n&W "J' class Poor running

[Ozzie21]

Just purchased a N&W "J" class with sound and it's pretty sick. Basically it hasn't the guts to pull its own weight  never mind a train. I had heard that the sound equipped ones weren't as good as the non sound locos. I tested the lcoco at full power and just gently held on the tender expecting the loco wheels to slip which they don't, they just stop moving. Ohh and it derails on 42" curves, leading truck comes off. Before I start tearing into the loco has anyone had a similar problem. I have two of the non sound/non DCC fitted ones that I bought a few years ago and they perform beautifully, these are the new model not the blue box.

Regards
Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

[Conrail Quality]

Did you check the bottom of the engine carefully for packing foam? Sometimes it gets stuck down there and really affects performance.

Timothy

[SteamGene]

Charles,
I thought you were C&O forever!
Gene

[Stephen D. Richards]

Gene,
I received my Class J twp weeks ago (the freight version, non sound) and it does fine.  I am running 22" curves and none of my 4-8-4s pull really well on those curves!  However the Class J does better than the rest.  By the way, also received my Berk (waiting on me when I returned home).  Really nice loco and it pulls well.  Kanawha version of course!  I only see very minor differences between it and the Spectrums!  But then again I don't know that much about Berks!  lol    Stephen

[Ozzie21]

Ahh Gene I am still a C&O fan. I now have 9 Kanawah's, 4 H-8's, 5 H-5's 3 H-6's, 5 T-1's, 3 J-3's 3 J-2's 2 k-3's and a lone Hudson. But I like a bit of colour so add to that a few SF, N&W and SP steam locos. Just got two Intermountain Cab forwards and I'm having a ball with those. It's just this damn J that's disappointing as it won't pull nor track worth a damn. I don't really want to send it back to the US supplier I got it from as that makes postage costly. I guess I'll have to break out the screw drivers and the 5lb hammer and fix it.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

Charles,
I thought you were C&O forever!
Gene

[Ozzie21]

Stephen, the Bachmann Kanawah is a reaally nice model of an Alco supplied loco not the Lima one it purports to be. There are a few subtle differences between the two builders and it's nor really that hard to change them if you can find the parts. Get hold of the CD the C&O society puts out, it's on the J-2 as well as the k-4, as it has some really nice high resolution shots of builders pics of the four building groups plus a whole heap of in service shots.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

Gene,
I received my Class J twp weeks ago (the freight version, non sound) and it does fine.  I am running 22" curves and none of my 4-8-4s pull really well on those curves!  However the Class J does better than the rest.  By the way, also received my Berk (waiting on me when I returned home).  Really nice loco and it pulls well.  Kanawha version of course!  I only see very minor differences between it and the Spectrums!  But then again I don't know that much about Berks!  lol    Stephen

[r0bert]

ozzie,
there is a cd rom included with the loco under the box lining.
the back emf/load control on the tsunami is all out of wack for some reason on the J's, and has to be adjusted, resetting won't get it done.

[SteamGene]

Stephen, probably the single most visible change needed on the C&O 2-8-4 is the pilot.  Their modle comes, like the NKP and the PM with boiler pipe pilot, but all C&O steam freight used switcher footboards.  The same, BTW, is true of Proto, also.
Gene

[Ozzie21]

Thanks, I had just had a similar thought  but I wonder for what reason?
Lucky I now have two CD's , the Bachmann one and the Intermountain one.  If you want to see a loco that had it's electronics installed in hurry by a 6yr old using a 100w soldering iron buy an Intermountain Cab forward. I bought two of them at different times. I can understand one having a fault but to buy a second with the same fault! Now that really shows that quality control is a hit and miss affair. It's a shame really as the model as it stands is an excellent reproduction of the real thing.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

ozzie,
there is a cd rom included with the loco under the box lining.
the back emf/load control on the tsunami is all out of wack for some reason on the J's, and has to be adjusted, resetting won't get it done.

[SteamGene]

You know, things may be bad for awhile...  My understanding is that there are a lot of factories in Siuchwan and its neighboring provinces.
Gene