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I've done the original servicing on my NOS Lionel Southern GP-9, part number 6-18802.  It is quiet and pulls very well.  It is also too fast.  Is this a candidate for series wired motors?  There is a lot of room inside.  What upgrades would you do?  I'm hoping this becomes my favorite diesel engine.

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Bill, that Southern GP9 is a PERFECT candidate for rewiring the motors in series!

Another mod that I would do, personally, is to remove the plastic fuel tank, and insert a shim (maybe a thin piece of wood painted black) between the fuel tank and the chassis.  This will bring the fuel tank prototypically closer to the rails.  Add a few ounces of weight in there while you have it off.  Run, and enjoy!!

Bill- an ideal candidate. This looks like you have can motors in the trucks. The blue and yellow wires are the motor leads. Just trace the wires back to the board to confirm.

The swap is easy. Power out to one motor (yellow), power back from same motor (blue) gets connected to the same color wire from the other motor. The other yellow remains in tact. That's all it takes.

Not sure if the motors turn in opposite directions but you need to check before closing it up. If so just swap the wires between the motors.

Love the new set.

Bob

Per the "too fast" issue: so far as I know, modern transformers start at 0 volts, and older (Post War) transformers would start at 6 or so. If you are using older transformers they may be giving you "jack rabbit starts" (as they said back in the day). This loco platform, used by Lionel for various starter locos, is certainly geared for light speed, but with good voltage control they can start and run at something less that Warp 7. I have done it.

The series wiring is definitely a good idea; too easy to not do.

So this is what I did....

The power out to the DC motors is from the Red and Black wires on the circuit board (W3 and W4).  The Blue and Yellow wires are AC from the track (W1 and W2).  The Red from the board connects to the Red wire on the leading truck.  The Black wire from the leading truck connects to the Black wire on the trailing truck.  The red wire on the trailing truck connects to the Black wire from the circuit board.  It works perfectly.  So much better for switcher duty.

This worked so well that I will seek out more of these engines.  Thanks go to the OGR collective intellect.

Bill

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