Can We Make It Run? Strange Lionel GP9 Locomotive

[@trainstorm1225]

Nothing like getting home from a stressful day at work and getting that SMT notification.

[@antonbruce1241]

You had to work on a Saturday? TOTAL BUMMER!!!!!

[@trainstorm1225]

@@antonbruce1241 my shifts are 6:00-10:30 on Saturday and Sunday nights. Sure it stinks, but I’m just glad to have a well paying job that I enjoy.

[@antonbruce1241]

@@trainstorm1225 And with COVID-19 shutdowns or slowdowns, consider yourself blessed! My employer (I work in the film business) is still mostly shut down until the studios ramp back up. I'm getting like 10 hours/week - which sucks compared to the 40-50 hours I used to get. That being said - I'm glad for ya! And...have a great night!!! Finally...SMT's a bloody genius, isn't he!!!!

[@trainstorm1225]

@@antonbruce1241 I hope all turns out well for you guys! You have a good night as well!

[@randallellison6421]

@@antonbruce1241 I worked Saturday too! In fact as I'm typing this, I'm getting ready to go to work now!

[@jeffklockowskisr8377]

When you disassembled the front truck the electrical connections are on the copper strips look closely you can see where the wire originally was soldered . Nice job getting it running

[@tracynation2820]

Super. When I was a kid, fifty years ago, l had a Christmas where I was allowed to spend twenty five dollars at the hobby shop. I could have gotten an Athearn superpower F-7A unit and matching F-7B dummy unit for less than the price of the Lionel GP-9. It was a hard decision but I choose the Geep, and after fifty years of fantastic operation, both inside and outside, I think that I made the right choice. P.S. I also bought the Athearn units, and they survived my railroad too. Having all wheel drive and pickup, covered gearboxes, good motors and bearings, and enough weight to really pull a train makes for a much longer lasting locomotive. 💙 T.E.N.

[@Ansowhat]

SMT Mainline 2020 “That looks pretty sus” 2:19

[@inhex1603]

xD

[@majmikecalnan]

It is next to impossible to solder zamac unless you copper plate it.

[@PapaMav]

Tapping threads for a screw that then can be soldered to is the way to go.

[@TRRailfan]

I really like high hoods and that GT paint scheme, good job getting it working again!

[@raymarshall6721]

We have one of these still in the GT paint in Idaho that shunts cars at a couple of elevators. It has some strange modification to the exhaust which looks hilarious (almost like an old wood burn stack from steam). Cant believe it is still running.

[@PopExpo]

That's awesome, a HO scale Lionel with a General Electric motor in it! And it has metal gears! I'm going to consider that hobby grade.

[@haroldalexis4200]

A fine repair on that GT GP 9 that's my railroad too. Yay! A good runner!👍

[@FRANKS841]

i remember them that was how they came i toke them apart in mid 90s and its the same in side ill never forget it it had one drive

[@SlapthePissouttayew]

Yep-I had a couple of these in the 80s. That IS how they came with only one truck powered.

[@randallellison6421]

Definitely one of the more interesting models to appear on your channel SMT! Looks like the GP9 would have come with a motor similar to Athearn's blue box locomotives, I'll have to research that sometime, great job nonetheless!

[@Trainman777]

A EMD GP9 powered by a GE motor. Interesting.

[@TheDiamondFish]

🤔

[@MomoLZR.]

Hahaha

[@RuneTheFirst]

Lionel once bragged about having GE motors. Probably impressed the general public. Unfortunately, few were looking to buy train sets in Lionel's price range. Tyco and Life-Like got the field.

[@mercuryoak2]

Good ole Lionel and a GE motor .That is a strange locomotive I think I have seen pictures of these online somewhere or there is one at a train museum and its not running. Great work getting it to run. It looks like Athearn type setup inside. Sure does have that color to be noticed. Fact is General electric made motors for fans clocks etc. Clock radios, stereos,record players as well as light bulbs power cords and them transformers you see on telephone poles. My late grandparents worked at GE in Lynn Massachusetts after WW2 thats where they met in 1946- 1947 they were married Oct 11.. My grandmother would put coils in the transformers the round ones and they fill them with oil. My grandfather was the inspection guy I think.

[@markwilliams2620]

GT was the mainline through Mt Clemens, MI. Still is. Lionel was in Mt. Clemens at the time.

[@ErickC]

For what it's worth, it's a GP7. You can tell because GP7 hood louvers look like this (front to back): == = = Whereas GP9 louvers look like this: == == = If that makes sense.

