Greenberg's Repair and Operating Manual for Lionel Trains, 1945-1969

It's been said before, it'll be said again: if you want to work on postwar Lionel electric trains, this is an essential resource to have. While unfortunately it doesn't contain everything Lionel produced between 1945 and 1969, almost everything is in the book. Every steam, diesel, and electric locomotive has some sort of reference to look to in this book, and most if not every single operating car (and some non-operating cars).These reprinted service documents are exceedingly helpful for two reasons (among many):For one, over time, Lionel took notice of recurring issues with certain products, and notes are made of some of these common faults, and the recommended solutions. While the vast network of Lionel Corporation's service stations are a thing of the past, the instructions provided to them are invaluable and very handy to be made aware of.The other extremely useful aspect of this book, is that the old repair documents show part numbers for all the exploded diagrams. This makes it exceedingly easy to locate replacement parts, as while the original company is gone, replacement/reproduction parts suppliers still use the old product numbers in most cases. Instead of stumbling around for the right search term, you can know exactly what it is you need, and find it online quickly.I personally felt that the physical quality of the book isn't perfect- the coating on the cover of my copy started peeling a bit not more than a week after I bought it. But the paper is bright and the printing is clear. A choice I'm not a huge fan of, is that rather than making some corrections to errors in the book, there is a section devoted to pointing out the errors, rather than fixing them. So sometimes you may unknowingly run into some incorrect information unless you double check the "corrections" section. A little annoying, but it doesn't ruin the book's usefulness.I will warn that among the items it does not give you a parts list or detailed service documents for, is the 3530 Generator Car set, No. 65 handcar, and anything HO. In the case of the former two, I do not know if these items ever had service documents. In the case of the latter, service documents DID exist but seem to have not been reprinted. Parts are largely un-reproduced, so the collector of Lionel HO manufactured by Lionel Corp between 1959 and 1966 is rather on their own.All in all, I do recommend buying yourself a copy despite the shortcomings it has here and there. On the whole it will serve you very well, and you'll be glad to have it.

Good book and is mostly accurate. Not ever unit from 45-69, but can figure out what you want with it.

I have owned older copies of the book which disappeared when I moved. This book is helpful when repairing older Lionel trains made in the late 1940s and 1950s. It makes a good reference volume.

If you fix trains buy this.

I recently purchased this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in collecting Post War Lionel. It has already saved me at least ten times what I paid for it in repair costs. I am thirty-five years old and have never owned a "new" train. I operate all of my father and uncle's old Lionel trains. Most of the accessories I own are Post War era and were purchased at train shows or as used items at local train stores. The older stuff just seems to have more character. That being said, they do not always operate as effectively as possible. Since I bought this book I have repaired a 342 culvert loader, two semaphores, a 140 banjo signal, a 252 crossing gate, and a 221 steam engine. I am by no means a train repair specialist, but this book made doing repairs much easier. The book provides exploded views of almost everything Lionel built from 1945-1969. It also provides parts numbers (as well as original prices for those parts), and explanations for how each item works as well as trouble shooting tips for most items. Although the print is small it is still clearly readable for me. This book has been a great resource and has allowed me to buy items in fair or poor condition (at a fraction of the cost of something new) and refurbish it to something that looks good and works very well.

This is basically a reprint of all the Lionel instruction sheets and repair instructions, all combined in one book. With a lot of searching, you can find much of this info online, but this is well worth the price over the aggravation of hunting down specific instructions on the internet.

This has everything you need to fix you post war train. I repaired my fathers old ZW275 transformer and I removed the core and could remember where one wire went. After I purchased the book I opened to the wiring diagram and there is was it need to be connected to the circuit breaker. I reconnected the wire and everything is working 100% replaced the rollers, whistle diodes and power cord.I'm going to finish up with my Lionel 2026 later tonight and I will be using this book as a reference.It has all of the info you could ever need to repair and maintain your trains. Just in time for Christmas.

Great information and diagrams. Wish it were available as an ebook to make searches and note taking easier.

I needed a book to revive a 1955 O-27 set that had a lot of butchered parts. This book was the definitive answer. Switches that didn't work turned out to be wired incorrectly. Wiring schematics in the book brought them back to life. This book has more than paid for itself 5 times over in both cost and frustration savings. Don't buy this book to build a railroad and scenery set. Get it because you want everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) to work the way it was meant to run. Part numbers, schematics and diagrams fill this book. Buy this book and be prepared to fix anything Lionel from 1945 to 1969.

The book has a comprehensive overview of the entire gambit of post-war Lionel products that helps you repair and understand how Lionel stuff was made. Very handy!

Wonderful book to get me started in repairing and restoring a cherished gift from my childhood. Delivery happened as promised.

The book has been a great help

My husband hasn’t taken his nose out of the book since it came.