

 

I believe the part that broke off is a AXLE BEARING / PLASTIC / PILOT / TRAILING TRUCK 6208616339 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...;submitButton=Search

I find it handy to have spares of these on hand.

Davety, thank you for that info, which I may need if the Superglue does not work long term. Arnold

When my younger son was about eight years old, he tried to prove that GG1s could fly! Well, they do, for just a second or two. My 2332 left the table at full speed and landed on its side on the concrete basement floor.....not a scratch! I was thankful that my precious Madison cars weren't attached.  We laugh about it now, especially since my son now has children and sure enough they too like to fly a train or two.  

Earl

I’ve never dropped one, but like John Pignatelli, I did throw one across the room.  I was a kid, maybe 8 years old.  We had a 4X8 HO layout in the basement and my big brother would not let me run the trains even after what seemed like an eternity of pleading.  Out of frustration, I grabbed a loco and threw it across the room.  When my dad got home, I got a wuppin and was not allowed to run the trains at all.

Davety posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

 

 

I believe the part that broke off is a AXLE BEARING / PLASTIC / PILOT / TRAILING TRUCK 6208616339 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...;submitButton=Search

I find it handy to have spares of these on hand.

Hi Davety and any other Forum mechanical whizzes out there. I can really use your help, as explained below.

A couple of days ago, I posted here that my beloved LC+ Jersey Central Pacific #832 Steamer and tender (#6-84680) took a 4 foot dive off the train table, onto the concrete floor, and a piece of black plastic the holds a wheel axle for the tender broke. I found the broken piece of plastic and used Loctite Superglue to put the piece of plastic and wheel axle back together.

I let 2 full days go by, and ran the engine this evening. Everything was fine until I took the engine and tender off the track, and as I did that, the wheel fell off, and now I can't find that plastic part. 

I can't thank Davety enough for his above reply identifying that plastic part (axle bearing part # 620-8616-339) and providing the link for me to order it from Lionel, which I just did.

Now, I have a couple of questions. 

Once I get the replacement part, how do I affix it so it properly holds the wheel axle in place?

I assume that this axle bearing is glued in place. If so, what is the best glue for me to use, where can I buy it, and how long should I let the glue set to maximize the chances it will work?

Arnold

Hi Bob, yes I did. A Lionel Alleghany took a tumble four feet to the concrete floor. Landed on it's wheels. It was ugly buddy.  Lionel repaired it for me at the behest of my dealer Lou Caponi, back when he was still with us.

I still have it, but I did install a Plexiglas barrier.    

 No, but I did drop the thanksgiving turkey once and the international consequences were horrific - the downfall of Turkey, the breaking up of China, and the overrun of Greece....sorry about that ...

Hi Arnold, I just read your post and boy at lest I'm not the only butter finger in the group.

Try to hook up with Gunrunner John. He is really good at this sort of things.

Don't feel bad, in my case all the drive wheels flanges where bent along with the axels.

Now, I'm not sure if the part posted by Davety above, is the correct part.

This is a photo of the damaged part (on right side of the photo) showing a small piece of plastic that broke off and is now missing:

Below is a photo of the undamaged part on the opposite side of the truck:

As shown above, the whole part extends over the top inside of the truck and holds both wheel axles in place.

Arnold

Arnold,

That should be the correct part. The photo from Lionel's site isn't very good. That extra piece of plastic out to the side is the clip that holds it in place. In your photo that part would go down, towards the body of the tender and clip in thus holding the wheel axle in place.

Davety posted:

Arnold,

That should be the correct part. The photo from Lionel's site isn't very good. That extra piece of plastic out to the side is the clip that holds it in place. In your phone that part would go down, towards the body of the tender and clip in thus holding the wheel axle in place.

Davety, is any glue used to hold that part in place and/or the black plastic part that extends on the top inside of the truck in place?

I just noticed that the part that extends on the top inside of the truck is loose on my tender truck.

I think I may also need to order the clip that holds the axle bearing in place. Davety, Gunrunner, or other repair expert, do you know the part number for that clip, and how to attach it to the truck?

