I have a brand new, out of the box Christmas morning Prarie 2-6-2 and the first time around the track the smoke element gets so hot that the stack turns to goo and falls over. Is this common? >:(
No, not common. But it can happen with a faulty smoke generator. Smoke generators are typically a number of turns of nichrome wire around an insulating, heat resisting rod. The number of coils/length of wire is carefully chosen to produce the right amount of heat to make smoke oil smoke when the proper voltage is applied. This is usually the maximum expected operating voltage of the locomotive. If the voltage is exceeded, the coils can over heat with disastrous results. But this is not the only possible cause of overheating. Sometimes an error in manufacturing or mishandling during or after installation can result in coils being pushed together so that one coil shorts against the next. This lowers the overall resistance of the smoke generator. Lower resistance means more current. More current means more heat.
Hopefully your locomotive was purchased from a Bachmann dealer and Bachmann will replace it with a new one.
Jim
Yet another reason i hate smoke generaters ;D
Amen. (And the mess it causes too!!)