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Here’s some before/ after pics of detailed cleaning from 66+ years of funk on the frame & truck assemblies of Lionel’s Southern 2356T (Non Powered A Unit). In the last pic, you can see the amount of grime accumulated over the years from just this alone. All that’s needed now is to reattach the shell & lubricate for its new life here on the rails @ FRV.
Next up is the B Unit, then on to the A Powered Unit…

Happy Friday to Y’all Train Folk!


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  • Front truck assembly
  • Rear truck assembly
  • Scraping buildup w/ a dental pick.
  • Front all clean
  • Rear all clean
  • 66+ years of grime removed.
Videos (2)
Mineral spirits bath.
Horns sounding good.

Flint that is one good looking PW Sothern great shape and a job well done cleaning! By chance what do you use to clean? I enjoy buying PW engines that need to be brought back to life again and run for another 70 years. Think for me just tearing them apart and degreasing is just as much fun as running.  God Speed enjoy the fourth of July!

Last edited by OGR CEO-PUBLISHER

Today’s Tip is brought to you by
800 Grit Sandpaper...

Do you want your contacts on your O22’s to be clean & refreshed as possible making a super snappy connection when activated?
Take a tiny piece of sandpaper (I’ve got all grits, but using 800 here) & polish the upper contact by applying lite pressure w/ your finger & scrub the paper back & forth a couple times. Flip over & get your bottom contact. I use a tiny flat end pick to apply pressure while scrubbing each available face as switch is in said position. The bath it’s sitting in is mineral spirits, which I find works best for me. You may choose whatever cleaning agent of your preference.
They’re so clean, an ant could use those contacts as a mirror. 🪞🐜
With a bit of elbow grease & effort, You too can have worrisome & trouble free O22’s that are super responsive & a pleasure to operate.    
Bottom pic is my current project. Finally getting around to cleaning switches & laying track for this 30”x8’ addition off the original 8’x8’ layout. Put it off for far to long, so I’m pretty excited to get this tackled!

From Eli here @ FRV,
Y’all have a Wonderful Monday!


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  • Cleaning upper contact.
  • Cleaning lower contact.
  • Completely cleaned switch housing.
  • Last work to get done on the main level.

I’m sure there’s info already out there like this, but here’s my take on it.
Lionel’s 153 Block Signal is a great little accessory, & is super easy to work right alongside your O22 Switch. This isn’t even three minutes long, & basically shows the tools & materials needed to perform a few simple tasks & perhaps have a “brighter” view of things.

Eli! Just what I have been looking for! It’s like Christmas right now!

the 2332 black GG1 refurbish was an illumination of what’s inside mine! I have  a Black 2332, a 2340, and a 2360 shelving their inner souls! So, that being expressed I want to thank you for that refurb video you posted. I have always been a bit intimidated to open them and maybe hear Boing! Stuff scattering about! Lol. So many parts! My  steamers have been no stress fun but the GG a whole N’other thing! but really you have given me some hope. Certainly more game to set it all out methodically and just go for it. Thanks buddy, I appreciate you.

btw, that single motor 2332 when the entire mechanism is done right walks away with the congressional cars! Holy smokes man! Got my attention.

Do You Want good solid Track Connections for your Power Feeders or Block Powered Sections across Your Layout?

Here’s a 2 min 40 sec Tutorial on how simple it is to solder your Power Wires to your Tinplate Track. Having good solid connections is key, for All wiring aspects of Your Railroad!

One thing I’d like to add:
If the three strips of solder are not enough, use it/ them to get the wire/s secure- then add more solder off the roll as needed. Be sure to hold your wire down when adding more solder, so it stays in place where you want it to & doesn’t move on you.

Hope this brief clip helps some of you w/ your layout wiring!

Have a great evening, Y’all!

