Hello all. I am not an avid train collector. I had an O gauge when I was a kid in the late 60s. I ran across one from a neighbor. Its a Lionel set he got as a kid in 1949. comes with eng. tender open car tanker and caboose. It comes with transformer that was original and also a rotating flood light and stop light. He also had an extra dual transformer 90 volt and three cars that are not original to his set he picked up. A tanker, caboose and log car all O gauge. I bought it for 90 dollars. The eng. works. Tracks need some cleaning. Did I do OK or not? Thanks for any help. I will post photos later today.
edteach
Hello and Welcome to the Forum!
You have a nice, Postwar set. With the locomotive, cars, transformers, track and accessories, you did all right.
65+ years old and still running well, if you take care of it, I can easily see it running for another 65+ years.
You might want to consider picking up some wider curves, appear to be 027 in the video, so you can let her strech her legs without flying off the curve..
!!!PLEASE!!!
DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL ANY WHERE NEAR YOUR TRAIN & TRACK
Remember that experiment in physical science in grade school where they put metal filings on a sheet of glass and moved them around with a magnet?
Steel wool leaves fragments on the track when you use it, the locomotive, think big magnet, picks them up as it goes round. eventually shorts out the motor.
IF you must use anything, A green 3M scrub pad, heavy aluminum foil(the stuff they use for pans) alcohol on a rag or a track eraser to clean your track, never steel wool.
Dang. I wish I had known that. I used steel wool on the tracks to clean off the rust. I did afterward use a rag with WD on it to clean it off. I think I got it all off but let me know if I need to do something to the track further. Thanks for the input.
I took the track apart and ran a strong magnet over it all. Then I took my compressor and high air pressure and blew it all off. I think I got any residue off. I did the magnet and air on top and bottom. took a magnet to the plastic bag inside in case any residue was left in the bag and then wiped it out.
You might run a magnet over the track to pick up any left over steel wool particles.
the use of WD40 on track? some do some don't. I personally don't put fish oil on track. wd40 does have the ability to trap water between it and the metal it lubricates. so it's a chevy/ford question.
I have heard of folks putting a drop of smoke fluid on the track to help with connectivity, just a drop or two.
smoke fluid can also be used to clean the wheels on your locomotive.