I've been test-running a couple of Lionel 1664E steamers as I begin preparing to refurb the gunmetal version I acquired a few months back. The motor in that one will require a complete rebuild, a project that's pretty intensive, so I'm thinking I'll take a shortcut and just swap out a motor from one of the black versions I have. Then I can rebuild the motor when I get around to it.
I pulled this one down off the shelf and gave it a few laps around the outer loop of the layout. It probably hasn't been run in six or seven years, so it took a few minutes to get it back to good running order. It's in pretty nice shape and now runs well once again, so I'm not going to use the motor from this one:
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53547998830_0545aef2bb_o.jpg)
Of course, anytime you get something out on the pike that hasn't been run for awhile, the railfans show up. This is becoming a bigger problem than it used to be. Up at Heat-Pump Pass, it's not unusual to see as many as a half-dozen, all standing along the right-of-way. These two are standing in the property just along the table edge. If the railroad police show up, they can just jump over the side. We gotta get this under control, lol.