T
he electronic reverse unit inside your Lionel locomotive acts like the transmission in a car.
When you apply power to the track, the locomotive moves in the direction specified by the
reverse unit—or it sits in neutral, awaiting another power interruption. Power interruptions
are the signal that tells the reverse unit to sequence to the next operational state.
To interrupt power and sequence the locomotive’s reverse unit, press the direction control
button or briefly bring the throttle lever all the way back to the OFF position. Refer to Figure 8
for the location of these controls. The reverse unit alternates between three states: forward,
neutral, and reverse.
Also, the locomotive
can be “locked” into a
certain mode of opera-
tion by throwing the
reverse unit switch
located on the rear of
the cab (see Figure 8).
When the switch is
thrown to the LOCK
position, the locomotive
will be locked in the
next mode of operation
in the sequence. To lock
your locomotive into a
specific operational
state, sequence the
locomotive into the
desired state and reduce track power without completely powering down the locomotive, then
throw the switch to the LOCK position. The DIRECTION button will then have no affect on the
direction of the locomotive. If you would like to resume forward-neutral-reverse operation,
simply throw the reverse unit switch back to the RUN position.
Additionally, this reverse unit has a “power-up reset” feature. If the locomotive sits without
power for a short period of time, the reverse
unit will automatically reset and start in
the forward direction when the transformer
is turned on or “powered up,” regardless of
the reverse unit switch position. If the
switch is in the LOCK position, the locomo-
tive will start in the forward direction and
be “locked” there.
Running your train
Reverse unit procedure
Figure 8. Switch location
Figure 9. Direction control button location
Direction
control button
Whistle control
button
Bell control
button
Throttle
13
RUN
LOCK
SMK
NO SMK
Reverse
unit
switch
Smoke
unit
switch
