I was moving my 2-8-4 yesterday and the two wires in the small plug pulled out of the plug (the larger plug is fine). While it is less than a year old I have lost my receipt and I'm hesitant to send it in for repair. Since its DCC equiped it'll cost me $20 to have it fixed plus shipping.
I'm having a hard time accepting spending $25-30 for fixing something as simple as two wires. Has anyone else fixed this themselves?
You could try to hard wire it using plugs from futurlec
http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml (http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml) I have used these to do about 12 steamers and they work well. I just make the wires long enough to extend into the tender and place the connector there. I rarely take the locos off the track so disconnecting them doesn't happen. But if I need to, a plug can be accessed by 1 screw on the tender
Tips from Yampa Bob here:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,6529.0.html
Find someone handy with a small soldering iron and Ohm-meter to fix your (assuming left and right rail pickup bus) plug and wires.
When done, check with the Ohm-meter (engine connected to tender, not on rails) that all electrical pickup wheels on the right side of the loco and tender are connected.
Repeat for the left side. Make sure no shorts between any right wheel and any left wheel.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik