Bob,
Now we are getting to the heart of the problem.

Electrical contact between each truck and the locomotive is through two spring loaded plungers at each truck.  These plungers make contact with a small brass ring that is wired to the PCB of the locomotive.

Chances are that since the locomotive, given it age, has not been run the brass rings have developed a slight coating of oxidation.  Also, the electrical contacts that run against the back of each driver could also have some oxidation.

Look at page 26 of your Owner's manual.  There you will see the ball bearings that make contact with the back of each driver.  What is not illustrated are the plungers, mounted next to the king post, that transmit power from the motor blocks into the locomotive.

The intermittent power to both the front and rear trucks indicates that these plungers are not making constant contact.

Do you have any Conducta?  If so, place a drop or two of Conducta on each of the ball bearing pickups behind each driver.  Now, getting Conducta to the plungers located on each side of the king post may be a problem.  You can try placing the locomotive on its side and putting Conducta around each king post in an attempt to get it to migrate to the plungers and the brass contact ring.

If the locomotive were mine, I'd place the engine upside down in the top packing container and slowly run the unit.  Keep the trucks as level as possible and be careful not to allow them to pivot to far so that the drive shaft slip joints will disengage.  As the locomotive runs I'd work the trucks slightly side to side trying to break through the oxidation that may be on the contact rings.

I think that if you were to do this for a while contact could be restored at both trucks.  A more positive way to correct this problem would be to remove the trucks and clean the contact plungers and brass contact ring.
This may be more work than you would want to take on. 

So, if after doing the above the locomotive will still not conduct power without a lose of contact then the unit will have to be returned to Bachmann.  Most likely they'll just take the trucks off, clean the contacts and return the unit.

As a aside.  These contact plungers did give a problem, in many cases right from the start.  Many folks, myself included, eliminated these contact plungers and hard wired in their place.  Also did this with the Climax that uses the same system to transmit power  to and from the motor blocks.  Once hard wired there will never be a problem with intermittent power.

Good luck!

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"


JD

Stan,
I think your question was answered by our FONECON.  If you run into anything else just give me a call.

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Ah, the old NIB locomotive that could be up to 11 years old!  The Pardee & Curtin 36 ton was introduced in 1998.

First, It's only the front truck that provides motion to the cylinders.  The drive shaft from the rear truck is "free" wheeling and does not supply motion to the cylinders.

Sounds like your problem is within the rear motor case.  Turn the locomotive over. Support it properly.  In fact you can use the top half of the clam shell packing to support the locomotive.

Remove the bottom cover from the rear truck.  Check each of the large nylon gears, one on each drive axle.  Look for a split drive gear.  Given the potential age of the unit it is very possible that one of the main axle mounted drive gears has split.

Another way to check the rear motor block is when the locomotive is upside down and supported apply power to the rear truck.  You can do this by touching the two wires that would come from your power pack to a driver on each side of the motor block.  The motor should run and the wheels turn.  If when applying power the wheels won't turn, i.e. the motor will not run then there is a problem with electrical pickup from the rear wheels to the motor.  Also, understand that the two motor blocks share power.  So since your rear motor block doesn't run smoothly then there is a problem with power flowing from the wheels, through the pickups, to the motor.

Check the rear motor block and both the main axle drive gears and electrical pickups may identify the problem.  If you can't find the problem then, for you, the easiest solution is to contact Bachmann and make arrangements to return the unit for correction of the problem.

One of the "Enthusiast Children"

JD

As Glennk28 mentions the motor blocks are similar, but not the same.  Internal lubrication of either locomotive's motor block would be the same.

External lubrication will be a matter of looking closely at the Climax and lubricating any moving parts.  Use a light oil, such as Bachmann EZ Lube or other plastic compatable oil.

One lubrication point on the Climax that most folks miss is the center gear case. This is the case where the front and rear dirve shafts attach.  It may take a flash light to find, but there is a hole, centered in the top of the gear case.  Five or six drops of your lubricating oil should be put in this hole.  The gears that drive the cross shaft are in this center gear case and they require lubrication. 

Other than that one point that is easy to overlook, all other lubrication points are rather evident.


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Chris,
By Spectrum controller I take it to mean you are attempting to use Bachmann's Item #44281 Spectrum Power Pack.  Their catalog lists this unit as being rated at 0.9 amp capacity.

Take Phil's advice and get a "real" power supply.  There are any number of power supplies available rated at 10 amps or more.  That's what you need for the larger locomotives.

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

As Glenn points out lense color displayed varied by railroad.  The only constant seems to be red to the rear.

What is constant is that Rule 19 (Markers) in any  Railroad's Operating Rules establishes the color of lenses displayed in markers.

