Toy trains Archives

Lionel CW-80 vs vintage transformers

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 18, 2016September 5, 20191950s, KW, lionel, Lionel 675, LW, MTH

Someone asked me recently about the Lionel CW-80 and how it compares vs older transformers. That’s a fair question, and one that tends to stir up a lot of emotions on train forums. So I’ll try to present the pros and cons in a fair manner.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Your Lionel 675 light doesn’t work? Here’s the fix.

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 12, 2016March 24, 2019lionel, Lionel 675

Your Lionel 675 light doesn’t work, you say? Mine didn’t either, but the fix was really simple. You might not even need any parts.

The postwar 675 (and its brothers, the 2025 and 2035) have a quirk in their design that can make the light bulb quit working. But it’s easy enough to fix it, once you know what to look for.

Dave Farquhar

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Wooden ties for electric train track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 8, 2016December 4, 2018american flyer, lionel, marx, Marx O27, o gauge, o27, s gauge, super glue

Someone asked me the other day about the dimensions of the metal ties on vintage electric train track, presumably to cut some wooden ties to match. So I pulled some track out of my stash, got out my caliper, and took some measurements.

Vintage electric train track from American Flyer, Lionel and Marx had large gaps in between the ties. Filling those gaps makes the track look more finished and a bit more realistic.

Matching them exactly using the wood and the tools available to you may be difficult, but you don’t have to be exact. I have some tips for that as well.

Dave Farquhar

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Get more transformer outputs by using a grounding bus bar

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 1, 2016September 10, 2017american flyer, DCC, DCS, hardware store, HO, home improvement, lionel, marx, MTH, tin, train table

Train transformers have one pair of screws for each output, which is generally enough for a simple layout, but once you have more than one accessory or building with lights in it, you’ll find it’s difficult to attach all of the wires to the transformer posts.

You can get more on the cheap by repurposing ground bus bars, intended for circuit breaker panels. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel 1033 transformer repair and troubleshooting

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 31, 2015March 27, 2023amps, lionel, troubleshooting

As I’ve written before, Lionel 1033 transformers are well regarded because they’re reasonably high wattage (90 watts), very readily available, relatively inexpensive and pretty dependable. They really only have one design flaw: the circuit breaker. Here’s how I approach Lionel 1033 transformer repair.

The circuit breaker in my 1033 went bad a couple of years ago. I finally got around to replacing it.

Dave Farquhar

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Repair a Weller soldering gun

Dave Farquhar Landlording, model railroading, Toy trains December 29, 2015March 23, 2019DIY, radio shack

I scored a Weller 8200 soldering gun at an estate sale one street over from me for a few dollars. They didn’t know what they had. I got it home and it didn’t work–it wouldn’t heat up–so maybe they knew exactly what they had. Lucky for me, it’s easy to learn how to repair a Weller soldering gun yourself.

Make sure the tip isn’t broken, then loosen the two nuts that hold the tip to the gun, then tighten the two nuts back down tightly. This breaks away oxidation and provides a good mechanical and electrical connection required to conduct heat.

Dave Farquhar

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All about the Lionel 1033

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 25, 2015January 2, 2018american flyer, home depot, KW, lionel, marx, power cord, troubleshooting

The Lionel Multi-control 1033 is a 90 watt transformer produced from 1948 to 1956. They are reasonably durable and were popular in their day, which means there are still a lot of them floating around so they tend to be inexpensive. I paid $70 for one about 15 years ago but the price has come way down; today you can get a serviced 1033 for about half that, and an as-is one for $20-$25.

Even someone who has a larger transformer or multiple larger transformers for the layout might be interested in a 1033 for the test bench, as it has all of the functionality someone would need for testing locomotives and whistling tenders.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx trains and the “fat wheel”

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 21, 2015December 20, 2015lionel, marx, marx trains

On many Marx trains, the driving gear extends to the full width of the drive wheel, making that wheel effectively wider than the other one. This causes interoperability issues with other manufacturers, especially on switches and crossings.

A very common question, therefore, is which Marx trains lack the dreaded fat wheel.

Dave Farquhar

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Why to never use steel wool to clean electric train track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 20, 2015September 2, 20173m, american flyer, hardware store, ives, lionel, lionel train, marx, marx trains, postwar lionel, tin

You may have heard to never use steel wool to clean electric train track, especially Lionel, but you may have never heard the reason why.

There is a good reason.

Dave Farquhar

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How to attach wires to the posts of a Lionel train transformer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 19, 2015November 24, 2016american flyer, lionel, lionel train, lockon, marx

It took me 20 years to find out I was connecting the wires to my train transformer wrong–and this applies to American Flyer and Marx just as much as to Lionel–and I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. I was making it far, far too difficult to attach wires to the posts of a Lionel train transformer.

Modern transformers have a groove in the post to accept a wire, but vintage transformers don’t. If you’re having problems with the wires coming off your transformer while you try to cinch them down, here’s how to connect to a vintage transformer in three simple steps.

Dave Farquhar

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