Restoring a Old Lionel Locomotive
If it's a steamer with "204X" on each side of the cab below the windows, it's a 2046 Hudson (front to back - 4 small pilot wheels, 6 large drive wheels, 4 small trailing tuck wheels). It came with a 2046W tender ("coal car"). I'm in the process of restoring a 2056, which is identical to yours but lacks the Magne-traction feature.
There are a lot of detail items involved in restoring this 50+ year-old locomotive. Even if listed here, pictures would be helpful, almost necessary, to convey the information properly. Fortunately, there is a video covering restoration of a postwar steamer that uses the 2046 as the example:
This video does not cover upgrading the smoke unit nor repair of the e-umit (reversing unit), although these subjects are covered in other videos. If you need to upgrade the smoke unit, that subject can be covered here. Repairing the e-unit is more difficult, especially reassembly.
Good luck!
