My wife purchased for me a Bachmann Yuletide special HO scale train for Christmas 2 years ago. Disappointingly there were no detailed instructions included for maintenance of the engine. The train is stored in it's original packaging at the end of each holiday season. Yesterday when I assembled the train set the engine would not run at first. I gently moved the wheels back and forth with my fingers and the engine haltingly started to move very slowly around the track,stopping regularly as it tried to proceed. I cleaned the track with a very expensive electronic connection cleaner and the engine moved a little bit faster,but still came to a stop several times. I then sprayed the wheel assembly with cleaner and the engine progressed around the track in it's entirety,however relatively slowly. I hooked up the car's at that time and the engine will pull them but very slowly and as of this morning I am back to giving the engine a little push to get it to start moving. It is back to stopping at different intervals around the track. The engine is also now making a slight squeeking noise as it travels. Is there some way of lubricating the engine and if not is there some other way to improve the engines performance? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
For cleaning the track just use a cloth with some isopropyl alcohol where is rubs the rails.
I wrap mine around a small wooden block.
The wheels can be cleaned by laying a paper towel over the tracks and then put some of the isopropyl alcohol on it.
Run one set of trucks on it to remove dirt. While holing the engine in place.
This will not hurt the motor at all as the wheels are moving.
Do the other end and then do this on the towel with a area with out the alcohol.
You will see dirt streaks until they get clean.
Also make sure that the track is well connected for good conductivity.
Oh, and, welcome to model railroading. Once you learn these things the fun improves. :D
The squeaking may be dry bushings or power pickups (flat bronze springs which pick the power off the backs of the wheels.) You can lightly oil every place where one piece moves against another, using a light, plastic compatible oil. The exception is the motor brushes - do not oil them, but you can put a drop of conductive lubricant on the commutator that the brushes touch. Conductive lubricant applied to the power pickups and to the wheel treads can improve power transfer from the track to the locomotive as well. Check under the tender to see if it has power pickups touching the axles - if so, lubricate them as well, or better, apply some conductive lubricant. If you open up the locomotive, you can lubricate the gears while you are at it, using gear lubricant. Light oil, conductive lubricant and gear lubricant, all of them plastic compatible, can be bought at any good hobby shop.
Cleaning track, cleaning wheels, and lubricating are all part of model railroading. As a rule, locomotives and track that are used only once a year require more maintenance than ones that are run every day, measured in minutes of maintenance per hour of operation.
Jim
Check the wheel spacing to make sure none of them got squeezed together against the frame when you packed it away.
Also check to make sure there are no hair or carpet fibers wrapped around the axles, especially if you run it on the floor.
NM-Jeff