I bought a new/non running Spectrum 4-4-0 as another repair challenge.

It is the dcc model in the red box, item #80106.

It looks brand new in the box but someone has been into it.

First problem was easy to find inside the tender. the decoder had been removed and a jumper plug installed. The locomotive still did not run after plugging in a known good decoder. I also eliminated the possibility of a wiring problem in the tender by running this tender behind a known good loco.

The problem has to be in the locomotive either wiring or motor.

After looking at the parts breakdown I am attempting to remove the boiler and cab assemblies to get to the frame /motor.

I have removed the 2 small phillips screws under the cab and it seems to be loose but the boiler is still tight to the frame. I have also removed a screw under the leading truck between the cylinders.


What am I missing? It is not really clear from the parts breakdown what holds the boiler to the frame.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I recently purchased a new old stock HO 80 ton 3 truck shay locomotive with the factory installed DCC sound decoder. It is Bachmann item # 81909 and has the orange stickers on the outside of the box that it is equipped with the Soundtraxx LC series digital sound decoder.

It was sealed in the factory cellophane when I got it.

I opened it and put it on my test track. It runs ok and the lights work but the sound output is so low that you can barely hear it. I adjusted the CV for the master volume to the max allowable but no change. I set the CV for the chuff volume to max and it came up a little but still barely audible.

I really do not want to send the loco back to see if it can be repaired by the factory if it is something simple that I can repair.

Any ideas where to start? Bad speaker? Is this a common problem. I already know that I will have to replace the drive gears at some point.