[@markvittorini5163]

Photo from Lionel shows body off frame and only one drive shaft on the GP9. Think your only real issue was the electrical connection which was a great fix. I woulda checked the other non-drive gear set just to see what was keeping them locked up although your decision to just remove the 3 gears was reasonable.

[@timpriddy349]

Too much blue.......gotta weather that beauty

[@garysprandel1817]

Irony: a GE motor in an EMD product. Save those gears so if you ever get a spare motor that'll allow drive shafts on both ends you can restore it to full drive.

[@piedmontrailfan81]

So yesterday I went to the North Carolina transportation museum and we got to ride a train there, and the locomotive was a southern railway gp9 and 12 Norfolk Southern cars of the same color!

[@barrydelaney6748]

Years ago I had a Rock Island FA2 by Lionel with the exact same drive in it. It would pull like a horse. I believe they were made by Athearn for Lionel. Mine was all wheel drive.

[@borailroadfan8964]

That's a nice loco! I have an N&W GP9 from Lionel. Great video SMT!

[@dinnerfromthediningcar1080]

"Let's give it full power".....as it channels the Acela and flies off the layout onto the floor...

[@WTafterburner]

Yeah! Great fix smt you never cease to amaze me. You know it’s going to be a great day when you hear the well folks in the distance. Thanks for a great restoration video smt Great work!

[@sort187]

There's a few GT locos making the rounds in my neck of the woods, but we see them a little further south towards Detroit or therebabouts....

[@DowntownTrains]

Good job, thats a cool looking train. Also congrats on 18k! that was pretty fast

[@midwesticrailfan1000]

Another great restoration! I’ve been looking for the Chessie System version of that GP9 for quite a while now. I’m kinda surprised on how the weighted chassis looks because comparing it to the Walthers Trainline GP9M the chassis’s look very similar.

[@CrossedAnchorsRailroads]

Nice , Thanks for sharing!

[@alanwbelcher]

Great work troubleshooting the short!

[@mitchellyardanoff4666]

Made in Canada! Wow so sad those days are gone.

[@sort187]

I think you can get handrails for that on EBay..... Atlas makes them, but they should fit.

[@whiteknightcat]

Another option on de-gearing would have been to just remove the worm gear.

[@alcopower5710]

⭐️She’s a runner ⭐️

[@ZombieSlayer-dj3wb]

I wonder if there would be any way to slug unit run under its own power , free wheel driven gears

[@lackawannarailfan]

Yesterday I went to an outdoor train show! I made a video on it. Also great video!:)

[@engineerpat5290]

Love it!! Lionel was made to last!!

[@MattKonsol]

Woah serenity!

[@gustman9048]

The wheels may be both geared for bigger trains

[@sergioarroyoguerrero5434]

GP9 locomotive. Papa Smurf squeme, GT. Made in 🇨🇦. Lionel. Run in You layout my friend. Fixed the motor.

[@ericzerkle5214]

You got a winner there!

[@MMRails]

Great job! Wait... it’s GT... so... Great travail!

[@BattleshipOrion]

Do you restore/convert bluebox engines? I got one that has a defective axle (not broken just warped), and the motor should not sound like a scaled down airplane engine. Not to mention DCC to make it work with my other engines (the newest a run year 2016).

[@caboosech]

i did a rebuild on a penn central gp9 the same model my gp9 is all wheel drive

[@antonbruce1241]

And this rebuild???/ A fine example of adapt, adopt and improve!!!

[@piedmontrailfan81]

idk if u check comments this late but just recently (40 minutes ago) I bought a bachmann southern railway locomotive from the 90s-early 2000s era. When I put it on the track, I had to put it on full speed, and it started smoking. It only starts running at 90% power. I was wondering if you could tell me how to fix it? Thanks

[@molliemagill1069]

You should race all your working ho scale trains

[@danhoyland142]

Hey bud how would we be able to send you stuff? I have aTehran blue box sd40/2 I bought myself when I was 6 back in 1990 at hobby town USA. When I got home to put it on my lay out I accidentally dropped it on the ground before I could get it on the tracks. It never ran because of that. Literally has never run. I’m wondering if you could fix it.

[@mshrailfan129]

I got it from my uncle who unfortunately passed, it grinds and clicks tho

[@johnramirez5996]

Still need axel covers. For same gt

[@Benthetrainkid]

What you might not know is that Lionel shares similar tooling to Bachmann's HO scale pancake motor locomotives

[@SMTMainline]

I suspect Kadar made them. their earlier models made in MI weren't however.

