MSF

Haha will do Thorsten, looking forward to build the train and make peace with the 7745. Thought the same about the box, it would just end up in the cellar. Enjoy the TI99/4A

Thx @Narissis

Thx Thorsten, I have ordered the contacts now. ....and I also ended up ordering a complete 7745 set (no box though) even though that really wasn't the plan!

Hi Thorsten, I hadn't seen the ones you link to. I had only seen something where you basically have to make the contacts yourself. I'm strongly considering buying two sets. I guess they will also fit my 7715 and 7722 even though the lowest mentioned number is 7725? And opening the motor is that reasonably straight forward? No soldering required right? ....to be completely honest your Ebay link may have opened pandoras box for me. I just stumbled upon 3 articles selling the 7745 set. The 7745 was maybe my biggest childhood Lego dream. I never got it, as it was expensive. I have so much unfinished business with that set

Hi Thorsten, Sorry for the hugely delayed answer! You are so right about "nicely aged" I actually managed to take off the 6 wheels on the motors without breaking anything...and found what's probably 30 year old hairs tightly filtered around the axles. Removing the hairs did some good for the power of the motors and now I have ordered some IPA and will give the rails a careful treatment. Depending on the result I will bring in WD40 as you say. I'm a bit surprised how well the two trains run. When not having used them for a couple of days they need to do 1 or 2 laps where they might stop and need a small nudge, but after that they have "cleaned" the rails and after 10-15 laps they are up to pretty much max speed from what I can remember. Even my stop signal works and can stop the train and also the railway crossing works and can lift and lower the boom. The only parts that haven't really survived 30 years in plastic bags are the "motors" for my two track switches (or what they are called in English). They send out a constant electrical humming which isn't nice to listen to. It would be very nice if I could somehow replace the 12V train motor contacts, as they are somewhat worn, but from what I gather that's not really an option without it becoming are very DIY project. Best, Morten

Hi, Total newbie here as I just recently unpacked my old 7715 and 7722 12V trains to introduce them to our kids. However, the tracks and the metal connectors beneath the motors could be in better shape. Both have some black coating, probably from dust and dirt. So far I have understood that isopropyl alcohol (IPA 99%) is the way to go right? Pictures: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e0KhpZO6K2Ht-oOAj5eOP26A