Bachman 2-8-0

[Grandpagator]

I have an older bachman 2-8-0 with DCC.  The engine runs very good in Forward, but it siezes up in reverse.  I can not see anything rubbing in the running gear.  It is strange that it runs so well in forwared.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Grandpagator

[Jim Banner]

Is it possible that instead of seizing up mechanically in reverse, it just does not run in reverse?  A bad decoder can do that and is easy to check if you have another decoder handy.  Just open the tender and swap decoders.

Seizing up mechanically is a little harder to check for.  Working from the outside in, it could be one of the rods or part of the valve gear that catches on something in reverse but manages to slide over it in forward.  It could be worn jack shaft bushings allowing the jack shaft to be pushed too far forward by the worm gear when in reverse,  This in turn could be binding up the drive belt.  It could even be a bit of something loose in motor letting it turn one way but not the other.

Jim

[RAM]

Does it do anything when you put it in reverse?

[richg]

If you open up the tender, unplug the decoder and insert the DC adapter that came with the loco and use a DC power pack connected to the tracks. Check for both directions.
Make sure the DCC controller is disconnected.

Rich