By the way, it looks to me that the axle bearing and clip that extends on the inside and top of the truck is one part, not 2 separate parts, on this LC + tender. Arnold

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Davety posted:

Arnold,

That should be the correct part. The photo from Lionel's site isn't very good. That extra piece of plastic out to the side is the clip that holds it in place. In your phone that part would go down, towards the body of the tender and clip in thus holding the wheel axle in place.

Davety, is any glue used to hold that part in place and/or the black plastic part that extends on the top inside of the truck in place?

I just noticed that the part that extends on the top inside of the truck is loose on my tender truck.

That part has the clip attached, no glue needed. From your picture it appears that the clip part of the axle bearing piece may still be attached to your truck. Here's a picture from the parts site of the top of your truck. noticed the cutouts near the wheels. This is where the clip part of the axle bearing clips in. If you need to remove the wheels for some reason you would put a small screwdriver in there and gently pull the clip away from the truck toward the wheels and push down to get the wheel set out. I wish I could find a video showing all of this, but am unable to do so.

Davety posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Davety posted:

Arnold,

That should be the correct part. The photo from Lionel's site isn't very good. That extra piece of plastic out to the side is the clip that holds it in place. In your phone that part would go down, towards the body of the tender and clip in thus holding the wheel axle in place.

Davety, is any glue used to hold that part in place and/or the black plastic part that extends on the top inside of the truck in place?

I just noticed that the part that extends on the top inside of the truck is loose on my tender truck.

That part has the clip attached, no glue needed. From your picture it appears that the clip part of the axle bearing piece may still be attached to your truck. Here's a picture from the parts site of the top of your truck. noticed the cutouts near the wheels. This is where the clip part of the axle bearing clips in. If you need to remove the wheels for some reason you would put a small screwdriver in there and gently pull the clip away from the truck toward the wheels and push down to get the wheel set out. I wish I could find a video show all of this, but am unable to do so.

Very helpful, Davety, thank you. Good news that no gluing is necessary.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that part, which consists of the clip and axle bearings,  snap (or clip) into place?

Is another option to buy the whole truck, which would obviously be more expensive? If so, does that make the repair simpler?

The truck with the broken piece of plastic is the front truck of the tender. The all important tether,  between tender and engine, is involved with that truck so great care is necessary in possibly replacing that truck.

The reason I am so interested (and a bit obsessive) about this repair is that this engine and tender is my very favorite in my collection, and I have a lot of engines collected over the past 65 years. Arnold

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

Very helpful, Davety, thank you. Good news that no gluing is necessary.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that part, which consists of the clip and axle bearings,  snap (or clip) into place?

I'd say that it snaps into place.

Is another option to buy the whole truck, which would obviously be more expensive? If so, does that make the repair simpler?

You could purchase the whole truck, that part is available. However that would be like replacing the entire wheel and axle assembly on your car because you need new wheel bearings. That would be the more expensive option. I think the simple repair would be to purchase just the axle bearing.

The truck with the broken piece of plastic is the front truck of the tender. The all important tether,  between tender and engine, is involved with that truck so great care is necessary in possibly replacing that truck.

If you want to replace the entire truck, then yes you need to be careful of the wires and the draw bar if it's attached as part of the truck mounting to the tender. Some are and some aren't, I don't know you exact model to know for sure.

The reason I am so interested (and a bit obsessive) about this repair is that this engine and tender is my very favorite in my collection, and I have a lot of engines collected over the past 65 years. Arnold

For me it was a kick to the floor. I had my Lionel Percy on the dresser next to my bed and my foot got him and he landed on the hard floor. As the narrator from the show would say, "Luckily, no one was hurt." It woke me up and I checked him out; nothing broken or scratched and still runs. I have since put him in a storage tub along with the rest of my collection for protection from a furry pest...

I knocked my Lionel Mohawk #3000 off the edge of my layout to the concrete floor a couple of years ago.  I placed the engine on the track, then the tender with the draw bar attached.  I apparently twisted the draw bar in the process, causing the engine to flip off the table faster than I could react to catch it.

After I stopped swearing, I got the courage to pick the engine up.  I looked and looked, but couldn't find any damage.  I put it on the track and tried to run it, but it wouldn't move.  A hum from the motor suggested it was jammed.

