Heisler Sqeak Question

[Steam Freak]

After lubing my Heisler internally and externally....it still makes a high-pitched "squeak" sound. Do you know what would cause something like this? It runs smoothly. Its just annoying.

Also, what does the NMRA switch do? Its right above the smoke switch.

[Curmudgeon]

Can you tell if squeek is center of loco, front truck, or rear?
I can walk you through it.
Pray, how did you lubricate the brush end of the motor shafts?

the nmra/LS switch changes track polarity to loco.
39 years ago, when a group of Germans re-introduced LS to the modelling community, they chose left rail positive to move the lcomotive forward.

The nmra chose right rail positive.

Thank-you for choosing Bachmann.

[Steam Freak]

Nevermind about the sqeaking issue. I think the reason was because it was a new engine and needed time to break in.

As for the switch, it sounds like it doesn't matter what its switched to?

[Matthew (OV)]

Well, if it's the only locomotive on the track, and you don't mind which way your "forward/reverse" switch is pointed, no, not really. 

Most large scale locomotives before the Bachmann 2-6-0 (Spectrum, Centennial) were wired so that they went forward if the positive (+) voltage lead was connected to the left rail.  With the arrival of the 4-4-0 American (Spectrum, Centennial) Bachmann chose to wire them with the RIGHT rail positive for forward, in keeping with the standards set by the NMRA for smaller scales.  Several people had difficulty with this because now their 4-4-0 would run in the opposite direction from all their other locomotives on the same track . . . which at the very least made it difficult to run them on the same circuit as any other locomotive at the time.  Many people found it necessary to rewire their locomotives to match the others on their railroad.

Subsequent models have been equipped with an NMRA/Large Scale switch to allow the user to select which way they want their locomotive to run without rewiring them.  If you have another locomotive on the track and it also has one of these, make sure both switches are set the same way.  If you have any older locomotives, or locomotives not made by Bachmann that you want to run it with, you may need to make sure all the ones with switches are set to "Large Scale."

Matthew (OV)

Oh, and additionally, if you've got a sound system in your locomotive, depending on how you've wired it, you may find that your forward and back up whistle signals become reversed if you wire it up in one position and then flip the switch to the other.

[Curmudgeon]

Really doesn't matter.
Bachmann is the only manufacturer I know of for US protoypes in LS that does that, and the only ones we end up removing it and all the wiring.

If you are playing the Great Train Chase and need it to run the same direction as the following engine, it would matter.

Of course, that's my opinion, and it doesn't matter.