starting over

[mcarson]

I recently recovered an HO layout that was in storage for 25 years.  Much to my surprise I can get one locomotive out of 3 to work.  The other two only show the light when power is applied but will not run.  Is there any place I can have these locomotives looked at for possible repair.  The layout also has 6 switches with Atlas remote controlers that don't work with the electric controler.  Any thoughts on getting them to operate.

[kevin2083]

Try lubricating the locomotives first. After sitting in storage for 25 years, they need it.
What kind of locos are we talking about here?

[SteamGene]

That would be who built the models and what they are models of.  Be advised that most 25 year old locomotives are not very good.
Gene

[PRRThomas11]

After sitting for so long the lubrication starts to dry and gets stuck in the gears. The way you fix this is by taking the engine apart, cleaning the dried lube off the gears, and the oiling again. Bring it to a hobby store that does repairs. It will run as good as new.

[ebtnut]

A good hobby shop that specializes in trains usually provides a repair service, or can recommend someone for you if you don't feel comfortable taking the models apart.  They likely need a thorough cleaning and re-lube.

[Jim Banner]

Lubrication may be the problem, but after 25 years, it is more likely oxidation of the copper plates in the motor commutators.  Easy solution is to remove the shell, apply power to the motor, and turn it over by hand.  This will often start them, and after running five minutes or so, the commutators will clean themselves up.  Expect lots of sparks and ozone while this is happening.

As far as quality of 25 year old locomotives goes, there are good ones and bad ones.  In the 80's, Bachmann, LifeLike, Playart, Tyco and some other were engaged in a battle to see who could produce the cheapest train set.  Hopefully, those locomotives have long since made their way to the scrap line.  But also in the 80's, Atlas together with Kato set a new standard in quality diesels which lead to the Spectrum, Proto 2000 and eventually Genesis series that we see today.  Quality steam came along a bit later, lead by Bachmann who made modeling steam popular again, and more fun (less frustrating) than it had ever been.

There were a number of excellent brass models produced in the last 50 years, and some of them even ran well.  Most brass models sit on shelves looking nice, but if you have some and would like them to run, that can be accomplished, for a price.  The easiest way is to keep the shell, toss the mechanism, and put a modern one in its place.  Or maybe you should keep the mechanism so that you can slap the body back on it someday and sell it as an all-original antique.