So a fellow brings in a 1940ish #1684 and asks maybe you could clean this loco up and get it running for me. I probably could I say they are almost bullet proof. I unbolted the E unit and the drum rolled out into my hand! I have never seen one in this condition before and can't imagine how it got that way short of bashing it with a hammer or putting it in a vice. Fortunately I had another that I could pop in to replace it and got the old girl running again.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I've seen a few drums that were distorted and "melted" in a fashion similar to yours. I think a couple were even new, old stock. Maybe Lionel ran some drums out of a different material that didn't hold up over time. Don't really know.
At least one was that same green color. I think the others were red and maybe blue. I thought them to be odd, and saved them. But where did I stash them?
I cleaned up a 1666 for a guy and the E-unit drum was in the exact same condition as the one in your pic. His drum was red, I don't think it was heat damage, just weird plastic.
I have also seen a couple that were this bad or worse. One was red and one was green. One had the nub on one side broken off and the drum had shorted against the fingers. It was left to sit with the power on which melted the plastic of the drum since the transformer did not trip.
I've seen this several times myself. Found one that was probably in progress. In that one, the finger that caught the plastic spikes on the side had worn into the plastic enough that it eventually made contact with the copper on the drum. Yeah, it got hot. I would have thought the fingers would have given out first. Maybe they were replaced a couple of times without replacing the drum.
Eeewwww, that's nasty looking.
pretty nasty
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
