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Lionel 675 disassembly

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 1, 2017April 9, 2017lionel, Lionel 675, philips

The Lionel 675 and its brothers, the Lionel 2025 and Lionel 2035, are among the best locomotives Lionel ever made. That said, they still need maintenance from time to time. That usually requires you to disassemble them. Here’s a guide to Lionel 675 disassembly that also applies to the 2025 and 2035.

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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Wire a Marx motor without a reverse unit

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 19, 2017November 21, 2018e-unit, lionel, marx, o gauge, train show

At the last train show I attended, I bought a Marx locomotive that lacked a reverse unit. I found a mess of wires in its place, and of course it didn’t run. So I had to figure out how to wire a Marx motor without a reverse unit. When I wired it up to run correctly, it surprised me. It ran really nicely.

Dave Farquhar

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Repair a Lionel train motor

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 14, 2017December 5, 2021conductivity, e-unit, lionel, Lionel 675, lionel train, Lucas Red, marx, metal polish, oxidation, radio shack

If you want to fix a Lionel train, what you probably really need to do is repair a Lionel train motor. There isn’t much to the rest of the train.

The motors tend to be pretty rugged and they’ve held up over the years. Most “repairs” are really more of a clean and service job, not unlike taking your car in for an oil change. Here are some general principles to follow when you clean and service a Lionel motor.

Dave Farquhar

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All about the Lionel RW transformer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 13, 2017August 17, 2018american flyer, home depot, KW, lionel, LW, marx, power cord, Standard Gauge, tin, troubleshooting

The Lionel Multi-control Trainmaster RW is a sturdy tin box of a transformer from early in the postwar era. The presence of a whistle controller is the only thing that really distinguishes it from a prewar transformer. Lionel made it from 1948 to 1954. If you want to know all about the Lionel RW transformer, you’ve come to the right place. You probably won’t find a copy of the original instruction manual online but this will tell you all you need to know.

Dave Farquhar

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All about the Lionel KW

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 6, 2017August 1, 20171950s, 1960s, american flyer, diodes, KW, lionel, LW, marx, postwar lionel

The Lionel KW is the second most powerful, and second most popular Lionel transformer of the 1950s and 1960s. If the Lionel ZW was Lionel’s Cadillac, the KW was Lionel’s Buick. It was a 190-watt transformer and Lionel sold it from 1950 to 1965. It replaced Lionel’s 150-watt ZW lookalike, the VW.

Finding original KW instructions or an original KW manual online is a bit difficult, but there’s plenty the original instructions don’t mention.

Dave Farquhar

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All about the Lionel ZW

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 30, 2017July 27, 20221950s, 1960s, american flyer, amperage, diodes, KW, lionel, LW, marx, postwar lionel

The Lionel ZW is Lionel’s most iconic transformer of the 1950s and 1960s, and perhaps one of its most iconic products, period. Everyone wanted the two-handled, football-shaped, 275-watt powerhouse that was the ZW. It was one of Lionel’s more venerable postwar products, lasting on the market for 18 years from 1948 to 1966. It replaced Lionel’s former top-of-the-line transformer, the Z.

Finding original ZW instructions or an original ZW manual online is a bit difficult, but there’s plenty the original instructions don’t mention.

Dave Farquhar

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Replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 25, 2017August 1, 20171950s, diodes, lionel

Vintage Lionel transformers activated the whistle using a rectifier disc. These discs tend to degrade over time. You can expect to pay about $5 for a replacement disc. But a modern diode is much cheaper, works better, and is more reliable. Here’s how to replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel KW diode installation

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 23, 2017October 22, 2022amps, diodes, KW, lionel, locking pliers

Lionel transformers use a selenium rectifier disc to produce a jolt of DC voltage to activate their train whistle. These discs degrade over time, so a decades-old transformer often produces a pretty anemic whistle–even one of the bigger transformers like the 190-watt Lionel KW. Replace the disc with a diode for a cost effective and reliable fix for that wimpy whistle. Here’s a step by step guide to a Lionel KW diode upgrade.

Dave Farquhar

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How to avoid cleaning Lionel track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 13, 2017April 7, 2022Cleaning Lionel, conductivity, lionel, marx, oxidation, s scale

For some people, the only enjoyable part of cleaning Lionel track is arguing about how to do it. The rest of us don’t even enjoy that part. Recently I unearthed a decades-old secret that mostly eliminates the need to clean track. Sound too good to be true?

Dave Farquhar

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Repair Lionel ZW binding posts cheaply

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 10, 2017February 1, 2022lionel, locking pliers, marx, needle nose pliers

If your Lionel ZW or VW transformer lights up and hums but doesn’t output any voltage on one or more of its pairs of binding posts, there’s a good chance one or more of the binding posts is bad. It’s possible to repair Lionel ZW binding posts cheaply.

By far the most failure prone part of the Lionel ZW and VW is the binding posts where the wires connect to your track. Fortunately, there’s a workaround that works sometimes. But if you want something better than a workaround, a proper repair is cheap and not difficult.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

The Silicon Underground

lionel

Lionel 675 disassembly

Wire a Marx motor without a reverse unit

Repair a Lionel train motor

All about the Lionel RW transformer

All about the Lionel KW

All about the Lionel ZW

Replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode

Lionel KW diode installation

How to avoid cleaning Lionel track

Repair Lionel ZW binding posts cheaply

Read more