Head light out on my Royal Blue 4-6-0

[1960bugeye]

My son and I have enjoyed our Big Hauler for many years. The head light has been out for so long we can't remember when it ever worked.

I don't believe the light on the tender ever lit.

Can anyone tell me what is involved with fixing the headlight. The lens on the front of the headlight appears to be glued on.

Thanks for any help.

[1960bugeye]

Ok. I did some reading on the forum and came across a link to some tips that led me to a page on how to convert the headlight to an LED. That looks like it involves more than I bargined for.

I found that the headlight just pulls up from the body of the train.

Once we had the headlight off we saw that the bulb had burned out and just needs to be replaced.

Does anyone know what the replacement bulb would be?

[Barry BBT]

You will need a 14 to 19 volt grain of wheat bulb with leads.  The leads will need to be soldered to the two center post of the on/off switch behind the smokebox cover.  It may be easier to splice into the old bulb's wires, the switch and the posts are pretty small.   The lamp assembly lifts off of the base exposing the bulb mounted on a stalk with a split down the leading edge of the stalk.  This allows the threading of the wires.  If the leads on your new bulb are too large, don't panic, put one lead down the center of the stalk and the other in front of an into the slot on the stalk.

The tender light does not have a bulb in it.  I have put bulbs into the housing, but usually after converting the tender for track pick-up with a jumper to the locomotive to enhance it's pick up ability for continuous running.

Barry - BBT

[1960bugeye]

Barry,

Thanks for the reply.  We got a bulb at Radio Shack and spliced the wires from the old bulb. The new wires were small enough to fit in the slot. The new bulb works great.

How easy is it to convert the original drive to your upgraded one?

While I had the train on the dining room table I took the bottom off and greased up the gears and put some dielectric grease on the cam that provides the chuffing sound. The train still runs kind of rough. It seems like an electrical pick up problem. I cleaned the wheels with rubbing alcohol to take the track grime off too.

Are there other service points or is it just better to convert?  We have had our Royal Blue for 10 or 12 yeas and it has always ran great. It still smokes like crazy and we bought the two other cars that didn;t come with the original set. So we have made the Royal Blue a proper train now.

[Barry BBT]

You seemed to have covered the lube side of things.  Depending upon the age of your unit there are always things to do.  Guessing from the age it seems your loco should be a Plus model.  The third generation Big Hauler, the battery model being the first, the first track powered loco for the second gen and the Plus being the first with some metal detail: hand rails, bell, etc.  The problem here is that the motor was not secured in place very well.  A simple solution is to get pretty hefty wire tie.  Remove the boiler and cab and the bottom plate from the plastic chassis.  Locate where the motor is and find a spot above the chassis next to the weight, thread the wire tie down past the weight and come out right next to the motor.  Center the wire tie on the motor wrap it around the motor and thread the wire tie past the motor  past the weight.  Pull both ends until the reciever end is near the top of the weight, thread the tail of the wire tie through the receiver and pull it very tight so you are confident the motor will not move.  Lube the worm, put everything back together, should give you years of service.

Check the plunger style pickups, the current runs through the springs which will cause the springs to collapse, then no current to the motor.

My drive can be installed by a fairly handy modeller.  The Annie 2-8-0 kit is the most complicated and I do that one.  The instructions are 18 pages long; half words and half drawings.  If you get in trouble I am always available on the phone.  Also, it's not as good a deal as it once was, but the unit is warranted for life, my life not, yours; and the unit is warranted regerdless of who owns it now.

Barry - BBT

   

[Doug.Oaks]

Barry,
As the owner of one of your drives, I suggest that you take your vitamins.

[Barry BBT]

Doug,

Thanks, I do, but time marches on.   So Far So Good.

Barry - BBT