Modifications to the Lionel 060t Switcher

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Modifications to the Lionel0-6-0t Switcher

• By
• Joe Foehrkolb
• Baldwin Forge Machine
• Baldwin, Maryland

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The Lionel 0-6-0t

• Lionel introduced their new 0-6-0t tank engine in
  mid-2004 and after examining it at the Fall TCA
  meet in York, I purchased one with the idea of
  converting it to 2 rail scale operation. The
  following photos and text describe and show what
  I have done to this model to make it into a
  unique little steam era switcher for a scale 2
  rail layout.

3
Lionel Electronics

• I removed all of the Lionel electronics as well
  as the smoke piston and gear from my model. The
  engine only smoked when it was moving fast and
  the loco seemed to bind at times in reverse with
  the smoke piston connected soI removed the smoke
  piston. You can sell the electronics and parts
  to a Lionel repairman and recoup some of the cost
  of the engine!

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Drivers

• The first job I tackled was replacing the Lionel
  3 rail drivers with a new set of 48 drivers
  utilizing lost wax brass driver castings from
  Precision Scale Co, (PSC)
• Drivers were machined in my shop with 12L17 alloy
  steel tires.
• The Lionel axles were hardened so I made new
  axles from 5/32 drill rod. The Lionel axle
  bearings and worm gear were retained.

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Rods and Crankpins

• The Lionel side and main rods were kept on the
  model but I installed new crankpins machined from
  1/8 drill rod in the driver castings. The
  Lionel crankpin screws had oversized hex heads
  and I decided to do away with them. I think the
  smaller 0-80 crankpin screws look better. You
  may have to ream the Lionel rods slightly to
  accept the 1/8 crankpins if you use 1/8 rod as I
  did.

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Basic Loco w/ PSC 48 Drivers
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Rods with New Crankpins
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Electrical Pickups

• I made my electrical pickups for the insulated
  tires on the left side of the loco by drilling
  1/4 brass bar stock and inserting Kadee coupler
  springs and small brass plungers to contact the
  driver tires. The brass bar is insulated from
  the frame with 0.010 thick fish paper. A 2-56
  nylon screw holds the front pickup in place. The
  double rear pickup attaches to the original 3rd
  rail shoe pickup point that is already insulated.

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Electrical Pickups

• A 1/16 brass rod connects the front and rear
  pickup blocks and is held in place with 0-80 flat
  head screws. I made a small socket from a piece
  of brass tube and heat shrink tubing that fits
  over the 1/16 rod and connects via a short piece
  of wire through one of the original speaker holes
  to the left side motor brush.

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2 Rail Pick Ups
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Wiring Plug to Motor
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Brake Cylinders

• The Lionel frame casting has brake cylinders in
  relief cast into its sides below the locomotive
  cab. I decided to mill these low relief details
  off and replace them with PSC loco brake cylinder
  and clevises, The clevis hanger was made from
  3/16 square brass stock and screwed to the frame
  with 0-80 screws utilizing two of the holes in
  the frame where the sound speaker was.

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Brake Shoes

• Brake shoes were made up from some old Kemtron
  (now PSC) brass castings and hangers formed from
  1/32 x 3/32 Special Shapes flat stock. They
  are attached to the frame between the drivers
  with 00-90 x 1/4 long hex head screws. A small
  tubular spacer about 0.150 inches long keeps the
  hanger and shoe at the right location on the
  driver.

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PSC Brake Cylinder Shoes
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Rear Foot Boards

• Because of the Lionel hi-rail coupler swing,
  Lionel omitted foot boards on the rear of the
  loco. I made mine up using some Detail
  Associates flat brass stock. I pinned the foot
  boards to the model with tiny brass brads sold by
  a doll house supplier called the Houseworks.
  Drill a No 71 hole and drive the pins in! Add a
  drop of super glue and you have a permanent joint.

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Rear Foot Boards
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Kadee Couplers

• There is plenty of room to attach Kadee couplers
  to the front and rear of this model. I used
  Kadee 804s on this engine to eliminate the
  possibility of a short circuit when coupling to a
  metal car with metal wheelsets. If you leave the
  top plate off of the Kadee box, the coupler
  height is just about perfect when mounted.

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Whistle Sand Dome Lids

• I changed the Lionel whistle to a Kemtron whistle
  with lever and added a 0.008 brass bell rope. A
  small handrail stanchion was added to the rear
  sand dome to support the rope. The sand domes
  were drilled 1/16 in the center of their tops,
  flattened with a file, and brass lids, turned on
  the lathe were glued in place. The little
  handles on the lids are brass pins from
  Houseworks.

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Safety Valves

• I also added two safety (pop) valves to the top
  of the steam dome. These were brass turnings
  from All Nation (now Babbitt).

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Whistle. Pops Dome Lids
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Air Pump, Governor Piping

• A single stage air pump, pump governor and
  cooling piping with brackets were added to the
  left side of the smokebox. All of the castings
  are available from PSC.

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Air Pump Fittings
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Headlight Steam Generator

• I removed the original Lionel oil headlight with
  a razor saw and installed a new headlight
  bracket, headlight and steam generator in its
  place. This change does a lot to alter the
  appearance of this model. Numbers on front of
  the smokebox plate are photo engravings by Wilbur
  Epperly.

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Headlight, Generator Numbers
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The Finished (almost) Loco
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Conclusion

• I hope this presentation inspires you to try your
  hand at modifying one of these little locos. I
  would be happy to assist you with any machine
  work required to accomplish this conversion but
  encourage you to do the detailing yourself and
  create your own unique modelHAVE FUN!