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Got an Lionel postwar Erie 2032 on EBay

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pjdog350:
I got a Lionel postwar Alco 2033on ebay but it has allot of trouble pulling. The motor has the power but my track on my layout is MTH. MTH track does not work well with Magna-traction. So anything more than 6 or 8 cars the Alco just does wheel spin. I cleaned the wheels & track but it has trouble. So I'll just add another power unit and run it backwards. I'll have two motors working. I bought another power unit (2032) on EBay which arrived today. Much to my surprise when I open the box the battery is still in there from who knows when. I tried to get the battery out intact to see if it was an Everyready 1952 battery. But I had to beat the battery out. Now it's a wire wheel job. I’ll see what happens. It's what I love to do and makes the restoration projects worth bring old Lionel back to life!

starfire700:
Did the seller of the Erie Alco describe it as being that bad, or was the corrosion a total surprise?
You need to call in Haz-mat to remove the battery.

pjdog350:
I got on EBay and checked the description of the 2032. I was going to send a nasty gram to the seller. But when I looked over his description he stated ‘Look at all the pictures’ Sold as is. No returns.

The pictures clearly showed massive corrosion with the battery cover on. He never said the 1952 battery was still there but he did show the problem. So it’s not his fault. It’s my fault.

It was a shock to me because all I saw (looked at) was that it was a power unit in the description and cheap. $ 50.53. I think I probably looked at the first picture only cause I didn’t even remember seeing all that the seller provided.

I do this all the time. I see what I want to see not what’s there.  Even when I buy food at the food market. I get home and realize that I messed up?

It will work out. I can get a running power unit to give the 2033 a little help. The motor looks almost new. It’s perfect. The e-unit is a mess. One finger is gone and you can see where the drum has gotten hot and a finger was melted in the plastic of the drum? I’m trying to decide if I want to use just one e-unit for both motors or go the easy route and lock out e-units. One forward and one reverse. The problem with locking out the E-units sometimes it changes anyway. This has happened with the 671 helping the 2033 run pulling 11 cars?

pjdog350:
Today I got the 2032 Alco motor and e-unit cleaned and running very well. The frame has been sand blasted and primed and painted matt silver. The shell was washed and painted silver. The trucks had a bath in mineral spirits and turned out very well. Magna-traction sure does collect the metal between the wheels and frame. The first Alco (2033) was so bad it had trouble running. This one had allot of metal but was much easier to remove. The truck on the 2032 look allot better. In fact the motor and trucks look new. E-Unit not so much but does function well. I baked all the painted stuff so I'll start putting this all back together in the morning. The new windows and horn frame will not be here until the 18Th of this month. I already have the trim for the Alco shell. It will now be a 2033 silver UP.

Sure hope with two power units this set will pull on MTH track.

starfire700:
Sorry about your Alco deal, but glad you admit you did not look close enough.
We unfortunately have customers who do the same thing, don't read descriptions or look at pictures, then they buy, then they complain.
Customers return items saying it was "not as described" and Ebay always sides with the buyer, doesn't matter how much info the seller provided.
Thanks for posting this story and for making the best of the situation.
It is hard work acquiring, fixing, listing, selling and packing items for sale.

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