I thank all of you for your help!

Haha, have fun jbrock! thanks again!

Eureka! I've got it. It was the back truck; someone must have popped the whole thing out and flipped it 180deg. I had trouble getting it out at first, not wanting to break anything. Now it's running like a charm!

Ha, yes it's my calculus notes

I really want to thank you all for your friendly comments and gracious attempts to help; this has been among the best forum experiences I've ever had. Now that I've got my old train going again, perhaps I'll be on here more often now

jbrock via richardl (formerly known as richg), yes! that diagram looks pretty much exactly like what I have. I have posted a second photo, this one of the trucks with their covers removed.

That is the same thing I keep coming to, something must have gotten turned around; I'm just not experienced in these matters.

Did the photo help? I will post another, this one will be the engine upside down with the truck covers taken off. Maybe you can see what's going on better. The front of the locomotive will be on the left side of the picture.

I'll post this pic under photos on:

www.reverbnation.com/amicron

It appears that if the back wheels are in contact, then the front wants to go in reverse; when the front wheels are in contact, it wants to go forward.

jbrock,

if all 8 wheels are in contact with the rails, then nothing happens. No smell, no audible hum, no movement.

Yes, it has two lightbulbs, one in front and one in back, and they both light up bright when only the front or back 4 wheels are touching rails; in this case the engine whirrs like it should, and no burning smells or humming, but everything stops the moment all wheels are touching the rail.

Hi Rich,

Sorry about that mix-up, the box had an illustration with the caption reading 16-wheels, but it was apparently just another product they were offering.

The picture I've posted includes the shell and the inner machinery, as well as the blurry box in the background. I can post more if it will help.

I'll peruse the site you've recommended.

Picture of the locomotive is in the photos page on this website:

www.reverbnation.com/amicron

Thanks for the tip. I don't have flickr or so, so I've posted a photo on

http://www.reverbnation.com/amicron

Once you get there look in photos, there are only a few and one of them is my locomotive.

It's the website of a solo musical project of mine, though I'm not trying to advertise it on here! Just using it as a medium to share the photo I'll probably take the photo down eventually. Thanks!

I'm having trouble posting a picture on this forum. I'll keep trying.

Hi all, I really appreciate your helpful information. Road number is 866, color is yellowish and with Union Pacific on the side. It's definitely a bachmann. Correction: it has 8 wheels, not 16. I think it's a bit different than the one in the diagram Rich posted, but that was insightful to see. I'll try to upload a photo of shell, interior, and even the box if I can, as that should help clear up identification. There's not much on the box to go by.. Wires look in tact and nothing seems to have been tampered with.  I tried to switch the wheels in the back truck to no effect. I can tell you though, it really wants to run!

When front is lifted front wheels want to go backward. When back lifted wants to go forward. Odd...  No, it has never been worked on, to my knowledge.

Thanks for your replies. As far as make and model, jbrock I think it's a DD40X 16 wheel diesel. Joe, it doesn't look like it's possible to reverse the trucks (either of them). A similar thought occured to me as well.

Hi! I dug out my train set from the early 1980's, everything's great except the engine. When the power is on, it wants to run like normal when either the back set or the front set of wheels are in contact with the track, but not when both are connected. It worked fine all those years ago, and was so much fun to play with. If anyone has experienced this symptom and knows how to fix it I'd be very grateful. Thanks!