As annoying as it sounds, you may be right in the option of having to opt up to a higher radius of track corner.  This engine just does not like these 22's.  I'm feeling that in learning about the turning radius of this engine, that perhaps I caused an issue with this engine trying to get it to originally maneuver 18 inch turns.  Learning at the time about how this engine will not do anything under 22 inch corners had me hot under the collar, as I did not see any detail about this issue when I first purchased it.  Only later reading online about it's issues, had me understand it all.  Now, with figuring out (Thx ACY) that the most probable fix, due to this J's "permanent coupler", that I have to hope that 24's do the job.  I'm at my wits end with it all.  It IS good to know that this strange coupler (to me) is on more than this type of model and doing well for those that own one.  Here's praying...

Good Day fellow rail fans...

Looking for some help here from anyone whose owned or owns a Norfolk & Western J 4-8-4 #612 Spectrum DCC Sound Engine.  We've had it for about 4 yrs now, but it has seen very little track time in that time period due to its ongoing issue with derailments.  Originally I learnt about the 22 inch radius issue with this engine, and figured I had things licked when I got a bunch of Bachmann EZ 22 inch corner track.  Seems all other engines are happy as ever, but this 4-8-4 J just will not make a corner without a derailment of some sort...usually the tender's front wheels and some times the front 2 wheels of the engine come off.  Because it "usually" is the tender, I had a good look at what is happening as it enters the turn.  It appears that the tender gets slightly lifted up entering the turn by what appears to be the bizarre coupler situation between the engine and tender that accompanies this model.  Perhaps even the sound wiring between the two seemed a bit tight as well, but being new at this, I was hesitant to take anything apart and fine tune whatever I felt needed help.  This year we set up the HO's again, and hesitantly again opened up the 4-8-4 to see how we left things with it.  And right on queue, the engine didn't even make one circuit around a very simple layout of a rounded rectangle using 22 inch corners.  I did the first corner very slowly and it seemed fine.  I went a bit faster entering turn 3, and sure enough, off it went.  Again, 'maybe' going half speed.  And again it appeared like the tender just gets lifted off with the darn coupler Bachmann for some reason set up between the two.  I've read similar instances of this but never as often as it seems to happen with this engine and tender.  When I read one post, the guy talked of manipulating the coupler, but never went into details.  This was a present to my son, and he really doesn't want to give it up, so I took the plunge to try and figure out the issue.  I was able to get the coupler connectors off both engine and tender and removed the slider bar that completed the coupler itself.  I ran the engine with just the wire connection to see if removing the coupler helped.  It actually did, but at 3/4 throttle, the tender again came off in the turn.  So I figured 'part' of the issue WAS the wiring being too tight.  I then took apart the tender and actually was able to loosen the wires, as they were tied just before the 8 pin connector.  Once the tender was screwed back together, I felt I shouldn't run the engine again with just the wiring holding things together, so I refastened the coupler back into place and tried the engine once again.  No Joy!  Turn three had the tender come off again.  I tried 1/4 throttle and it too seemed to barely make it.  Could the coupler itself be defective??  I just don't understand why they made the coupler for this engine.  Does anyone know of a modification to this coupler design or any other ideas in order to get this working for us.  I know better track is a must, but I can't see this engine making a corner on ANY kind of track.  Just looking for some ideas...please.

I have a DASH-40CW that seems to have its reversing light out, unlike it's counterpart here which does have its rear light working fine.  I know it's somewhat insignificant to some, but to me I hate having this be the case. I have looked up the light as being something like LEDXX-10091, and have removed the shell to see where the bulb sits.  In plain view which is a good thing.  However it is connected to the board, as I assumed.  I hoped it would just be a simple removal from the board, but it seems a touch more complicated than that.  I may be stuck here.  I can't seem to find any reference to removing a bulb from this engine (and I guess it's used in the SD-45 as well).  Am I hooped here?  I do see that you can get a replacement bulb for $3.00 here, but installing it may be out of my league.  Quite bummed.  Just looking for a bit of help if any one has done such a switch of this type of LED bulb.