~Eli

(I have had numerous criticism of this clip, saying “the joints are poor quality”, “cold joints that are sure to fail”, & some folks “shuddering at the lack of flux paste used”. Let me assure Any & All of those that this particular solder joint is/ was heated up properly, & is in no way a “cold & or poor joint”. And by the chance that You happen to think otherwise, I will give you my address & you can come test them across the entire layout for Yourself… Any Takers?!?!?
If You’ve followed along at all, this ain’t My First Rodeo! And if you were to yank/ jerk/ pull/ & or grab at any of these power feeder wires solder joints- the wire would break off the strand long before the joint ever broke.
This is Toy Trains Y’all, NOT soldering per specs from NASA on the Space Shuttle…..)


Last edited by Flint Rock Valley

I’m  loving this thread as well!  I plan on refurbishing a number of my childhood postwar trains when I get some more free time next year after I retire. Fortunately, Eli has already featured a number of them in his videos within this thread, so I am looking forward to following his process.  Keep ‘em coming, Eli.  Can’t wait until you get to those US Marines/Army missile engines, showing us how you replace that sponge and get those missiles firing again as well as the usual deep clean!

Picto Series of stripping down Lionel’s Postwar 6425 3-Dome Gulf Tanker from 1956 for a deep cleaning.
Notice the bent handrail & the rusty wheel.
All tools used to perform this project are as shown, minus dawn dish soap, a paint brush & a different toothbrush & warm water, & my favorite little mini vise used to straighten out the handrail (& of course oil at the very end for lubricant).  
All I used to clean the handrail was the scotchbrite pad. Also, only one ladder needs to be removed for complete disassembly  

Now that there’s Fresh Oil pumping out deep from the bellows of FRV, we’ve gotta have somewhere to put it for transport. This is the first tanker car of my original set of ten.

One down… Nine to go!
(& that’s not including the 30+ I acquired all together a few months ago. lololol)


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These Ten Tanker Cars have waited patiently well over a decade for their opportunity to Ride the Rails of FRV.
As w/ any engine/ rolling stock/ etc, not a single thing hits the track till they’ve been thoroughly gone through & made as new as possible.
It’s a lovely site to see the crud knocked off the wheels & everything dust free gliding down the tracks. It’s been a long time I’ve waited to tackle this project, & couldn’t be happier seeing them finally on the layout.

Hope Everyone enjoys the clip,
& Thanks for Watching!

On to the next project…

@jjm: Yes they’re decals, of the all original variety. Each car is all original & nothing was replaced. The shells cleaning/ detailing process involved nothing more than dawn dish soap & warm water, along w/ a toothbrush & a chip brush. All the frames & truck assemblies were cleaned/ detailed using mineral spirits w/ a toothbrush, stainless wire brush, & a beat up scotchbrite pad.
Tons of detailed pics n’ clips of full cleaning/ detailing processes on my channel…    
And Thank You, Sir!

I have a pristine all original 2354 ABA, of which some months ago turned the rear 2354T unit into a 2354P. I used the nice shell & put it on a second (decent) 2354P motor & truck frame I had laying around. So now I’ve got a Dual Powered 2354 ABBA for the rails. After that project was done, I took the (decent, not the one to the set)) B Unit & customized it to house an operating Horn. This little project has been on the back burner, as I still need to finish fashioning the horn holder. It’ll be a fun train when done.
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As I’ve stated before, not every rebuild gets posted on the youtube channel. I share most all of my stuff on my facebook page, & some on instagram. So if you’re interested in the daily ins & outs of FRV, that’s a great place to see what goes on here weekly.
Here we have my first F3 ever, The Texas Special AB. After many many years of just sitting there, they finally made their way into The Service Yard. Along w/ the original AB Units, I custom built a rear 2245P from a random decent shell & a complete all original 2333 motor & truck frame. Creating an all powerful Dual Engine ABA Texas Special.
Hope Y’all enjoy the views!

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Videos (3)
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There again, not everything gets an actual rebuild clip of its own.  
In keeping w/ The Texas Special theme, I decided to get out these 210 AA’s & 211 AA’s, both all original. I rebuilt these so quickly I didn’t even take the time to document hardly a thing.
I am proud to present to Y’all this beautiful Dual Engine Powered Texas Special AAAA Lashup.

Thanks to those that watch & care… Enjoy!
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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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