Perseverance and talent are two words that describe friend and LITCA member Rich R. His recreation of a Lionel 5D test set confirms this.
Here is a picture of Rich's unbelievable and accurate recreation:
PostWar Lionel's dealer/service station 5D test set is an all purpose tester of all postwar Lionel trains, locomotives, whistle tenders, horns, rolling stock and accessories.
The 5D is the larger of Lionel's test sets with two remote control tracks, an AC and DC volt meter, direction knob, lamp test and more. Produced between 1945-1969 it is a well sought after accessory for both collectors and repair persons.
As a guest author on this site, I'll let Rich share his accomplishment with us here. Rich frequently gives well deserved credit to friend and LITCA member Nick B.
Thank you Rich and Nick!
In Rich's words:
"A dream of mine has always been to build a Lionel Test Set for myself. I finally got that opportunity in the summer of 2020.
Armed with the schematic from Greenberg's Lionel Service Manual, I started my journey. I studied the schematic at length before I began to build my own replica of a Lionel 5D Test Set. In fact, I was surprised to have found a mistake within the original schematic printed in every manual you'll find, and I invite you to look for the mistake that I found.
My first step was asking my good friend Nick B., if I could take a look at the inside of his original Lionel 5D Tests Set. He was kind enough to open the front panel so I could take some pictures and make some rough measurements of where the switches and jacks were located. I photographed everything, including the meter face plates for future use.
Sourcing “new” old stock parts proved to be a bit intimidating and time-consuming, but eventually I was able to find most of what I needed on eBay.
With the help of Nick B., we were able to determine the original meter movements of the 5D. I was able to find some vintage Marion MM2 meters on eBay. We then went to work on removing the shunts inside the meter housings to make them a blank canvas for us to start with.
Nick was able to do some math and come up with the proper shunt and resistor values that were needed to convert the stock meters to what Lionel used originally. After some configurations and testing, I was able to get the meters to measure exactly as the originals.
All that was left was for me to do was to take the original photos of Nick’s 5D Meter’s face plates, Photoshop them to scale, and print them out on shipping label paper. Then it was just a matter of cutting those out and pasting them in place on the original meter faceplates - of course on the reverse side, to preserve the Marion printing on the opposite side.
I then proceeded to start building a replica of the cabinet out of wood, as I could not find a suitable cabinet made of metal that was readily available. I began to purchase as many vintage parts as I could to replicate what the front panel looks like on a real Lionel 5D Test Set. I was able to find most parts that were vintage, and some new production parts that were compatible and looked like the originals. From then on, it was a matter of making a template on drawing paper (Photo 2) to scale. And transfer that to a sheet of 1/8” aluminum I purchased on eBay. (Photo 3) After laying everything out, I started to drill out the holes needed to make the front panel, to look like a 5D. (Photo 4)
For the purpose of keeping this article as short as I can, I will not be going into much detail on what we actually had to change to get everything to work as the factory 5D. But there wasn’t that much that needed to be changed within the circuit. Once the panel was drilled out, everything was installed and test fit. (Photo 5)
Wiring then began in earnest. I first had to modify the 1033 transformer by drilling out the original terminals and replacing them with solder terminals and rivets using my Hobby Horse Press. (Photo 6)
I then mounted the transformer onto the front panel and started to wire everything according to the schematic that was provided in the Greenberg book. The original current test resistors used flat nichrome wire as the resistance loads. I could've done the same, however I opted to use power resistors mounted on a sheet of aluminum that I cut out from scrap. (Photo 7)
Once everything was mounted, I tested the entire unit for functionality and made sure everything worked as designed.
I then disassembled everything and started work on silk screening the front panel to replicate a real 5D Test Set. Again, I turned to Photoshop to design close representative graphics to mimic the Lionel Test Set. I am not going to get into too much detail on how I accomplished making the silkscreens but suffice it to say, it did take some time and patience. (Photo 8)
As best as I could, I then inked and lined up all the graphics, and you will see the results in the final finished picture. After everything dried, I began to mount everything back onto the front panel. Care had to be taken that no wires were broken during the disassembly or reassembly process of the Test Set. Once everything was re-assembled, I mounted the finished front panel into the wooden frame and bolted it down.
Testing then began, once again, to make sure everything worked as it did before the disassembly. All in all, this was a very labor-intensive, but extremely fun project to undertake. I can proudly say that I continue to use this test set almost every day and saved myself at least over $1,000!
I hope you have enjoyed taking this journey with me on the recreation of this fantastic, working replica Lionel Test Set.
Due to space concerns for this article, I had to shorten some subassembly details and photos. Thanks again to Nick B., for his invaluable help on making this project come to fruition."
Again, here is a picture of the fruits of Rich's labors of love:
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