Budd Amtrak Fllet Coach - Item 1302

[Mrmkryan]

Purchased an old Bachmann Amtrack fleet coach, and the motors/trucks don't match any literature on this site. Having problems getting power. Only gets power if you gently press down on the coach. Clean the brushes? Don't know, but the motor looks completely sealed. Not sure how to gewt art everything. (Sorry, im a newbie!). Ant help/tips would be appreciated.

[Jhanecker2]

Amtrak coaches wouldn't have motors built into their trucks normally.  Though it is possible to do it would require major rebuilding . j2.

[mlrr]

sounds like a metroliner to me.  The only amfleet-style, self-propelled passenger cars which ran in married pairs.

[Doneldon]

MrMcR-

The "sealed" motor you see is called a can motor. They are standard equipment in any trains built in the last, oh I don't know, 25-30 years. They run at quite high speeds which allows gear trains to pull down the revs and get good slow-speed operation.

Your motor brushes don't need cleaning. It is likely, however, that your track and/or wheels do. That would account for the poor electrical pick-up which is remedied by pushing down on your  coach. I'd start with the rails as they're more often the problem and see how things improve. Then do the wheels if you still aren't satisfied. However, I'd do the wheels regardless if they have dark crud on the wheel treads which contack the railheads. Also do the rail aspect flange and the inside edges of the rails.

Going further, and I'm not familiar with this model so I'm at least partly guessing from your query and earlier responses, you might also need to add electrical pick-ups on more wheels. I'm assuming you have electrical pick-up on only one truck. We wouldn't expect to see this today, but it wasn't uncommon some years ago. This will not only help electrical pick up generally; it will also prevent hesitations and flashing lights on turnouts and crossings. It will also forestall DCC reboots whenever you transit a turnout or crossing.

-- D