train won't run

[dwarchitect]

Just received a new Bachman N 505998 060 Switcher and Tender.  Put it on the track and doesn't run.  Any suggestions?  (yes, the track has power)

[gatrhumpy]

1. Clean the track.
2. After you clean the track, clean the wheels.
3. After you clean the wheels, replace the tender with an all-wheel-live tender.

[Mike C]

Should run out of the box , if not I would return it .

[brokemoto]

That thing has  a tender that has an electrically live front truck.  I suspect that there is something not making proper contact in that truck.  As the locomotive has a traction tyre on one driver pair, the electrical contact on the locomotive is somewhat compromised.  B-mann attempts to compensate for that by making one tender truck live.

The first thing to do is to separate the tender from the locomotive.  You will see a slot in the drawbar that has openings to accommodate the separation.  Basically, you move the tender to one side and lift it up and away from the locomotive.   Now, you examine the front truck.  There should be two brass colored tabs that make contact with a silver colored conductive tape on the drawbar.  Make sure that the contact is good.   You may have to take off the front truck to bend up the tabs.

If you  must remove the front truck, take note of how the whole business is assembled.  It is critical that you re-assemble the whole thing exactly as it was.   Take a Phillips head jeweller's screwdriver and carefully unscrew the screw and lift off the tender truck.  Take care not to let the pieces fall out of the truck.  Gently bend up the contact tabs.  While you are at it, make sure that the contact wipers are properly seated in the wheels.  Next, examine the drawbar.  There should be two stiff wires on it where they make contact with  a split post on the locomotive.  Make sure that they are clean.  You might have to bend them in a bit.  BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS.   THOSE WIRES ARE VERY DELICATE AND BREAK OFF OF THE DRAWBAR VERY EASILY.  In fact, you might want to clamp the drawbar in some small needlenose pliers toward the forward opening in the drawbar between said opening and the point where the stiff wires are soldered onto the drawbar.  Still, whatever you do, BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL.   Once you have done this, examine the split contact posts on the locomotive and make sure that they are clean.  You can do this (and the contact surfaces on the tender) with some fine sandpaper.  If there is a craft or hobby store near you, you can buy some sanding sticks for this purpose.

You then re-assemble the whole business and see if that solved the problem.  In my experience, that is a not uncommon problem with these things.

If you are so inclined, the best thing to do with this one is to swap out the factory tender for a B-mann SPECTRUM tender, which has all wheels live.  In fact, doing the tender swap turns this thing into a SUPERB locomotive.  It allows it to run better and pull more rolling stock.  The design of the factory tender truck is such that it creates a tremendous amount of drag on the locomotive.  Upgrading to a SPECTRUM tender both eliminates the drag and improves the electrical contact.   If you will check Spookshow's website, there are some hints as to how to do this.

B-mann recently upgraded the power chassis on this thing.   I was somewhat surprised that it did not upgrade the tender, as well.  At some point, I suspect that B-mann will issue this one with a factory decoder, at which point it will have to upgrade the tender.   If you will add the all wheels live tender, this thing is a REAL WINNER.   I have one that does the most demanding job on my pike.

Be aware the disassembling the tender might void the warranty.  Perhaps Mr. Bachpersonn can provide some enlightenment.  Sending it back to Bachmann might not solve the problem.  I have seen contact problems in more than one of these.  The tinkering and cleaning always has solved the problem.  In fact, even if you do the tender swap, you must make sure that all contact surfaces are clean and that the stiff wires in the drawbar are making proper contact with both the tender wheels and the contact post on the locomotive.  Fortunately, the SPECTRUM drawbar is a little more durable than is the drawbar on the Standard Line tender.