Fixing a Wheel assembly

[WestCelt]

I recently purchased a GP-9 Minneapolis and St. Louis off E-Bay.  It had never been opened.   Even the Cardboard cutouts around the wheel assemblies were still on.  Little card to register etc....    Imagine my surprise when one of the four wheels on the front just DROPPED off  .   It was not on the shaft even though the blurb says all trains are checked and tested before they are shipped etc....    So, how can I get the wheel back on the shaft.    I'm assuming since it was bought off e-bay the warranty will be bye bye.   

thanks for any help,   

[671]

Hi WestCelt,

            671 here. I am assuming that the wheel does not slide easily onto the axle.
Here is my suggestion:
1.  Remove truck assembly from chassis. From my memory this would be the steps needed.
             A.  Remove plastic body shell by removing 4-6 screws holding body to chassis
             B.  Remove electric motor from the truck assembly that needs the wheel. A single Philips head screw from the underside of the truck will release the motor.
             C.  At this point the truck should be free of the chassis unless a wire is attached to it. I.e center roller pickup.
              D.  Once you have freed the truck from the chassis you can now remove the side skirting ( brakes etc ) with the removal of the screw that holds this decorative piece to the truck ( Both sides )
              E.  Take the truck and the missing wheel to your bench vise. You will use the vise to press on the wheel to the axle. Shield with wood ( paint mixing sticks work well ) to prevent the vise from damaging the wheel set. Slowly press the wheel onto the axle keep taking measurements of the decreasing width between the wheel flanges. Once that width is the same as the other wheel width, you are done!
              F    Reassemble, lubricate and grease the gears.

I have used this method to correct wheels that were not pressed to the correct width. It is easy and does a perfect job. Let us know how you make out.

                                                 671

[WestCelt]

Wow, I'm going to cut and paste that  info.  Thanks, I'll keep it for future need but I got it to work using a different approach.  I got it to work using wedges and a C clamp.    Now, I'm using this beauty on a Lionel LW transformer with 115 watts and 60 cycles.  The Whistle will not sound, but the train speeds up!   I tried it with a Lionel zw and the bell rang but the train was moving, I thought the bell sounded when the train is stopped anyway the Whistle still will not sound.   any Ideas?   I hate to wrap and ship for repairs.    The LZ is old and that might be a problem.   other folks in the local Lionel run Lionel and Williams with a mix of transformers and don't seem to have problems.

[671]

Hi WestCelt,

              The Lionel transformer only sends the whistle overlay D.C. pulse in one direction. If the bell is able to ring and you want the whistle to blow, this what is needed to be done.

              Switch the two feed wires at the transformer posts. This will change the D.C. pulse's direction. This will now allow the whistle to blow when the whistle lever is engaged.

              If you want to be able to blow the whistle or ring the bell without switching wire location all the time, you will need to either DYI whistle bell switch, or purchase a ready made one. Lionel makes one for their newer trains when used with a conventional transformer.

              I believe a web site J&C Studios has a Whistle-Bell switch on their site.

                                            Good luck...671

[Len]

The old Lionel transformers used a rectifier disk (PN: 1041-13) to change 5V AC tapped off the main transformer winding to DC to trigger the whistle/horn relay in the loco. If the loco speeds up, and you get no whistle or bell with the LW, it means the rectifier disk has gone bad. These discs are no longer available from Lionel, but are available from many third party vendors. I've gotten them from Olsen's Toy Trains, The Train Tender, and several other places. They're pretty simple to replace.

Keep in mind the LW is one of those odd-ball transformers that uses the 'A' posts as 'Common', which should connect to the outside rails. The 'U' post on this transformer is actually the "Hot" that connects to the center rail. If not connected this way, using fixed voltage posts 'B' and 'C' for accessories connected to the outside rail for the return path will result in dead shorts.

Normally the shiny side of the replacement rectifier disc faces the mounting bracket. If this causes the bell to ring, instead of the horn blowing, just flip it around so the shiny side is away from the bracket.

Len