First, add weight to the tender, about 2 oz, evenly distributed. This will improve pickup fro the tender. The tender is too light and the wires to loco actually push and lift it making its electrical pickup unrelable. Weight will fix that.
Second, remove the capacitors Randy spoke of, they are on the circuit board in the tender, right by the two wires marked M+, M-.
Compairing ANY steam loco model to any diesel loco model is apples to oranges - everything about how they work, pick up power, etc as different dynamics.
The Bachmann 2-8-0 is a great loco, BUT ALL STEAM LOCOS are going to be more "touchy" than an Atlas diesel and are going to require smoother trackwork for good operation.
EDIT: I understand from reading your previous posts that you are in N scale? That info would have helped all oof us answer your questions better - but my answers still generally apply - even about the 2-8-0 vs the Atlas loco - but a shay is just like a diesel - it has swivel trucks that sit indpendently on the rails - not a rigid wheel base like a rod steam loco.
Sheldon
Make sure the plugs between engine and tender are pushed in all the way. The engine and tender both pick-uip from the tracks and they shouldn't stall. Put a piece of paper under the tender and see if it runs, then try the same thing with the engine. If it stops one is not working the way it shouild.
Bob
There is also usually one or two capacitors wired in parallel to with the motor, either ont he motor itself, or on the circuit board across the wires the lead to to the motor. Removing these greatly increases the performacne, even witht he stock decoder. I'm pretty sure a picture of the 2-8-0's tender has been posted here showing what should be cut off.
It's also possible you have a loose wire for the power pickup, normally these locos pick up on enough wheels that they are pretty solid runners.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Bachmann DCC On-Board locomotives used a very watered down Lenz decoder that doesn't have very smooth motor control. If you are running only DCC, try resetting CV 29 to a value of 34 to turn off DC operation if the decoder is set to a long address.
just purchased bachmann 2-8-0 consolidation with dcc on board. when it runs no problem but the pickup system is not adequate-consequently it stops and starts. the track is clean and the atlas loco runs fine. I also re-entered the decoder info. is there a 'fix' or does it go back? thanks to all who respond