Further inspection revealed the sheet metal plate holding the trailing truck was warped and jamming the motor armature.  I straightened out the plate, reassembled it and the Mohawk ran fine.

I got lucky due to: (1) solid construction by Lionel, (2) the engine apparently landed trailing truck first and the sheet metal plate absorbed the impact (but no damage to the truck) and (3) the engine hit my leg on the way down.  I had a nice bruise on my leg  as evidence.  It's a heavy engine!

John

Steam Crazy posted:

I knocked my Lionel Mohawk #3000 off the edge of my layout to the concrete floor a couple of years ago. 

I got lucky due to: (1) solid construction by Lionel, (2) the engine apparently landed trailing truck first and the sheet metal plate absorbed the impact (but no damage to the truck) and (3) the engine hit my leg on the way down.  I had a nice bruise on my leg  as evidence.  It's a heavy engine!

John

 

 

I would take the bruise on my leg over more damage to the engine any time. LOL, Arnold

Davety posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

I now have  the tender on the track in another siding in the middle, not the edge, of  the layout. I won't touch the tender for at least 24 hours to give the Superglue plenty of time to dry/set. 

 

I believe the part that broke off is a AXLE BEARING / PLASTIC / PILOT / TRAILING TRUCK 6208616339 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...;submitButton=Search

I find it handy to have spares of these on hand.

This is a follow up to the above prior posts. I have now received from Lionel the plastic axle bearing part shown above.

The good news is I inserted that part, and my LC+ Jersey Central locomotive and tender is running again, and at the moment is parked on a siding on my layout. With the tender on the track, gravity holds everything in place, and the train and tender run fine.

The bad news is that it is the wrong part, it does not snap or clip into place, and if I lift the tender off the track, the part and pair of wheels fall out. I believe this part is meant to hold the wheels of the trailing truck of the locomotive in place. I should be receiving the correct part from Lionel early this week, which is the part that holds the wheels of the tender in place.

Before I do anything further, I will wait for the arrival of what I believe is the correct part.

However, I believe the first part could work if the correct glue was used and applied properly. A tiny dab of old Loctite Supergue did not work. 

What do you think is the best glue to hold this plastic part to the metal truck of the tender, how should that glue be applied, and how long should I let it dry? Arnold

It just occurred to me, as a temporary measure, what if I simply used rubber cement? 

I am most interested in a permanent powerful glue that will forever hold the axle bearing in place, so if you have an opinion on that, please share it.

The beauty of rubber cement is it may be sufficiently strong to hold the part in place temporarily, and can be easily undone and removed when I get the correct part.

Any thoughts?

Arnold, why not just wait for the correct part? I wouldn't glue the wrong part in that area and have it compromise the correct part from fitting as it should.

Rusty

This is still the all time champ of dropped locomotives,  as far as I'm concerned:  

Mitch 

Mitch, I must agree,. OUCH!!!!!!!!

Ray

Ouch, indeed! Not only was that really hard on the locomotive, looks like the 'concrete floor' took quite a hit as well.

In September of 1940 my father bought a Lionel 2-6-2 #225(if an error, it is mine) along with the red baggage car, passenger car and observation car.  He had two brothers in law, one of whom joined the US Navy during the war.  When the USS Hornet was in 'Halsey's Typhoon' her flight deck was crinkled and she was in dry dock on the West coast for a few months.  My uncle came home on leave - celebration time.  We lived on the second floor of a two unit walk up apartment, the front oak stairs had three steps, then a 90 degree curve of steps, then several steps to another 90 degree curve of steps.  The second floor landing was big enough for the stairs, the door to our apartment, the door to the second floor porch and about 10 feet of banister which was about 3 feet from and parallel to the inside of the front wall.  With chairs and boxes at the level of the top of the banister, a 4x8 piece of plywood could hold a Lionel track oval which extended a few inches over the stairs.  Two uncles, one father, a case of long neck Stroh's and a Lionel train set.  During one 'operating session' the train left the tracks and plummeted about 11 feet to the second oak step from the first floor.  The cow catcher got a small chip, the draw bar between the cab and tender was slightly bent, the tongue of the tender's box coupler snapped, the roof of the baggage car lost its spring which operated the roof clip.  Other than that, the only damage was a depression in the oak step and as of ten years ago, it was still there when I walked through the building when it was For Sale.  I ran the locomotive until I sold it to an LCCA member a few years ago.  I changed the brushes in the early 1960s and Lionel put in new guts in 1975.  I sold the passenger cars on an Internet auction site about twenty years ago.  I doubt if today's engines and cars could survive such a fall.

