I was cleaning my lint trap today and my boys were playing with their Lincoln Logs. Suddenly one was airborne and went directly down into the lint trap. :eek: What do I do? Ignorantly I turned the dryer on for 3 seconds in hope the toy would dislodge, and go who knows where, but instead it made a horrible noise and smelled hot. PLEASE let me know if there is anything I can do to repair this myself. Thank you!

I suspect you have long since solved your problem.. but perhaps there are others who might be in need of a reply.

At least for my Kenmore brand dryer (with a comb dropped down the lint screen assembly by my 3 year old) I found an easier procedure than removing the drum. I removed the retaining screws at the top of the lint screen assembly to free it there, and then pulled the lower back panel off the dryer (5 easy sheet metal screws). This exposed the long rectangular lint-screen assembly at the back. It's a clamshell design, with the back half of the lint screen assembly removable by taking out 4 more screws. Be careful not to damage the foam gasket between the two halves, nor to dislodge the small temperature-sensing tube attached in the middle of the lint-screen assembly.
Though I couldn't take the back half of the lint screen assembly out entirely, removing those four screws and separating the two halves got me hand-width access into the bottom of it, which was enough to easily remove the comb, or just about anything else that might have fallen. I suspect it was designed this way with just this situation in mind.