Happy Sunday!
Normally I post on the N scale side, but I also have a few ON30 locos for the inevitable time when my eyes and hands can no longer handle the small stuff. I was able to pick up this beauty several years ago off an auction site for a VERY reasonable price.
It has not seen much track time as I don't have an ON30 layout at this time. However, I always bring it out yearly for some running on a test loop to keep it in lubed/operating condition. It has factory DCC from Bachmann and has always operated as it should. The driver motion is hypnotizing! However, a few days ago I put it on the track and it wouldn't budge. No lights, no motion, no hum, no nothing. I posted the problem on the Bachmann forum and have not received any replies, so I thought I'd try here, as the Railwire crew has always been helpful. The first thing I did was reset the decoder as that seemed to be the common "fix" according to a few things I read. I am now able to at least get forward and reverse lights, as well as a small hum. I didn't push the throttle up much once I heard the hum as I didn't want to stress anything. One thing I dislike about Bachmann's setup of this loco is the connectors between tender and loco, and this is where I suspect the problem lies. Each time I've taken the loco out to let it stretch its legs a bit, it has become more and more difficult to get these damn connectors to release when I go to pack it up! (Loco and tender must be separated to fit in the box)
The first pic is where I suspect the problem lies, as each time I've attempted to pull the connectors out (with needle tweezers) the tweezers slip off. With every slip, a tiny bit of plastic comes off the connector as well. In addition, as they slip the tweezers sometimes hit the wires with the little pins that go into the orange plastic connectors. I'm referring to the smaller connectors that come off the tender and plug into the bottom of the loco cab. The last time I test ran this loco, a little over a year ago, I had to jiggle the connectors under the loco cab to get it moving. It seemed fine after that, but obviously that is not the case now.
At some point, I'd also like to add sound to this loco, which would involve taking out the Bachmann decoder and replacing it. The next two pics show the electronics in the tender. I'm assuming the piece next to my index finger is the decoder, and the green board on the tender floor is the adapter?
I've done several N scale Atlas/Kato/Lifelike non DCC ready hardwire installs, so I'm not a complete newbie to this. However, with all the electronics in this particular loco I'm hesitant to dig into it. That said, I don't mind doing a hardwire install on this loco if that's the best recommended fix. I'm not a fan of these orange connectors. They seem cheap and prone to problems. My first step seems to be to get this loco running again before I remove the factory decoder. Anyone own one of these and experienced similar issues? I'm open to suggestions/ideas.
Thanks guys!
ATSF_Ron
