ho engine rear wheels

[baharper987]

I bought the White Christmas 00609 ho train set for my son for Christmas.  The engine appears to be the reason it does not work.  It does not light or run.  Apparently not getting electricity. I was told to mail back....which does not help before Christmas..the only things I noticed was that the rear wheels on the engine do not move...the front two sets of wheels work...I wanted to take a chance that it is something minor that I could do.  Help

[Doneldon]

987-

It's hard to tell without more information just what your problem is.  I must say that I'm worried that this sounds a little like you purchased a used set and the seller sold a defective product to you.  I hope that's not the case.  But in order for this board to help you, please provide a little more information.

By "work" do you mean that the front two drive wheels or the front truck wheels go around?  If you mean the drive wheels, do you mean they go around because of the motor (I assume not) or because you can push them?  Is the third set of drive wheels frozen in place or can you move them by hand?
                                                                                                                            -- D

[Jim Banner]

I see these sets still being sold new on eBay, including  by train dealers who may well be Bachmann dealers.  If bought new from a Bachmann dealer, the set should be under warranty.  But I too am having trouble figuring out the problem.  I believe from the photos that this is an 0-6-0 locomotive meaning there are just the six big drive wheels under the locomotive, no leading truck with small wheels and no trailing truck with small wheels.  Now if the light does not come on when the locomotive is on a powered track, that means the locomotive is not getting power or the light is burned out.  Lack of power may explain why the rear pair of wheels will not turn.  With no electrical power to turn the motor, the driven axle will not turn itself.  And the gears will not let you turn the driven axle plus the motor.

So the problem is really two problems: (1) why do the front two pairs of wheels turn?  The side rods that tie them to the rear axle should keep them from turning when the rear wheels are not turning.  And (2) why is the locomotive not getting power? 

Lets look at #2 first.  What you need is a test light.  You can use a GOW (Grain-of-Wheat) bulb from your local hobby shop or a small 12 volt automotive bulb with a couple of wires attached.  With the locomotive and the cars all OFF the track, the track connected to the speed controller, the wall wart (fat plug) power supply plugged into the speed controller and into a power outlet, set the speed controller to maximum and touch the bulb wires to the track, one wire to each rail.  The light should light brightly and should continue to light brightly as the wires are moved all the way around the oval of track.  If no light, go a step back toward the power source.  see if there is any electricity coming out of the plug that plugs into the base of the track by putting one test light wire into each of the holes.  If the bulb now lights, the problem is in the connector track piece.  If still no light, unplug the wall wart from the wall and from the speed controller.  Plug the wall wart back into the wall, then touch one test light wire to the outside of the round plug and the other wire to the inside of the plug (be careful! Do not let the wires touch one another.)  If the bulb now lights, the speed controller is bad.  If not, either the wall wart is bad or the outlet is bad.  You can then check the wall outlet with a table lamp or some other portable appliance.  Make sure you check both halves.  If the outlet is okay, then the wall wart is bad.

Looking at problem #1, if I understand correctly that the front two axles turn when you push the locomotive along the track but the back axle does not, then look to see why they are disconnected from the third axle.  This could be something like damaged side rods.  But if you meant that the front two axles turn themselves with power applied, then also look to see what is jamming the last axle and keeping it from turning.

Good luck

Jim

[Doneldon]

987-

Jim's answer is much more comprehensive than mine
but let me add a piece.  Before you do any testing of
your electrics, make sure that your wall socket is not
controlled by a wall switch.  Be sure to check both
recepticles because it is common to have one
connected to a switch (for a lamp) and one not.

                                             -- D