[@justkaleb28]

I saw this and was like oooo I have to see this

[@z_dog7739]

Epic Videobbut the music is throwing me off from older smt vids

[@fanofblueshockey107]

I could show you some of my train models how does that sound

[@antonbruce1241]

While you had it open, maybe ya should have changed the couplers to knuckle couplers?

[@F40Productions]

Looks like it can go fast enough to be acela 2.0

[@Zebrails]

It's all Canadian, even the electric motor. GE had a factory in Canada, too. Um, what happened to saying "Serenity!" when you got a loco working? Quebec Maple... try it, you'll like it.

[@mitchellyardanoff4666]

My grandma had a GE can opener that I think was made in Barrie Ontario early nineteen seventies. I still have the can opener but sadly not my grandma. But that tough old opener still works today 50 years later.

[@erikthepirate8068]

I'm happy with that too.

[@thegillingroup1303]

Are you allowing people to send you locomotives to fix?

[@PapaMav]

Good one.

[@DowneastProductions211]

Hello smt love your vid

[@ThePeninsulaRailfan]

Love the vids

[@Comir727]

I have the same loco but in a BN paint scheme

[@robertcooper3551]

Could you try any Hornsby trains to fix or try Hornsby products

[@bryanwhat2268]

WOW that work Great.

[@molliemagill1069]

Try to restore the Illinois gulf locomotive i live in Illinois and I like the paint job

[@evanstraintubeyt6950]

I just got a ho scale haul today!

[@TrainGuru]

First! And also if I wanted something repaired, what’s the scoop?

[@hulk7345]

Do you sell those locomotives?

[@nolanknoepfle8044]

You work on a lot of different types. Which ones are made in “ Yugoslavia

[@xandernicol3980]

Happy Canada 🇨🇦 day

[@JohnJohnson-cn9fh]

put a bit of insulation tape over the solder just to hold it better.jpj

[@railfanman7709]

SMT you play among us. I say that because you said the wore looking kinda sus

[@mojorisen74]

I have that engine in Chessie and Family Lines colors

[@nightisright1873]

Wait in the 70s Lionel made there products in Michigan

[@dinnerfromthediningcar1080]

You don;t have a motor? What happened to those motors you bought off of Ebay? Did you use them all?

[@angusboffin3398]

Cool 👍

[@waynewootton5385]

what is the names of train store you go to thank you

[@TrainGuy-tl8ke]

Smt do you have any hornby trains?

[@lukefranks2174]

In 2 days it’s my birthday I think I’m getting a bnsf locomotive

[@AEStudt]

I have 1 just like it having the same problem maybe I can do what u did to this 1

[@ericzerkle5214]

Soldering is my LEAST fave thing to do.

[@Kmaster2007]

THE GRAND TRASHHHHHH

[@moony1136]

So ur doing good but what rail scale do u do?

[@moony1136]

Sorry I mean what railway do u use?

[@mistermadmachine6311]

😮😊👍

[@Bri-rb5lq]

They were made that nopower in front truck i bought new ones that were lokethat❤😮

[@nightisright1873]

Serenity know

[@warbabyproductions]

Noice

[@mshrailfan129]

I have the same one same number

[@BCrailguy45]

I have a Lionel gt box car

[@avery5019]

SMT if u see this i had recently uploaded a video from the account i wrote this comment the video is about a Canadian National heritage unit i videoed in Ellerslie Maryland just today

[@thiruraj3866]

Grand trunk

[@duanedrouillard2495]

Get rid of the music background

[@danrailbro8980]

GT

[@johnramirez5996]

Could have opened mine and told ya

[@fanofblueshockey107]

By the way Sam’s trains said something good about you When he replied to me in my comments

[@SMTMainline]

Oh really? I didn't even know he knew about my channel lol. Sam is a good guy, I've always thought of him as a reputable and kind member of the model railroading community.

[@fanofblueshockey107]

He’s from the UK and he gets his ideas from you but he doesn’t comment he just replied to me

[@danhoyland142]

Athearn*

[@deepsleep7822]

Yeah, Athearn shell. I’ve got two Lionel loks from this era and just swapped Athearn chassis’s. Lionel chassis design, from this era, seemed overly complicated or kludgy.

[@austin1842]

Highhoodhighhoodhighhoodhighhoodhighhood

[@williambivins1871]

First

[@jamesblack449]

Could that wire be for a light?