JK

hmmph...

The EZ-command was designed to run trains with decoders installed, if his train does not have a decoder it will only run if you press the #10 button many people use it this way but don't leave the loco stopped on the track or the motor can over heat and ruin it or worse.

The EZ command has the ability to change decoder addresses and do a basic reset through a series of button presses, however I think your issue has more to do with a lack of decoders ain some of his and or the address has been changed.

opening up a loco is a big no no if you don't know exactly what you are doing


If you know which locos have decoders installed place them on the track one at a time the press then press each button and rotate the dial forward and back, do this on each numbered button to see if any of them start running.

The one that run on DC and then run when the number 10 is selected likely are DC only loco,s if this is the case the loco will make a lot more noise when it runs on #10 then it does on the dc controller.

most locos can be fixed its just a matter of if its worth it.

Don't toss any of the old locomotives, recycle them on ebay or another site and recoup some of the money.


NM-Jeff

I'm curious, does the setting also affect the braking rate? so you can simulate stopping a heavier train?

NM-Jeff

Big difference between "touch" and "run" you can run my trains but don't touch them...

touch and go does sound familiar though...

NM-Jeff

I use artista figures, i feel they are truer to scale the others.
http://www.arttista.com/

Spray a light mist of white wood glue deleted with water 50/50 as mentioned,

Sprinkle your scenic ground cover around as thick or thin as you need,

Next from at least 18" away mist the ground cover with water with about 3 drops of dish soap per cup of water, this will allow your 50/50 mix to flow better as the soap breaks waters surface tension.

Now spray the 50/50 water/glue mix until it's all wet, leave it to set over night 24hrs

I have used this method for over 30 years and it works great.

Don't worry about any white soggy looking spots it will all dry it will look natural and will not be shiny, best of all it will be set like a rock.

Last tip apply you ground cover in natural layers 1 dirt 2 soil 3 weeds 4 grass  etc.
Here a small layout I did using this method http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,20416.msg162730.html#msg162730

NM-Jeff

My great Uncle French worked for the railroad and designed some light rail switches, my Uncle Bill was a railroad policeman so there was a lot of railroad/train set presents as a kid.

Along with that was an obsession with the miniture city at the end of the old house of the future ride at Disneyland has fuels my interest.

I loved the little animated cars on the streets, model railroads was a way to add life to my miniatures.

I'm hoping to get my hands on some Falller  cars sooner or later then my Dream/obsession will be Complete.

Nm-Jeff

Do you have any meters?

You can test the locomotive by touching a 9v battery to the wheels to see if the light comes on and the wheels move, if you get nothing it might be your locomotive.

What is the track layout ? Oval? Circle?

Try just connecting the power to just the track with the Power cord attached hold the loco so it does not run off the end then apply power, if it works check the layout to be sure you aren't creating a short.

Nm-Jeff

Does your loco just take off and only stops when you press stop?

Does the knob have any effect? If not do the following.

Turn your e-mail command on then press the #3 then see if you can control the speed, the default address of your loco should be #3, I suspect that is the issue.



Nm-Jeff

I see some incredible work here and at train shows.
Model Rail Roaders are some of the best miniture model builders there are.

I would just like to point something out that I see on just about every layout I see.

I call it "Time Warping" what is it? The simplest and most common form is a layout set in say 1940's and a 1940's truck with 50+ years of weathering & rust. It has the same visual effect to me as if you just dropped a modern day Diesel locomotive on the layout.

The second most common is run down buildings that are period for the layout but again have 50+ years of wear and tear.


Over all they look great and maybe no one notices  they give the layout some whimsy but they stick out to me like flashing beacons.

Imagine your looking down main street of your town today and you see a 2014 truck that is rusted dented and beatdown as if it were fifty years old, or a five year old building that looks 100 years old.
T
The funniest part of this phenomenon is it is most prevalent on the strictest locomotive rivit counters layouts.

Just my two cents

NM-Jeff

Ps Im guilty of it also at times because its visually pleasing to people.

I geuss Im lucky, I own a lot of bachmann locomotives, a few to several in every scale, many of them are over 20 years old,  the newest a little over a year.

Some run for hours and hours and hours unattended some are played with roughly by my Daughters and other family members, they all still run just fine, even the locos from sets that are the lowest quality they produce run and run and run.

I do maintenance on them when they are pulled out and again before they go back in the box, oil,clean,oil,wipe, back in box.

Just my experienc...

Nm-Jeff

I was once working on a motor operator for a industrial rollup door, it was Brand new and gave me a headache with erratic operation, It turned out to be one of the jumpers  looked fine on the outside but on the inside it was cut and just butted together, Very strange, I wouldn't think there would be a butt-splice like that in the run but weird things happen with automated manufacturing.

NM-jeff

You can also just cut it and splice in wires, theres nothing special about the wire itself.

Nm-Jeff

decoders.cal be programmed to stop if they encounter "DC" voltage, so for a station stop you can creat a section of trace that switches to dc after the loco enters it. The great thing about that is what ever deceleration setting you have on the decoder is still active, so the loco will decelerate for a realistic effect.

NM-Jeff