Thanks for viewing

Bruce
riff99

Be absolutely sure about the type of '85 full dome car you have.  There's a cheap version, and a much nicer one.  I got stuck with the cheap versions originally, as it had plastic trucks and wheels, and no interior lights.  Luckily I was able to buy 4 individual lighted '85s and swap out the interiors.  The body styles to both versions are the same, so now I have 4 individual McKinley Express '85 Dome cars all lighted with perfect trucks, wheels and couplers.  Kenei, Knik, Talkeetna, and Teshka.  Looks sweet at night.

To gain access to the interiors, I used a utility knife on 3 areas connecting the side door, seating area, and front part of the shell where another could have gone. Do this on both sides. These are glued on pretty good so use care when twisting the knife slightly to separate the shell from the bottom of the car.  It'll make a snapping sound eventually but that's just the glue bond breaking.  It'll be noticeable where the next connection is once the first part is done.  The first one's the hardest, as you are very careful getting the shell off.  Once you view where the glue joints are exactly, any other car will be easy remove the shell from.

Just re-glue it when you are done with your inspection of the issue.  Good Luck.

Thank You Jerry.  I'm sorry to hear about your issue.  That's brutal!  At least I got to use mine for a while before this issue.  I kind of figured there wasn't a quick fix/reset for it.  It's just good to know my thinking was justified.  Oh well.  Customer Support seemed good about replacing the unit.  I hope it's not too long to receive a new one.

Cheers

I'm going to call Bachmann support, but if someone can let me know whether these EZ Command Controllers DO have some sort of reset within them, I'd REALLY appreciate it.  I'm hoping I'm not the only one with issues with them.

Thank You.

No sir.  Always attach red wire to the track re-railer first, then to the controller.  Then I connect the black power plug from the surge protector to the controller.  That's a given.  Good of you to mention that for those that might read this and not know.

Well, it does appear the EZ Command Controller I have (not Dynamis...hopefully one day) is indeed in trouble.  I forgot that we had a companion DCC walk-around controller in the closet.  Hadn't been used since before Halloween.  With power off, I connected the Walk-Around to the EZ Command (they virtually look the same, except for color).  They were made to work with one another.  Any ways, today I tried a GP40 DCC on address button #2.  Went to get it going with the speed knob...no go.  Tried the same address with the Walk-Around Companion controller, turned the knob, and off she went.  Got going its regular speed; no issues.  I put down the Walk-Around and tried the EZ Command Controller again.  No response.  I was able to change its address to button #1.  Engine reacted as normal.  But again it just won't budge.  Changed the address to #1 on the Walk-Around controller, and GP40 was off to the races again.  Frustrating not being able to figure out the issue.  The controller power plug is connected to a surge protector, so I don't think it was power related.  Who knows.

So all seems normal with the EZ Command Controller (STOP button, address changes, lights), just nothing with the speed dial.  I wish I knew why this suddenly happened.  I was hoping there might be a simple reset for the controller someone might know about.  Manual says squat.  I may have to give Bachmann a call.

Thanks for the replies.  Hope all your guy's issues are figured out as well.

Very strange circumstance today.  Our engines don't appear to want to work with the E-Z Command Controller.  Each engine's address is still the same, yet no response when we turn the knob to get them going.

I took the E-Z Controller off and tried a DC controller.  Engines all work fine with that.  So that eliminates the track as a possible issue.  Rerailer must be fine as well.  Used same wiring as well from the E-Z Controller to connect the DC Bachmann controller.  So the wiring is out as a possible culprit.  It must be the controller itself.