John in Lansing, ILL

rattler21 posted:

In September of 1940 my father bought a Lionel 2-6-2 #225(if an error, it is mine) along with the red baggage car, passenger car and observation car.  He had two brothers in law, one of whom joined the US Navy during the war.  When the USS Hornet was in 'Halsey's Typhoon' her flight deck was crinkled and she was in dry dock on the West coast for a few months.  My uncle came home on leave - celebration time.  We lived on the second floor of a two unit walk up apartment, the front oak stairs had three steps, then a 90 degree curve of steps, then several steps to another 90 degree curve of steps.  The second floor landing was big enough for the stairs, the door to our apartment, the door to the second floor porch and about 10 feet of banister which was about 3 feet from and parallel to the inside of the front wall.  With chairs and boxes at the level of the top of the banister, a 4x8 piece of plywood could hold a Lionel track oval which extended a few inches over the stairs.  Two uncles, one father, a case of long neck Stroh's and a Lionel train set.  During one 'operating session' the train left the tracks and plummeted about 11 feet to the second oak step from the first floor.  The cow catcher got a small chip, the draw bar between the cab and tender was slightly bent, the tongue of the tender's box coupler snapped, the roof of the baggage car lost its spring which operated the roof clip.  Other than that, the only damage was a depression in the oak step and as of ten years ago, it was still there when I walked through the building when it was For Sale.  I ran the locomotive until I sold it to an LCCA member a few years ago.  I changed the brushes in the early 1960s and Lionel put in new guts in 1975.  I sold the passenger cars on an Internet auction site about twenty years ago.  I doubt if today's engines and cars could survive such a fall.

John in Lansing, ILL

Incredible ruggedness and durability.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Davety posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

 

But my heart sunk when I saw one set of wheels on the floor that came off the tender. I examined the tender closely and noticed a small piece of plastic that I believe is supposed to be part of the journal box, had broken off. That broken piece of plastic holds the wheel axle and wheels in place. I frantically searched the floor for that small piece of plastic, and found it after about 10 minutes of searching for it.

I had some left over Loctite Superglue. I put the axle for the loose pair of wheels in each journal box, and put a tiny dab of superglue on the edge of the broken piece of plastic, put the axle and wheels back in the journal box, and pressed the glued  broken pieces together.

I now have  the tender on the track in another siding in the middle, not the edge, of  the layout. I won't touch the tender for at least 24 hours to give the Superglue plenty of time to dry/set. 

 

I believe the part that broke off is a AXLE BEARING / PLASTIC / PILOT / TRAILING TRUCK 6208616339 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...;submitButton=Search

I find it handy to have spares of these on hand.

This is a follow up to the above prior posts. I have now received from Lionel the plastic axle bearing part shown above.

The good news is I inserted that part, and my LC+ Jersey Central locomotive and tender is running again, and at the moment is parked on a siding on my layout. With the tender on the track, gravity holds everything in place, and the train and tender run fine.

The bad news is that it is the wrong part, it does not snap or clip into place, and if I lift the tender off the track, the part and pair of wheels fall out. I believe this part is meant to hold the wheels of the trailing truck of the locomotive in place. I should be receiving the correct part from Lionel early this week, which is the part that holds the wheels of the tender in place.

Before I do anything further, I will wait for the arrival of what I believe is the correct part.

However, I believe the first part could work if the correct glue was used and applied properly. A tiny dab of old Loctite Supergue did not work. 

What do you think is the best glue to hold this plastic part to the metal truck of the tender, how should that glue be applied, and how long should I let it dry? Arnold

 

Final follow up:

The axle bearing for the tender truck arrived. It looks to be identical to the part in the above photo. It does not snap or clip into place, and needs to be glued into place to hold the axle and wheels on the tender.

Last call for recommendations.  What glue would you use? 

