Is this a new set, or has it been sitting for a while? The symptoms you describe are exactly what happened to some MTH steamers I bought used. First nothing happened, then after a few minutes of track power I got lights and sound, then after a few more minutes the locomotives came to life. The problem was the 9 volt batteries in the tenders were very run down. New batteries solved the problem. I make sure I run them on a fairly regular basis to keep the batteries "juiced."
Of course, TrainLarry's quite possibly correct as well.
I'll give that a try when I get it set up again. So doing the 1 whistle, 3 bells should unlock it if that is the case? BTW, thanks for the manual link. I got the set used but in excellent condition, however there was no manual and I couldn't yet locate one on the internet. I'll try to get back to let you know if it worked.
Is the loco locked in neutral? See page 8 of the instruction manual to unlock the locomotive.
After a lifetime of Lionel I recently got hold of an MTH 30-4061-0 Ready to Run set. The power, bell, whistle, stop and directional controls all seem to respond, but the locomotive will not move forward or backward. ANy ideas where to go before I start opening things up?
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