I disconnected the DC controller and tried the E-Z command again.  Again, engines will not move when the knob is turned.  I tried all 10 addresses on three separate DCC engines, but none will budge.  I then tried a trick I learnt about a month or so ago.  With no engines on the track, I hold down #1 address button and press the STOP button to start it flashing.  I then put a DCC engine on the track and press the decoder default address of #3.  This caused the engine to slightly move like it does whenever we change addresses for engines.  I figured all was gravy then.  NOPE!  Turn the speed dial and still no response.  Tried all addresses again.  No Go...

Is the E-Z Command Controller done?  Seems engines still respond to addresses changes from it.  Could the speed knob be the issue?  I'm lost!  Any help/ideas would be very much welcome.

Is there anything good about them??

It seems with only two locomotives and about 10 freight cars in total on our minuscule carpet layout of EZ Track, that these switches always seem to lose their addresses and won't respond unless the power is reset to the EZ Command Controller.  I could understand this if there was 4 or 5 engines on there and/or 20 freight cars, but with two or more they just give up the ghost.  My son seems to think we need the 5 amp power booster, but I figured that was for serious layouts, set up on large boards and such.  I just want to run a couple simple trains for my son and I to view and interact with.  DCC engines are a lot of fun, and we also have a sound 4-8-4 that thrills him.  It's just these darn switches.

Another issue with one of the DCC switches, recently, is that when a locomotive runs over it, the engines quit completely.  We have to move the train past the switch before the train starts up again.  I've looked at the switch carefully.  It's quite clean as we always clean the track before setting it up, track rail endings are even on both sides, manually switching the track appears to not have any issues; yet all engines going over it still die.  Can track become defective that quickly?  We've had them for maybe half a year.  The other DCC switch still allows trains to pass by with no issues...just the address bit is all.  Is there a way to bring this switch back to life?  I just want to know what could possibly be causing the short on this switch.

Any help or advice with them would be very much appreciated.  Thank You!!

ok then, I'll get over there and check out a coupler gauge.  Thank you!

Oldtimer, that was gonna be my question after your directions to find these #20 couplers Doneldon suggested.  I did follow your directions to a "T" but I was lost as to what I needed; center, undershank, long....noooo clue.  I assume center would do the trick as the EZ Mate (not II) couplers I have on the GP 40 do currently line up with the car that follows it.  I'm scared to try two engines consisting together with the loose in and out issue it has with the mount, but when I get those sleeves (I think that's what'll do the trick) that should stabilize the coupler.  However, when I go to change over five other new cars with their truck mounted couplers, this is where I assume I need the track gauge.  Do I measure the height of a freight car which hasn't had any issues with coupling?  Then use that height for the new cars?  A track gauge seems too complex (to a newbie) when you would think you could measure with any ruler.  That idea probably freaks out the pros of this hobby, but I guess until I actually own a track gauge and see how it works, then the ruler seems to be my only recourse.  But as richg said, I have to have a little patience with getting this done.  But the patience in understanding the multitude of couplers had me stopped dead cold.  I feel I'm going to be buying non stop couplers until I finally find the right ones, and as I look in my wallet and the moths fly out, that's just not a reality.  So I pretty much gotta be dead on the first time.  I'm pretty sure, from Doneldon, that I want the #20 coupler but as for which one, after following Oldtimers lead, I'm completely lost.  All I know is I want Kadee couplers on these cars.

So, as I patiently go, find a track gauge first and measure something...it's a start....sorta  

Man, I must be a real dunce or something because I cannot find a #20 Kadee coupler on their own site.  I found the #213 Gearbox and Sleeves for #20 series, but I searched that site for the couplers and just must have been looking right past it or something.  Little miffed at myself.

Any chance someone might have a look at www.kadee.com and know where to spot these #20's please.  Maybe post a link.  Many, MANY gracious thank you's, bows, weird handshakes...you know the routine   

That's hilarious because my son spotted that right off too...as usual I had no clue about the knob

I'm sold!!

Going to look for #20couplers then.  Thanks for all the help, good people!!

I like reliable AND easy.

#213 Gearbox & Sleeves for #20-series...going to check that out as well.  can't beat that price.  TY CNE Runner