i had one running high amps       cleaned with electrical contact cleaner   from .5 amps down to .12 amps without load   i think i got a carbon short  and it also shut down time to time when i ran it for abount 15 mins .       sometimes those easy things can be frustrating but mine was real noticable when i touched it it was way to hot.    Dave

going to give it another try tonight        thanks   for the help  i started to think maybe the bells were not included.    Dave 

ok   ive been working on my brand new f7 sounds .       i purchased a few of the b units  for the sound .   i went ahead and put the frist unit on the track  to hear what it sounds like.    the engine sound is great and start up is great .     now when i hit F2 no horn then f3 no horn    hummm   so i went for the bells f1    no bells .

went to soundtrax website    cv 129 for horn  i set to 200     now i got horns on f2 and f 3  ok     
then went for the bells          cv 130  for bells i set to 64 like the a unit cv's       no bell or it wont take .

im going to be trading out the shells on my royal gorge  b unit  so i can have sounds on my ABA consist.
then changing one shell on my alaska passanger    so it can have sound also .  then i have the southern pacific to have sound    and the last one is up in the air which one gets it in frieght haulin .

has anybody had troubles getting the bells to work on b units yet   or am i the frist .     why did'nt they just have those sounds ready  to go.    nothing said in anything ive read that these sounds were shut off  or just my glasses need adjusting again lol .      fellow bachmann members need to take note that all sounds are not turned on these b units       
Dave

on a spectrum tender i bought  it had extra wire harness that had to male ends.     i use the sound tender off another and anything with those wires bachmann uses i have sound in my steam.   so theres a thought if you do it that way    buy one with sound change the tender.  i looked for it on bachmann  i dont see tenders parts for spectrum  but im sure you can call them and order some        DAve

Yes i know a man who buys local train stuff who works on those trains    he volunters  hes time just to do it.     also you can pay to drive a steam loco also   wouldnt that be the killer thing to do also.      also here in utah  the golden spike  has the 2 locos meet head to head  several times on saturday,  you can volunter there also and work up to be the engineer to drive one  the utah state parks run this.     but i cant wait to ride on the Neveda Northern and maybe even pay to operate one of the steamers        Dave

i have some of those FT in some of my old bachmann and tyco shells  the ones that looked good    they pull alot better than those pancake  motor ones  and you can have a better coupler on the back side.       i like using those for kitbashing those older F7s    and plus they are now DCC.     also i used a few of them in my box cars loco power  so my steam locos have alot better pulling  from the hidden powered chassie hidden in the boxcar .   Dave

here some pics  of the old Kenecott copper mine in neveda   the whole town is the same from years ago and they have refurbished some steam locos .     also on the  history  channel the main man of the rail way has rick from vegas fix some stuff up to show.    ill be going this summer for a train ride  i won at a train show here in ogden utah.      take a look    Dave

http://donhepler.smugmug.com/NEVADANORTHERNRAILWAYMUSEUM/MEMORIAL-DAY-2013/MEMORIAL-DAY-2013/29615343_6MjFmS#!i=2543141998&k=bkZchBH

Have you got your self a volt /ohm/amp meter.    life saver  in trouble shooting    Dave

  heat the flywheel  cool the shaft    take a burnt out motor cut shaft on one end  sand down shaft some and use as a punch .      i havent done any dc motors yet . but i do HVAC for a living and those stubborn pullys ometimes needs this concept to get them loose and off.        DAve

i love my EM1  2-8-8-2   with sound    the best engine bachmann has built pulls real good,stays on track , its even gone through one of my 18 radius turns without any troubles.    looks real , sounds real .     well the cost is more but worth every dallor.       bright head lights     BACHMANN  has done a number ONE job on the steam engine.   also on 28 speed  and running on 1 or 2 speed   its impressive  Dave   (whishes he had one more of these)

i use those shelf couplers on my 89 ft flat cars also and anything thats long .   i ran 35 of those  flat semi trailor cars  up my grade without even having any troubles of uncoupling .      sometimes when you pull alot of weight  couplers like to climb on each other also then slip off the top up a grade.    i forgot to mention yes some coupler boxes are just not big enough for kadee couplers..     i file the coupler down just a tad bit  or use my dremel on them.       im glad you are happy and found my advice helpful.   i learned by mistake by buying some 89ft flat cars that had them allready on there.  im going on my 4rth year in trains and dcc and so much to learn yet.  that why like this board  and i will post time to time  but do read all post.     i do run several royal gorge A B A  with one using the full domes and one with just coaches .   im in the process cutting a coach to make a open top coach like the real one.   just need tons of time  which i havent had this spring ,  then do 2 more like it .     Dave

this is what i have done with bachmann passanger cars    i put kadee 118 or 119 SHELF couplers.    what i found that doing this i can do a 15 full dome passanger cars with no promblems of uncoupling hills/switches/curves .    i use 4 coaches on a smaller steam loco  and they seem to do alot better with each other.      my full domes are mostly silver series .    trouble with shelf couplers  if one car falls on its side they all follow  and harder to uncouple  even with a skewer   just a little more work with the shelf couplers.              remember joe when you buy train sets you dont get the better cars or locos  ill post some things on your other post that ive done .    Dave

yes i am      tried everything         push program button ,  hit the acc program to 1 acc  program       error .  i finally just gave up .    i think they got programmed to a mystery CV        DAve

Joe   nice sound and good mover loco.    Dave

Thank you Joe        somehow somebody needs to do a you tube of this          ok   so i need to take some of my track apart and program before i install  .      note       program   turnouts  on service track (like a locomotive )    before you install on layout .   i did not do that  lesson learned  after 15 locos where sitting on the track  that got address 1  and all took off at once .   i need that  B&O crane deployed to sit some of the cars that got derailed and bring all locos in for a tune up .         Dave