My little Spokane Portland & Seattle docksider from Lionel siezed up today. Has this happened to anyone else? Will be taking it apart tomorrow to see what is locked up.

Before you take the loco apart, check to see if something is caught in one of the gear teeth. I've had this happen and it "locks" the wheels. If you can rotate the wheels by hand, try reversing the wheels to see if they will turn. If you can turn them, see if if it locks again in the same place.

You'll need a jeweler's screw driver or a dental pick to clean the gear teeth. It doesn't take much to bind the gears.

The SP & S Docksider from my nieces' Cascade Logging set also is locked up- their engine lights and horn sounds when power is applied, but no motion. I haven't inspected it yet but I have never had any trouble from my Copper Range 0-6-0.

Geno

Trainrep, thanks for the suggestions. Tried moving the wheels forward or backwards by hand, they are frozen solid, will not budge. I will check to see if there is anything lodged in the gears before tearing apart.

quote:

The SP & S Docksider from my nieces' Cascade Logging set also is locked up-

Hi Geno, strange that such a simple conventional loco would have these problems. I can understand the electronics issues with the delicate CC locomotives but a conventional loco should be bullet proof since a lot of them are in the hands of the kids.

I remember hearing something about a gasket or O ring getting stuck in the smoke unit in these engines. The thread should only be a few weeks old, so if you search for it, you should be able to find it.

Bill, I had one that did the same thing. I just bought a new one; not worth the hassle.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Terry:

quote:

The SP & S Docksider from my nieces' Cascade Logging set also is locked up-

Hi Geno, strange that such a simple conventional loco would have these problems. I can understand the electronics issues with the delicate CC locomotives but a conventional loco should be bullet proof since a lot of them are in the hands of the kids.

Hi Brian, I have another one from a set that I will switch shells if I can't fix the SP&S. I did not realize that these little guys have a mechanicle fault.

I have several of the Docksides, as well, but wasn't aware that there was any sort of commonly experienced mechanical problem. Mine don't see a whole lot of running these days because I'm pretty much focused on two roadnames, neither of which is available for the Dockside, but back when they did see a good bit of operation I didn't have any particular problems with them. I do recall that they are a bit of a bear to take apart (and get back together), and I probably would just rather replace the thing then mess with getting to its innards.

We ran one on the Westinghouse Caslte Club layout this past holiday season. Rand everyday for 3 weeks then it just sat there and ran.No movement.The gear had slipped out of place.One of our members fixed it but it has done the same thing.

Bill,

I've had mine apart a few times for smoke unit (flames out the stack) and the highlight not working. You may want to try the smoke unit plunger to see if it's jammed and keeping the wheels from turning.

A call to Lionel may not hurt, they are great little engines.

And fyi no parts available until after August 1st (that's another story).