All,
Below are some photos of a purchase I made at a recent train show. I am happy with these locos and I believe I paid a fair price: however, I do need some help. The powered unit's headlight worked when I had the locos tested at the train show, but when I ran the locos at home it did not work anymore. The non-powered unit’s headlight works fine. Also, the powered unit seems a bit sticky when it runs; I have run it for about 15 minutes so far and it does seem to be loosening up. Here are my questions:
1. Is there a simple way to determine why the headlight is not working? The pickup rollers are very clean, but I'm wondering if the light just burned out or if something else happened while I was transporting them home.
2. Is the stickiness due to the locos not being run in a long time, well over a year? Look at the photos: I believe there is a buildup of grease on the gears. Should I use a brush or toothbrush to clean it off?
3. Also, there is an on/off switch on the underside of the powered unit: What is it for? I switched it to off and the unit would not run at all. Is that supposed to be that way so if I had another powered A-unit I could make this one a dummy?
4. The horn is in the non-powered unit. Is there a way to turn down its volume? It sounds like a fire truck horn, which I don't mind, but right now it seems very loud. There is an on/switch on its underside as well, but that merely turns off the horn.
Thanks for help,
Joe
The complete operating instructions can be found HERE.
Rob
I have this set of Reading engines by Lionel.
To answer your questions; 1) try swapping lkight bulbs from the powered unit to the unpowered unit, 2) try to remove the old grease if it feels stiff, as it has no useability if it is stiff. To answer 3, & 4; read the Lionel instruction sheet.
I have replaced the factory horn unit with the Williams True Blast 2 diesel horn.
Lee F.
Just an idea some of the newer engines have a volume control on the under side. Maybe you could get one and drill a hole to put the stem out and hook in line between the speaker and the horn relay( i think thats right wording lol) that way you would be able to lower the volume. you might even be able to get one from Radio shack
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Thanks for the help fellas. Lee, I removed the light from the dummy and installed in the powered unit - it works. That is one problem solved. I should be able to find a replacement light easily, but I'm not sure if I want to do that. It seems to me the dummy unit would not be lighted anyway unless the locos were in reverse. Also, I may explore other brighter light options as I don't believe the one in the unit is as bright as I would like.
RT - I'm not that adventurous or experienced so I will not be doing any drilling. Maybe I'll pursue an aftermarket option down the road.
The instructions Rob provided were beneficial. I haven't explored question 3 further, but I will tomorrow. The instructions did not mention anything about volume control so I will presume it doesn't have it. I chipped away most of the hardened grease and it made a noticeable difference already. I had the locos pulling seven assorted cars and they did it easily. I will clean it better this weekend.
Thanks again,
Joe,
Be careful not to pull that many cars or post war freight cars with this set of engines as it has plastic gears. Don't put a brighter light bulb in or it may heat the plastic shell and cause it to melt.
I am using it with the Reading Company passenger cars, numbers 15104 & 15106. Want to buy at least two more matching Reading Company passenger cars for a nice looking set of passenger cars and engines.
Question 3 you might find its your E-unit so what you need to do is let you engine set for about 10 minutes or so then turn the switch off it should lock your engine in forward only motion.
Demay 3. Also, there is an on/off switch on the underside of the powered unit: What is it for? I switched it to off and the unit would not run at all. Is that supposed to be that way so if I had another powered A-unit I could make this one a dummy?
That is the E-unit(reverse unit) lockout switch. Turning it off with power on will lock the engine into it's current state(forward, neutral, or reverse). Turning it off with power off is supposed to lock the engine into it's last state, but I've seen inconsistencies in different locos.
phillyreading...Be careful not to pull that many cars or post war freight cars with this set of engines as it has plastic gears...
The E-unit and motors will give out before the gears with this kind of load. The gears are rather robust, especially compared to similar K-Line diesels.
Lee, RT, and Rob,
Thanks for the information. The seven car pull was only a few laps just to test it out. However, it is interesting that the operating instructions state these locos can pull over 15 cars on flat track. I plan to buy the passenger cars as well. I have only seen one for sale online.
I believe my E-unit is not working. I have tried it numerous times and it only seems to lock the loco in Neutral. I'm not sure if there is an easy and cheap way to fix it. I don't want to spend too much money on these locos. I can live with them working as is.
Regards,
Try flipping the switch while the diesel is moving forward very slowly. That should give you forward only.
Rob,
Flipping the switch while it was slowly moving forward worked. Also, I ran it for a while this afternoon and all the stickiness is gone.
Thanks for the help,
Not sure but I think that if you were to lock the powered engine in nuetral, it would not permantly take as if you locked it into forward. After an hour of being turned off, unpowered, it would go back to forward. At least this is what happens with K-Line and Williams electronic reverse units.
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