Hello everyone.  Just spreading love for Bachmann's N scale 2-8-8-4!  I bought one about three years ago from ebay that unfortunately died, but I liked that loco so much that I bought two from BLW when they were still in stock.  Speaking of ebay, they are few and far between and as of this writing and used ones go for premium prices. Would be awesome if Bachmann released a second edition with other roads!

So, of the two, one still runs like a peach!  The other has always been a bit slower (both run exclusively on DCC) and squeaks after a while (and trust me I have lubed the outside connections and gears after 24 hours [or less] of running, but still squeaks...my hunch is I will have to take it apart and try to lube the inside portion of the gears and/or bearing blocks).

I would be interested to hear the experience from others...thanks Bachmann for such a fine model!

Jeff

Hello everyone....first off, I am very thankful for Bachmann's great steam offerings in N Scale, and I hope they continue this trend! 

I have a 2-10-2 that does not move anymore although the lights still come on and in the proper direction.  I use DCC mode exclusively. 

I get the feeling that this could very well be a decoder issue (based on reading many posts and second hand experiences).  I also see (thanks to spookshow for the great review and pics!) that it looks fairly straight-forward to hook up the connector to a new tender.

On the flip side, I owned a 2-8-8-4 EM-1 that also did this (lights but no movement)...I returned it and spoke directly with a repair person who suggested "the rods were bound up"...I really liked that loco, so I used the proceeds of the replacement they sent me (a very nice 2-8-4 with sound, but it did not fit my plans) to help in the purchase of two more EM-1s which still both run well.  With that said, although I'm not 100% sure what "bound up rods" would look like, I can confirm that at one point it was running fine, but then one day it barely ran, and then stopped running.  When I inspect it, I do not see any issues with the rods, but I imagine that even a small issue could cause big problems, and well, my eyes ain't quite what they used to be  

I would prefer to still have my 2-10-2 as opposed to a replacement loco of another kind (assuming the Bachmann store does not have one anymore) if I send it in...

So, please advise o sages of the Bachmann forum!  Should I send it in, or hope that it is a decoder issue that can be fixed with a new tender/decoder. 

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Jeff