Please help my son's Christmas gift doesn't run - Lionel O Gauge Polar Express

[Lafondue]

Hello there....

Mr Topendz...are you dealing with George Train ?

I had a few misadventure with them as well...brought a JR Berkshire to have the smoke unit repair took almost 2 month to get it back and when opened the box at home the bell at the front was broken...well ordered one from Lionel and came within 10 days.

Hope now your Polar Express is working perfectly....just got mine this past week and must say I'm pretty impressed with it at first I wasn't willing to got one but found a good deal on E-bay ($180 brand new) and I'm glad I did...
Don't hesitate of contacting me for any question....

The whistle part number is 6208649102

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dennis trying to figure out the part number now. It's pretty difficult as there are no pictures. If anyone knows off hand let me know. It's the flexible gold whistle on the Berk Jr from the Polar Express train set.

[Anonymous]

Correction it's the flexible whistle I'm looking for.......cheers

[dwiemer]

I think you can check with Lionel, under the customer service get to the parts listing. You will try to find the "Berk Jr." Find the part number and try any of the online folks, like Olsen's toy train parts, or others.
Dennis

[Anonymous]

hello everyone. I'm not ignoring you. Believe it or not I just got the train back last night. February 17th! Almost two months later. They replaced the motor.

I have another question it appears on inspection of the locomotive the dealer lost the rubber flexible bell on the top of the train. Anyone know where I can get a new one. I don't want to bother taking this up with the dealer i don't want to go through the agony LOL.... Happy New Year to everyone and I didn't forget about you all.... Simon

[BobbyDing]

Did anybody ever hear what the final word was on TOPENDZ's problem?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwiemer

TOPENDZ,
Please share with us what the dealer finds wrong with the engine. A bunch of us have these sets and perhaps it could help someone else.
Thanks,
Dennis

I certainly will dennis.. Simon

[dwiemer]

TOPENDZ,
Please share with us what the dealer finds wrong with the engine. A bunch of us have these sets and perhaps it could help someone else.
Thanks,
Dennis

[ChiefEagles]

Good. Maybe he can get it going in short order and notr have to ship back. [:)]

[Anonymous]

It appears the CW-80 transformer is fine. The problem is with the Locomotive. It's at the dealer right now being looked at.

[Anonymous]

You guys are fantastic I will call them tomorrow and let you know.

[dwiemer]

TOPENDZ,
A thread has been ongoing on this forum with regard to the CW80. Call Lionel and explain the problem. Perhaps it is the transformer, which they had a run of them that were bad. I had one and upon the call, they sent a new one DHL that I got in 2 days. I hope your problem is fixed soon. If Lionel doesn't send a new transformer and that is determined to be the problem, let me know, I have a spare and will send it myself.
Dennis

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much I will let you know the outcome tomorrow (Tuesday). I can't wait for my son and I to start to enjoy this set, it's been killing me for two days now.

[Anonymous]

ARRCDSPR

I very suprised you had to pay 1 cent for the repair to your Lionel Polar Express. The warranty should have covered it completly with NO charge! Your train set should have work ed first time. Right out of the box. If anyone should be paying $5.00. It should be Lionel for your inconvience!

Simon, best of luck with your Polar Express. I hope your local store can fix it for you quickly and you shouldn't need to pay anything for the repair.

Dave

[Anonymous]

Thanks folks still no luck. Guess it's time to take it to the local Lionel Dealer on Tuesday.

[EIS2]

Does all the power go off when you hit the direction button or cycle the power lever to off?

Put power to the track by placing the handle in the max position. With power to the track, quickly unplug and replug in the transformer to see if the engine moves. Be ready to cut the power quickly with because the power handle is at the maximum position. Repeat the above sequence with a one second delay between the unplug and replug cycle. If the engine moves, the CW-80 is not dropping enough in power to allow the engine to cycle out of neutral.

Best Luck...
EIS

[ARRCDSPR]

I had this same problem a month ago when I got my Polar Express set and I called Lionel Tech center and this what we did. After making sure the connections to the track were snug and everything was properly connected, remove the cover for the locomotive and place it on the tracks by itself with the throttle on low - like 20%. Then inspect the wires and try to gently wiggle them and pu***hem on their contacts. I had a loose wire on the red wire leading to the brass flywheel. After pushing on it off she went. I then took it the local hobby shop and had them resoder it. It has worked like a charm since and only cost 5 bucks. I hope that works and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

P.S. Santa brought me the Polar Express Diner Car to compete the set.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the throttle is bad on the CW80, you could try to wire the track to the acc terminals, but just connect one of them to the acc terminal and then touch the other to see if the engine works. this way you can remove it quickly if the engine takes off like a rocket.

[daan]

Move the switch a few times up and down, probably the switch is bad. If it moved a bit when the switch has been set in a different position, the problem really could be in the switch. If you can't see any loose connections inside the loco, there must be something else which keeps the power from getting to the motor.
When you unscrew the motor from the gears (probably a wormtype gearing, in the manual there is probably told how you can remove the motor from the frame) does the motor run? There might be a problem with the gearings or the wheel quartering, which could jam the movement of the motor, but that can be checked also when the motor is out of the locomotive. Simply by turning the wheels, they should move smoothly.
Hope this problem didn't kill the joy for trains, normally everything works great..

[BlackJack]

I would try a few other things. I had trouble with my CW80 being sensitive to good wire connections. I would recommend making sure all the wire connectors are very well connected. Try disconnecting and reconnecting or "wiggling" the transformer wire connections at the transformer. The other recommendation is to try putting some of the lighted passenger cars on the track, and test the train then. I assume you also had to assemble some fast track. Make sure it is securly fastened. Try the train at different points on the circle. Press down on the track in various points and see if it makes any difference to electrical flow. Beyond that, check the various locomotive switches.

[Anonymous]

Weird. I switched the "reverse" to on in the cab and then plugged in the transformer and opened the throttle. The locomotive moved about 4 inches then stopped. I tried repeating the process to no avail. Pressing the "direction" button on the transformer didn't help either.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

From the original description it sounded like the eunit may have been locked in neutral. I'm not sure why the factory would send them out locked. Hope that works.

So how can I tell if it is in neutral. Turning reverse on? Then what should I do. Sorry folks as you can tell I'm a novice.[:I]

[Big_Boy_4005]

From the original description it sounded like the eunit may have been locked in neutral. I'm not sure why the factory would send them out locked. Hope that works.

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TOPENDZ

The "Reverse" and "Smoke" buttons are both swithed to OFF in the cab. I can't help feeling this is something silly (e.g me) but running out of ideas.

Try it with the reverse switched to on.

[Anonymous]

The "Reverse" and "Smoke" buttons are both swithed to OFF in the cab. I can't help feeling this is something silly (e.g me) but running out of ideas.

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ChiefEagles

Check the directions booklet or the tape. Look in the cab and check the direction flip switch.

[#ditto] Good point.

[ChiefEagles]

Check the directions booklet or the tape. Look in the cab and check the direction flip switch.

[tmcc man]

That is weird. I have never tried a CW, so I really do not know about them. I switched to TMCC a year ago today. Before that, I had a few other transformers, but have not dealt w/ the CW

[Anonymous]

No I did hook them up to "Track" not "accessories" on the CW-80 as per the operations manual. Certainly does sound like some kind of power problem though doesn't it?