Update:  we replaced all of the MTH track with Lionel Fastrack and the problem went away.  Something weird was happening with the MTH track, not sure what, but the Lionel Fastrack solved everything.  We're still using the MTH Z100 transformer and it works just fine.

Thanks for all of the suggestions & help!

-Crystal

There are no accessories attached.  I removed the one lighted passenger platform immediately.  I am told that it could be the track, so I am replacing my track (previously MTH RealTrax) with Lionel Fastrack in the next week and getting a larger curve for the circle so that the pink train can turn easier if the tender is dragging or acting like a brake.

Thanks for the suggestions.  We're still working on getting this running!

Last Sunday we took the transformer/controller down to train store w/ the train and tender and the owner took a look at the train and tested it for about an hour.  We couldn't find anything wrong - he put out MTH transformer/controller on his track with my pink train and it ran fine and did not overheat.  Before we left the store, the store owner disabled the smoke unit because he said that might be causing a problem (first thing to go out on the engine possibly).

I came home and tried out the engine with the smoke unit disabled and no changes.  We were also told to wire a second set of power/ground to the other side of the track and that did not help either.  Then I ran just the engine all on its own on the track and had no problems (it maintained speed).  I attached the tender to the engine and ran just the two of them and it eventually slowed down.  I am starting to wonder if the tender is the problem.

Has anyone had a problem with or heard of a problem with the tender?  I believe this is where the sound is located, so could that be the problem?  Also, I compared the underside of the Williams Pink Tender to the MTH Tender and the connector on the Williams tender can rub up against the wheels on a tight turn and I think it might be acting like a brake, and eventually bogging down the engine.  Has anyone seen this problem on a William tender, or any other tender?  Should the connector be able to touch the front wheels?  Our MTH tender connector clears the wheels and does not rub up against the wheel.  Our track is made of two O-31 curves a straight piece (approx 4.5 feet) and then repeats to make a circle around our tree.  Maybe the combination of the connector rubbing up against the wheels, a tight corner and a short distance (that wouldn't allow for a lot of speed to be gained) is the issue - but I believe this train set is rated for O-27 curves, so I would think this wouldn't be the problem.  Note that at the train store, there were long straight aways that the train could pick up more speed on and not as many tight curves, so that would explain why we didn't see this at the train store.  Any thoughts? 

Thank you for your suggestions - I really appreciate your help!  I am excited to get this train working!

-Crystal

Hi,
Thank you all for replying - lots of helpful info

When I took the engine/tender into the store, he lubed it again, so I think it is good there.  I was told not to over-lube, that is bad.

I cleaned the track with rubbing alcohol.  I was able to get a little bit of dirt or grime off, but really not a lot.

At the store, the owner (who also does repairs) took the shell off of the train and we both checked for loose wires and we didn't see any.

So, I happen to have a voltmeter handy   Here's what I found.  The transformer specs says that it outputs 14V AC (80W) and 18V DC (100W).  When I took the train off the track, I measure 18.2 V (DC voltage) at full speed, ~14 V at 3/4 speed, and ~10 V at 1/2 speed.  So, the transformer is working.  When the MTH train is running at 3/4 speed, I measure ~13.2 V, and at 1/2 speed I measure 10.9 V.  When I put the Williams pink train on the track (BTW, I am measuring both engines with 3 MTH cars on the track w/ the train & tender) at 1/2 speed I measure 9.8V in the beginning and it eventually drops down to 6.8V when it stops running (engine is not hot to the touch).  At 3/4 speed I measure 13.8 V and it goes around the track quite a few times (3-5 minutes) and eventually stops, but I am measuring 13.8 V still.  However, the engine is really hot and I can't touch the back end of the train where the engine is exposed behind the cab.  And its really hard to get the train restarted at this point.   Note:  that I can't run either the MTH or the Williams train at full speed on our 5x5 Christmas tree circle because they will both jump the track at the turns.

My trainset didn't come with a user's manual, does anyone know where I could find one?  I suspect that the MTH transformer/controller isn't powerful enough for this train now.

Also, is the hot engine normal?  When we were testing this train at the store on the test track, it did not get this hot and he was running a more powerful transformer (he had a longer track). 

Thanks again for your comments, if you have anything else to suggest, I would greatly appreciate it!

Regards,
Crystal

I just bought the Williams 2-6-4 Steam Girl's Set and was told that I could use my husbands MTH transformer & track (MTH RailKing RTR Penn Freight Train Set, w/ track & transformer).  When the Williams Engine & Tender are on the track with the cars & caboose that came with the set, it will pick up speed just fine, maintain speed for 2-3 laps around our Christmas tree (about a 5x5 foot circle) and then will start to slow down and eventually stop.  I don't change the speed on the controls (usually set to 1/2 to 3/4 speed).  Our MTH train can maintain speed on the track without modifying the controls, but the Williams will always slow down and eventually stop.

I connected the MTH train to the William's Girls cars & caboose (to rule out the engine/tender) and the MTH train pulls the cars just fine, so that tells me that there isn't a short in the cars.  The Williams Engine/Tender eventually slows down on the track when attached to the MTH cars/caboose, so it leads me to believe it is the engine.  The store that I bought the Set from doesn't see this problem on their test track when I take it into the store.  While debugging the problem at the store, we looked up the specs on the MTH transformer and called the store where we bought the MTH set/track/transformer, and everyone confirmed that the transformer shouldn't be the problem.

Does anyone else have this set (and what transformer/track are you using)?

Does anyone have a recommendation on how to fix this problem?  Or should I return it to the store for an exchange?

Regards,
Crystal