Arnold

Arnold, you may be looking in the wrong spot - That bearing is designed to snap into place within the truck - it may be your truck is damaged and not able to provide a latch needed for the bearing to "snap" into.

Look at the bearing and truck assy when they "fall out due to gravity", does the bearing actually fall out of the truck? Then look at the opposite end of the axle (presumably undamaged during the incident.) Does the bearing at the opposite end of the axle remain in place? Can you even just pull it out with your fingers? You shouldn't be able to on a normal part.

Long story short, if new bearings keep falling out, the truck assy is probably damaged.

The part shown here looks remarkably like the one you ordered - they both have a small tang or lip that is designed to snap into the truck assy - you can see it on the right backside of this part. Look at your truck where that part would snap into place, I'll bet it's broken.

Good luck! Hope you get it fixed!

George

GeoPeg posted:

Arnold, you may be looking in the wrong spot - That bearing is designed to snap into place within the truck - it may be your truck is damaged and not able to provide a latch needed for the bearing to "snap" into.

Look at the bearing and truck assy when they "fall out due to gravity", does the bearing actually fall out of the truck? Then look at the opposite end of the axle (presumably undamaged during the incident.) Does the bearing at the opposite end of the axle remain in place? Can you even just pull it out with your fingers? You shouldn't be able to on a normal part.

Long story short, if new bearings keep falling out, the truck assy is probably damaged.

 

 

 

 

 

The part shown here looks remarkably like the one you ordered - they both have a small tang or lip that is designed to snap into the truck assy - you can see it on the right backside of this part. Look at your truck where that part would snap into place, I'll bet it's broken.

Good luck! Hope you get it fixed!

George

George, your above reply is very helpful. I will check out the truck assembly. Thanks again, Arnold

These photos might shed light on the problem of the broken plastic part re my LC+ Jersey Central Pacific tender truck.

This shows the missing axle bearing that resulted from a broken piece of plastic when the tender fell 4 feet onto the concrete floor:

This shows a loose piece of black plastic that spans the 2 wheel axles ("spanning plastic piece"), which is shown by the small screw driver pressing down on it:

On the other side of the same truck, the other spanning plastic piece is tightly fastened to the truck.

This next photo shows the new axle bearing inserted in the slot of the truck where it belongs, but it remains loose because there is nothing there to snap it into place:

With the axle bearing inserted and loose, if I also insert the wheel axle and turn the tender right side up, gravity holds the wheels in place, but that wheel axle falls out if I remove the tender from the track.

I believe the problem is this: that part of the spanning plastic piece is still there.  In the photo below, my screwdriver is touching it:

I tried to remove it, but couldn't.

Based on George's above reply, I believe I need to get a whole new truck, or use glue to fasten the new axle bearing part and loose spanning plastic piece in place, or just keep the tender on the track at all times (either on a main line or siding) and rely on gravity to keep the wheels in place. I now have 3 spare axle bearings.

Any further thoughts?

Arnold

Arnold, my first choice would be to replace the truck assy if it is available. That way you avoid the headache of trying to use glue on a piece of plastic that doesn't like to be glued.

If you do try to reuse the existing truck, you may need to pick that broken piece of plastic out of the truck frame - if you don't, it may cause the axle to sit higher (as viewed in the upside-down position in your pictures), thus causing unevenness in the whole truck, future derailments, etc.

George

Arnold...sorry about your mishap.  My only event was Lionel gang car that probably fell from a shelf about 25 years ago.  I asked my triplet sons who were about 12 at the time about it and amazingly they had no knowledge of such thing.                                                                                                                                            The trim boards on the side of the layout extend about 3/4 in.  above the table top and I have not had a problem with several derailments.

Fendermain

I'm another 682 dropper. Fell to a carpeted floor from a ping-pong table, but still broke off the cow catcher. I used epoxy to repair it, but it still bothered me every time I saw it. Ended up selling it and buying one that hadn't been dropped. Oh the shame 

Fendermain posted:

Arnold...sorry about your mishap.  My only event was Lionel gang car that probably fell from a shelf about 25 years ago.  I asked my triplet sons who were about 12 at the time about it and amazingly they had no knowledge of such thing.                                                                                                                                            The trim boards on the side of the layout extend about 3/4 in.  above the table top and I have not had a problem with several derailments.

