I have a Lionel Alco PA legacy, it seems to run slow even when I have full transformer power. I do not have TMCC, I am just using a transformer. If I hold on the cars, it seems to get a "boost" in speed. In otherwords, if there is load it seems to work better. With no load, I apply full speed and its crawling. If I lift the front wheels off, they seem to speed up. If I lift the rear wheels up, it doesn't speed up as much. The circuit board in the rear gets a little warm (powered unit). Does anyone know anything about these legacy motors? I cannot turn the wheels by hand, but with the cover removed, the motor spins easily and the gears move slowly. It doesn't feel like there is any binding from the top.
I can't speak from first-hand experience, but it sounds like a trip back to the hobby shop's in order. If it's new, don't mess with it yourself.
I've tried calling Lionel and they are still on 4th of July holiday. Local shop says it's probably the circuit board. I have it switched to run and it's sluggish. I thought it was programmed this way, but I was told "Run" mode by passes anything that was programmed. Is that true? I wish this were a common problem and its a simple fix.
I'd try turning off the cruise control switch and see if that changes the behavior.
Where is the cruise control switch? I only see two switches - one for smoke on/off and another for program/run. I'm completely new to legacy so please don't hesitate to mention the obvious.
I pushed the horn button and now it runs at normal speed... that's odd? I read in a different Alco PA manual that pressing the horn for 5 seconds sets the speed control. Maybe that is what was going on? Any idea how to remove the speed control during conventional operation?
The train still runs poorly on my 50watt transformer and simple loop, but works well on my new ZW
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