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The Official blog for Lionel LLC, makers of LIonel Trains and American Flyer.
Lionel LLC
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I would like to become a Lionel authorized repairman. How do I accomplish this?
To become an authorized repairman, you’ll need to attend a service station training course at our Canfield, Ohio office and successfully pass the exam at the end.
Training courses are offered once a year during the summer. We’ll announce the 2012 dates in March/April. Hope to see you there!
I am interested in this as well.
Thanks I will be there!
Adam
I would like to know on the Halloween Trolly I just find a dealer to get or the dealers just give me a stupid answer, getting real tired of these dealers can’t give you a straight answer anymore, can you please Help !!!!!!
I’ll do my best to answer your question. Are you looking to find the Halloween Trolley?
How can i restore the magnatraction on my postwar lionel lines 2037
There are several things that could be causing the problems. If it is simply a loss of magnetism, a magnetizer will do the trick. Chances are it is not an expensive repair, but we recommend that you take the engine to one of our qualified service centers. You can find one near you by using our locator: http://www.lionel.com/CustomerService/Dealers/ You can also give our Customer Service a call directly at 586-949-4100 or email us at talktous@lionel.com.
Thanks, also when my 2037 passes a track switch the front wheels derail, can you help me with that?
Again, it could be a couple of things. The wheels may be slightly out of gauge, there may be too much or too little tension on the pilot truck, these are common common causes and probably another simple fix for one of our service centers.
Lionel, do you have plans to continue the Postwar Celebration Series and Conventional Classics? These are my favorites, and there are so many more items/sets you can reproduce that I know many collectors would love to see re issued!!!
I can’t comment on specifics, but yes, you will see more to come in these lines!
My air whistle in my Lionel tender is blowing constantly. How can I fix this?
Nick, there are a couple of things that could be causing it. First a question, are you using this in the US or in Europe? (I ask because this is a common problem when trying to run our products on European 80Hz current.) If that is the case, you’ll want to get a voltage converter. Another quick thing to try is reversing the wires on your power supply (red wire to black post, black to red).
If neither of those solve the problem, please give our Customer Service a call at 586-949-4100 or email talktous@lionel.com
Would like to repaint my Lionel Scout black, what is the best way to do this?
There are a variety of ways to do this. An airbrush will provide the best results, but you can get decent results with a can of spray paint if you are careful. It is best to remove the shell from the frame and the mechanism first. The Scout has a pretty simple paint scheme, so stripping may not be abosolutely necessary, but if you want to remove the existing paint first, soak the shell in Windex – this usually works very well as a model paint stripper and will not harm the metal or any plastics underneath. If that isnt potent enough, there are paint strippers available at hobby shops. Make sure you wash the body throroughly to remove any dust and fingerprints prior to painting. You may want to practice on an old car or just some scrap prior to starting on the locomotive.
We’ll be doing some blogs on painting and weathering in the coming months as a follow up on the diorama modeling project that is currently ongoing.
THANK you for a timely response!
I’m a Lionel Blog reader now.
Thanks Lionel! For great products for well over a century, capturing model railroad hobbyists both young and old.
Does the new shark Submarine work like The Postwar Submarine?
Sorry Nick,
Our new subs are not designed to operate.
Now that I’ve repainted my 246X Scout black, what is the best way to letter the engine number?
You have a couple of options here. If you really trust your hand, you could try hand painting with a very fine brush. I would practice on something else first however. (This works better if you have a raised surface to paint. It sounds impossible, but it can be done.)
An easier option is to use decals or dry transfers. You can find lots of varieties and sizes of generic letters and numbers in common railroad fonts, as well as decals for many railroads as well. Not sure if you’re trying to do a restoration of the original scheme or going with something new… If you want to match the orginal you may have some luck with generic letter sets or you may want to do a search for reproduction Lionel lettering decals. It’s not something we stock, but there is probably another supplier out there who has capitalized on the idea.
Either decals or dry transfers are a pretty easy application. Follow the instructions with the kit. If you are doing a letter-by-letter job, lay out the design first a lightly pencil in a straight line for reference. Take care to keep the letters straight and evenly spaced. One advantage of decals over dry transfers is you do have a little time to maneuver things.
Decals genereally adhere better to a glossy paint surface. If you’ve used flat paint, you can clear coat with gloss before applying the decals. After the transfers or decals are in place, it is important to protect them with another coat of clear spray. Flat or gloss will work. Some modelers recommend spraying with gloss first, then flat if you want a flat finish. This hides the film around the edges of the decals better.
Hope that helps, good luck and have fun!
What is the difference between The 700e and the 700ew Hudsons?
I double checked with our friends at the TCA Museum on this one… there is no difference. The “e” is for the e unit reverser and the “w” was used to identify a locomotive with a whistle. Since all of the original Hudsons had both, they are all technically 700ew. But over time this has often been shortened to just 700e – easier to say and still specific enough to distinguish them from the 700k kits.
I recently purchased a polar express elf handcar. On the side that has two elfs, the elfs can jam into the center post during use stopping the car. Lionel site photo shows the elfs facing out from the car. A Google photo shows the two elfs facing in. Does it make a difference which way the elfs face? Is it normal for the elfs to jam when they try to flip over the top of the bar that the hands hold on to? Running the car at a slower speed worked for 10 minutes then jamed stopping the handcar.
The elves are designed so that they can be positioned either way. Our best advice is to try and position them whichever way seems to work best for you. There is probably no way to completely eliminate the jams, but if you may find a little better luck one way or the other.
Where can I get a 2 wheel rear truck for my 2026
Where I get a 2-wheel rear truck for my postwar 2026
Try these two sites: http://www.traintender.com or http://www.smottystoytrainparts.com