A: Don’t head for the garbage cans yet! The smoke was caused by dirty and oxidized armature and brush faces. Remove the brushplate and brushes from the motor. Then, with a fine emery cloth or paper, polish the armature face and the contact surface of the brushes. Clean out the slots on the armature face with a needle or pin, but don’t dig too deep. Reassemble the motor, lubricate it, and run it. The smoke should be gone, and if you run the trains regularly (this burns out the carbon and oil), you shouldn’t have the problem again.
1950s Lionel Geep smokes
By | September 17, 2010