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General Lionel & Model Train Discussion => General Lionel Model Train Discussion => Topic started by: Richtim on September 21, 2019, 09:38:36 am

Title: AEC 57 Switcher
Post by: Richtim on September 21, 2019, 09:38:36 am

I just purchased NIBox AEC 57 Lionel switcher from 1998 that appears to have never been run. I oiled all pivot points, greased the gears and cleaned the wheels. It ran a little sluggish so I put 2 drops of oil into the armature and it ran much better. I am still seeing a lot of sparks by the pickup rollers as I run the engine. Is this normal? What causes this?  I have an old 44 Lionel missile engine that also has a lot of sparking as I run the engine. Any thoughts?.....Rich

Title: Re: AEC 57 Switcher
Post by: TrainLarry on September 21, 2019, 05:10:27 pm

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing to do is clean all the wheels and the pickup rollers with 'Q' tips dipped in Naphtha to get them nice and clean. The next step is to clean all the track with a cloth wetted with Naphtha.

These procedures should limit the sparking that you see. Some sparking is normal.


Larry