[John Agria]

The electric pickup shoes on a used LGB locomotive I recently purchased catch on the rail joints. Unlike photos of replacement shoes, the ones on my locomotive are flat--not turned up on the ends. Could this be the problem and can it be fixed by attempting to bend the forward and trailing edges up? Better to replace? Or remove if wheels also feed power to motor? Thanks.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

If yours are flat, they are either not real LGB shoes, or someone fooled with them.

Buy replacements, they are not expensive. You can bend them to their correct contour, but do it with them out of the loco for safety.

Greg

 

[Jerry McColgan]

Be very careful!

I once had a track shoe on an LGB loco short out (unnoticed by me).

By the time I discovered it, it had (along with the spring) melted into the plastic around it and it was beyond my ability to fix it.

I was very fortunate in that this was in the days when LGB of America was still in business. I sent the loco to them, they fixed it and returned it to me.

I stick with only factory original shoes on LGB and USAT locomotives.

If you discard them, you give up 1/3 of your contact with the track. Can you afford to do it?

I just had an LGB Track Cleaning Loco stop working. It turned out that a track shoe spring had broken. Eventually I got a spring from a USAT motor block and that fixed it.

 

[Dan Pierce]

Some of the early LGB engines did have flat shoes and DCC does not like them. I and Jiro have seen these flat shoes.

 

[John Agria]

Some of the early LGB engines did have flat shoes and DCC does not like them. I and Jiro have seen these flat shoes.

Thanks for the advice. I did buy new shoes to fit. Removed old shoes but have had no success reinstalling clip that holds shoes in place. Online you tube video is of little help. Can't figure out if shoe is inserted first than clip--that doesn't seem to work or both are inserted together. It is an LGB 2020 locomotive will 63218 shoes. Have it all apart would appreciate any suggestions. Much thanks.

 

[Dan Pierce]

Which shoe does your engine have?? Original LGB engines with the split case had a shoe (63214) that was attached on the outside of the motor block. Later motor blocks with the 4 or 6 screws had the 63218 shoe that needed the bottom cover removed to replace the shoe.

 

[John Agria]

The shoes are mounted inside the motor bloc. Have removed the cover and old shoes. New ones insert easily but I can't get retaining clips back in place so they hold shoes in place.

 

[John Agria]

I am tempting just to leave the shoes off. Power is also picked up by both sets of wheels. I have a similar Aristocraft engine with no shoes and it actually runs better when my tracks are "dirty" than the LGB.

 

[Dan Pierce]

The LGB Stainz has a traction tire on one wheel. Removing the shoes will give you power pickup on only one wheel as the tire does not conduct power!! Engine will run flaky at crossovers and switches due to plastic frogs and track. The l shaped brass goes in first, does not need to be removed to change the shoes. And the L shaped brass does put some tension on the pickup wires.
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