To be prototypically correct, for a period, you would have to have that railroad's Operating Rules, in force for the period being modeled,  and consult Rule 19.

As late as 1969 the C&O/B&O recognized that other railroad's markers would not necessarily be the same as those used on their railroad.  Under Rule 19 the C&O/B&O states, "Trains of other railroads may display markers as prescribed by that railroad when operating on C&O-B&O rails."

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

As delivered it appears that the marker light lanterns are not properly installed on most if not all units.  The markers have the green lense to the rear. Wrong.

Red should show to the rear and sides.  Green should show to the front. Have read, but don't know for sure, that at some point in time the markers were changed to amber lenses to the sides and rear.

On another site there's a posting where a new owner managed to damage the marker light wiring when trying to get the red lenses facing to the rear.  It is not necessary to pull the marker light assembly from the body.  The lantern will slide off the marker light base.



Here's the lantern removed from its base.  All that is necessary to get the proper lense orientation is to move the left lantern to the right side and right lantern to the left.  Also refer to page G887X-IS001 of supplied documentation.  Takes about a minute or so to make the correction.  Wonder why folks won't take the time to review supplied documentation before attempting any work on a model.   

Wonder if Danny has figured this out yet?


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Mine arrived at the dealers on the 17th.  As luck would have it that's the day we left for Canada to attend our daughter's wedding.



Was able to pick the cabin up today. Took a couple of pictures before getting started adding detail and lettering.  The caboose arrived in great condition. Bachmann has a winner with this latest offering.

Now we'll see what Danny has to say.    

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

The Anniversary edition of the 10-Wheeler was introduced by Bachmann to mark the 10th anniversary of the Big Hauler's introduction.

Bachmann even produced a limited production box car to mark the event (year).

Here is a link that addresses both the standard 10-Wheeler and the Anniversary 10-Wheeler.  There are pictures that illustrate the visual and trim differences between the two versions of the 10-Wheeler.

http://www.grblogs.com/index.php/2007/11/08/bachmann-10-wheelers?blog=4

Most questions you may have should be answered.

Should note that George Schreyer's excellent site, referenced in a posting above, contains one small error in addressing the 10-Wheeler.  George lists the Anniversary locomotive as having a version 6 drive train.  The difference being cited is that the Annie has a 7-pole can motor.  This is incorrect.  Both the standard and Annie locomotives have 5-pole can motors.


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

The size of Thomas looks good next to the Big Hauler.  It should make a great addition to any locomotive fleet and make a lot of kids, of all ages, happy.

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Craig,
I should have mentioned that the Plus is a version 3 Big Hauler.  At George's site he makes mention of using a wire tie around the moter to hold if firmly in the motor mounts.  Follow his advice on that.  Also he mentions changing the ring that goes around the bearing end of the motor, that's where the motor shaft exists and the worm gear is attached.

If your Big Hauler has the older type ring, as George describes, I have the white ring that is recommended to be used.  If your engine has the older ring, contact me and I'll send you the ring that George recommends using.  This ring, when used in conjunction with the wire tie will help extend gear life.  You can contact me at jlsrails@aol.com with your mailing adress and I'll send on right out.

As a side note. I had an ET&WNC Plus version.  It was operated without any problems till the Version 5 ET&WNC Anniversary was introduced.  At thst time I sold the Plus version to a fellow club member.  That Plus version ET&WNC is still in operation, so they do hold up if given proper care.

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

The 31497 you have is a White Pass engine #10.  It is a Bachmann Plus series.  I find it listed in the 1994 catalog.  Loco Bill will be able to give you the exact years this locomotive was offered.

Here's a link that will give you a complete run down on the Big Hauler locomotives offered by Bachmann.  Drive trains from generation 1 through 5 are covered.  As Bachmann upgraded the Big Hauler's drive train folks started referring to the locomotives by generation based on the various drive systems.

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html

The locomotive is worth keeping since it is new.  First thing will be to give it a good lubrication.  George's site, listed above, will cover the Plus series and provide tips that will help extend it service life. 

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"


JD

QuoteSorry - couldn't find Dan

Sure you didn't miss much.  Why even look?

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Remove the boiler/cab assembly.

Look at exploded diagram G812X-IS003 that came with your locomotive. You will note the motor is mounted in a vertical position.  Once the boiler/cab assembly is removed the motor is right out there in the open.

I take it you are making reference to PCB 04 that is attached to the motor leads. Since the motor is right out in the open with the brush end pointing up it's easy to unsolder the PCB.


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"


JD

Stan,
OOPS!  My mistake.    There are two Phillips head screws that secure the front bolster on each side.  In the picture, just to the rear of the air tank brace is a second screw.  Look at the other side of the locomotive.  On that side the second screw does not "hide" right next to a brace.

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"


JD