HO - Overland limited 4-8-4 short

[jg1125]

Hello,

My son and I have had the Overland limited 4-8-4 set for about a month now. Two days ago, it would run solo or pull the additional cars without issue, but now it won't run at all. The controller powers our 2-8-2, 2-6-0, and Conrail diesel without issue. The lead and trailing trucks seem to be loose, but I can't recall if there was an attachment under the chassis that kept them more in line. Also, when UP is on the track, the red indicator light dims when we turn it to full power, but glows bright (as usual) when the trailing truck is off the track. We cleaned the track as it is underneath the christmas tree (although the track radius is larger than the hanging branches) and cleaned the wheels yesterday without success. Any advice or assistance would be helpful. Thank you.

[trainman203]

I think you have found that the trailing truck is certainly the problem. And if everything stops and indicator light dims when the truck is on the track, it sounds like there's a short circuit in it somewhere.

You should touch a positive and negative lead to each wheel in each wheel set and see if power incorrectly goes through the axle.  if it does, you need to replace the wheel set with a correctly insulated one.