Do you remember your first train repair?

Nice story!  Thanks for sharing

My grandfather caught me taking apart his Lionel 2332 GG1 when I was 16 yrs old, 'just to see how it worked'. After some choice words received, I got it back together, put it on the track and pulled on the handle of the ZW that powered his layout. All it would do was sit with the horn 'honking', no movement. I was afraid to touch it after that, and it sat on a shelf in grand pop's train room until he passed 20 years later and I inherited his collection.

Anxious to run something of grand pop's under my own Christmas tree, I unboxed the 2332, gave it a good lube, set it on the track and powered up. All it would do was sit with the horn 'honking', no movement. Untouched in 20 years. I opened it up and made two minor electrical repairs to it in under 10 minutes. 

Has run fine ever since..........

Most of my early repairs were a blur... but I do remember fashioning my own repaired ZW cord and cutting the bare wires back and wrapping them through the prong holes, then using duct tape to hold and cover the whole travesty of a plug.

I was 7...it actually worked! However, plugging it in and unplugging it, was a hair raising experience...

I got zapped a couple of times.

But I kept those trains running!!!

Does the old fashioned white gauze tape stuck all over my 2-4-2 steamer count as a repair? Talk about a mess!

When I was like 10, the e-unit in my dad's 671rr decided to shed it's drum.  I didn't have a place to get a part so I figured out how to wire around the e-unit to get the engine to run forward.

That was long ago but I remember it because I was so upset when the engine wouldn't move.  Unfortunately, I took the e-unit out of the engine while wiring around it and it was lost.  I am 54 now and  still have the engine to this day.  Of course, it has a replacement e-unit in it with a new drum.

Tony

I probably did forgotten minor repairs to my childhood Marx, but the one repair l remember, of something l kno(e)w nothing about was of a pre-war O gauge Flyer engine in a freight set picked up in a flea market. Engine did not run.  I took it apart, did some simple repair, wiring, collectors?, plunked it down on the track, and shocked myself when it ran. I took the then working set to Wheaton and sold it.

As a child, I don't remember doing repairs on my own trains.  But when I got back into trains about 10 years ago, my plan was to rehabilitate my childhood trains and just set them up around the Holidays. Well, that idea didn't last a microsecond. In any case, the first thing I did was take apart my 2035 to do a tune up, replace the smoke element, side rods, rollers, etc. As a first engine to take apart, it's not an easy engine to get back together (although, now it's a snap). When it was finally reassembled and working, I couldn't find the big Phillips shell mounting screw that goes through the top. But I knew I was paying a visit to Trainland the next day to do some shopping and figured, I'd see if they had that screw. I also  wanted one of their repair people to look at the work I did on it to make sure everything was correct. It wasn't, but Sal, the tech, took care of that in about 5 minutes, but noticed that it suddenly seemed to have a bind in the drive mechanism. He gets out a flashlight and looks in there and said....."Son of a $%#@. There's your screw!".   My first experience with the Magna Traction Parts Sucker Phenomenon.    It sucked up the screw and deposited it between two gears.  It was the first time that happened to me and truth be told, it hasn't been the last

Roger

Two stories:

I was probably about five or six years old when I disassembled my 1060 Scout engine, including removing the drivers and the front stamped steel piece that holds on the pilot truck, the guides, etc.  My mother struggled with it, but she got the drivers back on and the whole thing screwed back together.  She was proud of herself for years after that.

My first constructive (versus destructive) repair involved "restoring" a 145 Gateman that I inherited from my cousins.  I think I was around 13.  I remember going to Hazlet Train Stop in NJ and buying replacement parts for all the things that were broken off (i.e., the red plastic gear under the door, the door itself, the blue man, and, of course, the crossing sign.  I replaced all those, replaced the lightbulb, and it all worked as good as new.

I had a "klong" moment as a fifteen year old when I realized that, for the price I'd paid Boyd Mason for the parts -- which were MPC equivalents and not even original -- I could have bought a good used gateman at a train show.  I still use the repaired 145 to this day on my layout and, if I can be a bit morbid, it's one of those items I might ask my children to slip into my pine box before they lower me underground...

Steven J. Serenska

 

As a kid needing to resolder the wires to the motor of my F3 or GP9.   Way back in the 70's or early 80's

Yes: The Train Clinic • Detroit, Michigan • The Sixties

We took the American Flyer engine, on a Detroit City Bus, to Schoolcraft & Grand River Ave. The shop was on a side street. You can still find their advertisements in old copies of "Model Railroader".  We took that city bus every where, I still ride the the bus, when I go to the International Auto Show, in downtown Detroit.

The building is still there, but it is the fellowship hall for the large church, next door. 

Gary

I one I remember the most was back about 15 years ago. I bought a 2343 Santa Fe that looked like someone took it out to a dirt pile and played with it in the dirt. It was caked full of dirt. I figured for $25 what the heck, it would be fun to try. After removing the shell and about 2 pounds of dirt from in it. I then decided it was time to take the motors apart ( I've never done this until then) After getting more dirt out of there and dried up grease & Dirt mixture out of it. I was shocked at least it appeared to be all there so reassembled and put it on the track. It did run but barely. So to be honest I sent it off to someone that repaired engines professionally. He went over it better. But did ask about some dirt he found in it. I told him the story and he was shocked it even tried to run after that.

Late to the hobby, my first "repair" two years ago didn't get past my attempts at troubleshooting a broken tethering harness wire.  I accidentally fried the circuit board in the process! 

My first repair that actually fixed something only involved taking the shell off a trolley, unscrewing a few things, and poking around to understand how the reverse mechanism worked.  It just needed grease.  Guess we all have to start somewhere.

Oh, and then there were the actual "first" first repairs. Thanks to help on this forum, I was able to file and fix two defectively manufactured turnout switches. Not a very sophisticated repair, but oh so critical to train operation.

Lastly, the Gilbert S gauge engine I remember my father maintaining at Christmas was so much simpler than any thing I have now.  When the engine was apart, he'd show me the can motor, the all important wire wrappings, the solenoid?,  and so on, and explain how they all worked together.  And then he'd actually fix something.

That reminds me, I have an overactive smoking unit to investigate ... Fortunately it shouldn't require going anywhere near electronic test probes!   

Tomlinson Run Railroad

I started fixing my own trains around 7th grade. I used to write to the AC Gilbert company for parts; they'd send me a parts diagarm, and I'd send back an order for the parts, 5¢ for this piece, 15¢ for another piece. Amazingly they would fill my orders. Where I grew up, there were no train stores, or even hobby shops. Before that, my Dad would send the engine away to "the Roundhouse" down in San Jose, as I recall. It would take months to get it back. Still have that engine, still runs too!!! Once I knew how to fix the trains (as I recall, "Popular Mechanics" printed a "toy train repair guide" that I used), I would fix some of my classmate's trains too.

When I was 9, I attempted to re-solder the lead coming off one of my tender trucks for my Atlantic. Didnt watch where I put the large iron I was using and melted part of the tender.  Still have the engine.