Won't Whistle? Let's Fix it!! Lionel 6466W 

Love your HO restorations but it's super-great to see you tackling these elderly classic Lionels. Very entertaining and informative -- bring on the basket case!

Really enjoy your videos !!!!!

Another masterpiece production - I laughed, I cried.....I just sneezed and shot milk out my nose. Looking forward to the next video...

I have this tender. Never took it apart because it works. But it's nice to know how to repair it, thanks 😊👍.

Can’t wait to see the 2026 video, love the Lionel restorations!

Hello Ron how are you doing you make me laugh in your videos..also I like your Shelf with all the locomotives on it looks cool

You have an amazing gift for getting into these units and making them run again. Thank you for the great demonstration.

As interesting as usual. These videos are like a kind of therapy for me. Thanks for sharing.

Ron; you really are a joy to watch.

Good Job!

LOL king pin retired trucker never gave it a second thought lol I called it that too.

Thank you for sharing. Nice repair.👍

TY

Hi Ron, awesome restoration. The mechanism looks factory fresh. Keep up the great work.

Great video Ron. I really like the Lionel stuff.

Love this restoration. I actually have a tender that needs the whistle reinstalled in it. After watching this video I know what my next project will be. Thanks for sharing.

Amazing work Ron and "There's Nothing Like a Lionel"! I have found more Locomotives, Tenders, Operating Cars in Junk Stores and Barns that just need a good cleaning and some TLC to get them back on track. Keep at it Brother and Great Job!!

Amazing job Ron! Your skills are really impressive! These old things can resist to an atomic blast! They’ve been made to last forever.

Great post!!! LIONEL stuff must be intentionally "ENGINEered" for those who are even both slightly mechanical-minded and also for those who have more ADVANCED skills such as yourself. Your videos are beyond informative and such a pleasure to watch! Thank you sir.

Great video tutorial again Ron! It was fun to watch this poor broken down tender come back to life again! With that bottom armature bearing that has the impeller pressed on, I find to oil it that if you take a small flashlight, aim it at the point the armature shaft goes through the bearing, and manually spin the armature slowly with your fingers, and you’ll get a sneak peak of the shaft going into the bearing. That’s where I use my needle oiler, and give the bearing a little drop of oil. It works perfectly , and it gives me satisfaction that I completely oiled both sides of the motor shafts. Some of the older armature brush plates actually have an oil wick inside them too. Your beautiful model this week is Linda Henning from Petticoat Junction.

Your model is the lovely Linda Henning! She played Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction back in the '60's. I remember always wanting to be a bird so I could fly over the top of that water tank when they'd go skinny dipping at the beginning of every show! My favorite was the first Billie Jo, (she was replaced after the first or second season), played by Jeannine Riley. She really made my little 10 year old heart skip a beat!

One of the other guys train channel I was watching, he said, Ebays is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are going to get! Well, he modified the line from Forrest Gump. But, still right on the point. Sellers really should know what they are selling. Know everything is there. Imagine going to a carlot and a salesman comes out and you start asking questions. So what do you know about this car? Its a 94 Chevrolet Camaro. What engine? I dont know. Auto or manual? I dont know. Come with a warranty? I dont know. Ebay. Where some sellers are clueless.

Hi Ron, Great video! Nothing says nostalgia like the sound of a prewar Lionel whistle. For future wiring jobs such as this, you might want to pick up some "super-flex" 18 gauge wire sold by many Lionel parts suppliers. It's inexpensive and allows the trucks to swivel easily to avoid derailments. Happy Railroading!

I've got several old Lionel tank cars and had to take each one apart and do corrosion control (sanding & pssst) on the chassis. Cheers from eastern TN

Another enjoyable video, Thanks Ron. (I haven't forgotten, maybe you have. Getting together a box of all sorts of "stuff").

I was stumped on this weeks classic model/actress. You got me this week Paul (Ron) Harvey! Another cool video. I need to service those American Flyer locos but need to find the track or get more. Cheers!

I’ve only one time had an issue with an Ebay purchase in 15 years! JS Grounds, fields 😂😂😂

I attach ground wires between both the trucks and the ground mounting of the whistle too. The electrical path is just as important on the ground side as it is on the positive side. The steel frame, trucks, axles, wheels, and the moving pins it swivels on all add up to inhibit conductivity. A wire direct between the two end points reduces resistance.

Look at a Lionel whistle tender whereby the whistle mechanism lays down(2671w,2046w) and tenders where the whisle mechanism stands up. I found a slight wiring difference, but it can be done.

I ordered cloth flexible wire from EBay that closely resembles the original Lionel wire. Worked great.

The pin that holds the truck to the frame is called a bolster pin.

Thought the Classic Model was Dawn Wells, for some reason. But I looked her up, and it turns out that she and I have the same birthday!

I guess, Ron, the same might apply to Lionel's Whistling Shed accessory for fix up and repair ?

Ron: I believe you were correct calling the truck attachment point a :kingpin". Bolster pin also seems correct. BTW, to go with "kingpin", older (mostly 19th century) wooden cars had "queen posts" that supported the truss rods (with turnbuckles between each set of queen posts for keeping the rods tight) which kept the car floors from sagging. I, too, prefer the older equipment. The older & more rickety looking the better for me. Harkens back to the glory days of railroading when the crew were heroes & many individual engineers could be identified by their use of the steam whistle (which IS a whistle - I hear diesel horns referred to as "whistle" & it drives me nuts. Nobody would call a car horn a whistle, nor should they when referring to diesel horns!). PS: It often freaks people out when I tell them that the trucks are commonly not bolted to the car bodies, which is why many train wreck photos show the car over here & the trucks somewhere else. This practice makes it easier to replace a faulty truck (hot box, for example, like what famously happened on the Ohio/Penn border recently). They say "I'm never riding a train again" - guess they just don't trust gravity!!!

That was a cool video. I've never seen one of those whistling tenders before. Only heard them at train shows :-) Linda Kay Henning? Really? I didn't recognize her by that picture. That's probably the only person I would know, since I do enjoy watching Petticoat Junction.

I feel your pain re: seller's not representing what they are selling and/or not knowing how to ship them without damage. I have had several very disappointing experiences when I finally found a piece that I was searching for, only to receive it damaged. That said, I have acquired many pieces I would have never found without online sellers! So I guess ya' gotta take the bad with the good, huh? Love you videos.

Bobby Joe, from petty coat junction.

Hi Classic Model Trains, was As soon as I saw the name of the classic model at the end of the show, I knew it was a lady from Petticoat Junction. Paul Henning was the creator and a writer of the show. I didn't know which one she was. I looked it up on the Wikipedia, and it said that her name in the credits was just Linda Kay, so that is why I never made the connection while watching the show (I did watch it a lot - the trains, the girls, the humor). She was Betty Jo. Now a quiz for you. The lady that played her mother Kate was soooper famous in Hollywood for something....do you know what it is?

It’s cool that you got it working but it sounded like the fan blades were hitting on something is it something that can be fixed or just the nature of the beast?

Like your pick up truck, what year?

As my teacher said, what kind of juice? Orange, grapefruit, grape..........?

I have a whistle tender that’s not working the same one as your repairing. I still can’t get the wiring right there must be something wrong here. Very frustrated.

Forget about Lionel for a minute, so who was the model?

Is it Suppose to buzz that loud? Doesn't sound right over here.

That's Jennifer O'Neil model actress she shot herself in the stomach Petey Pie

Who's Clyde? Wouldn't be a certain orangutan that I know of, would it? He's certainly stepped up his skill set since way back when...

Classic Model is Pee Wee Herman.