adding last car to train causes whole train to stop functioning

[liquidbb]

I just purchased a used department56 train made by Bachman and all works well until I try and add the last car. When I do that the whole train stops functioning. Can anyone provide guidance on what causes this and how to resolve it?

thanks!

[richg]

That tells me the last car is causing a short. This is assuming the stop is caused by the power pack being shorted out.
Lifting the last car off the track will definitely solve it but I suspect that is not what you are looking for.
Are the loco wheels spinning and the train stopped? That just came to mind.

Rich

[NarrowMinded]

Is the last car a Lighted Caboose? one of the trucks(wheelsets) may have gotten turned around.  If this is the case look under it and look for wires leading from the electric pickups though and into the bottom you should be able to tell which truck should be turned. if it's not the case. you may need to replace an axle.

There are also cars with cast metal trucks, if one of the axles got turned around it Could also cause a short. or if it has wipers on the axles that pick up the electricity through the axle.

Just one more piece of info that might help you figure it out, most axles have only one wheel insulated, that means that the other wheel and the entire axle carry the electricity through them. if you have a meter and know how to use it this would help you figure it out.

I did have a set of wheels on a car that were defective and were shorting the system out I had to replace just one axle.


NM-Jeff

[liquidbb]

Thank you that worked! All of the cars are lighted on this set. I tried turning the axles around on the last car and it started running again. Don't quite understand how the axle location changes how electricity would flow through but good to know how to fix it. Thanks again.

[NarrowMinded]

Your welcomed, glad you got it running

Merry Christmas
Jeff

[richg]

Thank you that worked! All of the cars are lighted on this set. I tried turning the axles around on the last car and it started running again. Don't quite understand how the axle location changes how electricity would flow through but good to know how to fix it. Thanks again.

Draw it out on paper for both conditions. You can see how this happens.
This happens with some Bachmann steamer tenders. Some tenders, the trucks cannot swivel all the way. Some they can.
Apparently the designers  missed this. I am sure most do not understand electrical.

Rich