Fendermain

Fendermain, your cabinet work is not only protective, it is also gorgeous. You are very good working with wood. Arnold

Fendermain posted:

Arnold...sorry about your mishap.  My only event was Lionel gang car that probably fell from a shelf about 25 years ago.  I asked my triplet sons who were about 12 at the time about it and amazingly they had no knowledge of such thing.                                                                                                                                            The trim boards on the side of the layout extend about 3/4 in.  above the table top and I have not had a problem with several derailments.

Fendermain

Ha! Just saw the closing comment above. If that wall had been painted the right color of green, you would have a Creeper right out of Minecraft!! Hmmm, there's a thought - I don't think I have seen a Minecraft themed layout just yet ….

Haven't seen any Minecraft-themed layouts (but i have built minecart systems in several "worlds" within the game)

There is an HO scaler on YouTube named James Risner who's specialty is running fiendishly long freight trains, and one of his projects was to convert a string of Hot Wheels minecarts to run on HO track:

---PCJ

Had an MTH NW2 that I converted to TMCC. one day the command control wall wart burned out and I  had 18 volts running to my tracks in conventional.  The locomotives flew off the rails  from 48 inches off the floor, doing a summersalt aND landed on its cab. I had to replace the whole shell with a new one. Also bent the motor shaft that had the flywheel attached.  Otherwise it works fine . 

Ouch!!!

Robert Coniglio posted:

One of the great fears is that while transporting a locomotive around is that it will fall out of hand or off tracks and take a big trip to the floor.I especially have this fear with the big heavy Big Boy.

 

One time I had an MTH GG-1 sitting on a table and I was wearing a sweater when I walked by it as i had done many times. On one of my pass bys for some reason the sweater sleeve grabbed one of the pantographs and before i knew the loco took a 5 foot trip to the floor. I was devastated but was glad to find that the only damage was that one of the couplers wouldot fire.

 

I was wondering if any members have had "loco drop" experiences.

 

Bob C.

I read through this thread just last week thanking my lucky stars I've never had this happen... until tonight. I decided to have a quick operating session with my 1937 259 taking the lead since I haven't run it in a while. I soon remembered why. That's my only prewar engine, and consequently, the only engine to pull my prewar cars, which do not like my switches on my table. I took a curve which had a switch on the end. The engine stayed on but the super light tail-end of the train swung over the side of the table and pulled the engine over with it. My big clutter of wires caught all the cars but the engine took a dive into the shadows behind my control panel, making an awful sound as it hit the floor which is concrete with thin, all-weather carpet over it. I was doubled-over, contorting my face in what I suspect was quite possibly the largest cringe my face had ever produced as I watched the engine tumbling in slow motion. I waited at least a minute before even picking it up. Thankfully, it only suffered a bent cowcatcher and cab roof. Being a tinplate engine, I bent everything back into place and put it back on the tracks, and like the trooper it is, proceeded to zip around the layout without missing a beat, which is to be expected since it's a Lionel, but it still scared me enough to whip up a possibly new combination of profanities that has not yet been produced by any other individual throughout the entire course of human history. I'll be relegating that engine to the Carpet Level Route from now on.

I had one slide off of the bed cover on my pickup truck onto the parking lot. Fortunately it was still packed in the yellow RailKing box. The packaging engineer (yes that's a real job) did a great job. Thanks to the Styrofoam liner there was zero damage. 

As a kid I let a school friend run the ZW on my dads ping pong table layout.  I told him to take it slow... He of course pushed the handle balls to the wall and my dads 736 flew off the rails at the 2nd curve.  Landed cow catcher first to the floor.  Didn't find any damage, but man I was mad at him. All I could think of is "dad is going to kill me".  That ended letting friends near the trains.

It's not just the kids you have to worry about.  A couple of years ago my friend had a large party and a bunch of us went to the cellar to see his layout.  The kids in the group behaved, but a couple of adults (perhaps fueled by a few beers) thought it would be fun to see how fast the trains would go.  I had to grab the throttle to slow the trains and politely remind them that a high speed derailment could cause a lot of damage to our friend's trains.

John