Got a nice little AF prewar boxcab as a gift:
A little oil and a quick resolder of the headlight wire later, the little indefinite ran okay!
Had to Loctite the ungeared wheels and freshen up the motor and wiring, so I unsoldered the cab and did repairs, including shrinktubing the motor and headlight leads...
The lever at left is the reverser. American Flyer offered special reversing ramps to work with them.
If I decide to pursue matters further, replacement wheelsets are a must as the current wheels are 80% zinc, 10% zinc pest and 10% JB Weld.
Added a bit of vintage wire to the headlight socket. Kept breaking off, so I gave up and added some repro Lionel flex wire. 
Surprisingly, two of the original tabs were still in place and straightenable.
After prepping the other side:
I fabricated new tabs from brass angle.
Soldered in place.
Measured the old tabs to get the width.
Trimmed to size.
They work!
The sideframes are held in place by big honkin' cotter pins...
Headlight hooked up...
And time for a test run, with the expert assistance of Norma...
Mitch
