Hi, so I recently purchased a DCC Pennsylvania Railroad SD45 from Spectrum off of Ebay. It came in the mail today, and when I tested it, it wouldn't move at all below speed step 17. At speed step 17, it still goes very slowly. The headlight works, so I know that it isn't a power issue, and you can hear the motor below speedstep 17, it just doesn't run. I have tried resetting the decoder. I have tried resetting the address to the number 3 and back again, still to no avail. I did notice however that the motor was very loose. Like as in I could just lift it out if I wanted to loose. I do not think this is an issue because I secured it in place with some moutning putty, and the same issue still happened. If anyone has any knowledge of how to fix this, please let me know.

Here is a late-breaking update to my Bachmann GE-45T repair/upgrade: I presently own 3 of these 'beauties' and really love how they run on my layout. [I run my trains virtually everyday.] #4 has the original Bachmann decoder to which I added a TCS "Keep Alive" unit. This locomotive runs like an expensive Swiss watch. #5 is currently apart - awaiting my order of micro LEDs. [Check out my previous posts.] A well-known vendor installed a TCS decoder and a TCS Keep Alive unit. Said locomotive is still in pieces as I had to 'chase down' some shorts and will [shortly] replace the inoperative front LED (however there is a light at the end of this tunnel...no pun intended). GE-45T (#6) has been 'dead' for a few years and will garner my attention next. I contacted TCS technical and they advised that I check the motor to see if the non-running begins there. As far as decoders are concerned (for the GE-45T) they recommended: 1) TCS M1 (no Keep Alive...but you can add their miniscule TCS KA4 Keep Alive, or 2) the TCS KAM4-LED which is set up WITH a Keep Alive Circuit and LED wires/resistors already attached. Now the KAM4-LED is a bit larger than the simple M1; BUT if you factor in the additional size of the Keep Alive circuit module you may be better served by going with the TCS KAM4-LED. I'll try to update this post whenever I get to the repair/upgrade of #6.

Cheers,
Ray

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/185708-kader-reduces-its-losses/

1.  I hope that the Bach Man Gets to keep his job.
2.  I hope that steam locomotives don't get cut from the catalog.

I agree with Trainman on both issues.
I had a Christmas layout upon which I had used whit batting. I ended up with locos that wouldn't run because the fibers had built up around the axles. I spent hours with a pair of tweezers, pulling out fibers.
A flat surface is definitely needed to prevent derailing. It you don't want plywood, maybe something like a few thick sheets of foam board would work.

Cutting gaps in EZ-Track works very well. Even though I run DCC, I've cut gaps where I want to isolate my programming track from the rest of the layout yet still be able to run the engine onto the programm track under its own power. IIRC, the piece of styrene I needed to use was either .010" or .020" but may be different depending on the thickness of your cut-off disk. The way I did it, I cut a small piece of styrene of the correct thickness and glued it in the gap with CA glue. I let it dry overnight and then trimmed it with a #11 blade to match the profile of the rail. Hope this helps.

I honestly would not be surprised if the gondolas not shown in 2025 catalogue 

I hope to see a painted sample of the high side wagons hopefully by the end of the year

Make the track level.  You'll never have level track on carpet. Put the track on the table or a piece of plywood.

  Carpet is terrible for Trains.  Inevitably, little fibers will get into every moving part of the Train.  The locomotive mechanism, the wheels, couplers, Everything.

The two words on eBay that make me smell a rat are "rare" and "vintage."

Yes. I've given up on trying to replace metal rail joiners with plastic ones on EZ-Track. Instead I use a cutoff disk in a Dremel tool to cut gaps in the rail where needed, then glue a thin strip of styrene in the gap to keep the rails from touching.

Len

At 88 I.m probably starting my last HO layout.  I have all brass locomotives in DC and would like to include a reverse loop.  Can I do this with Bachmann track?