richhotrain Robert, I am guessing that the problem was the two wiring harness plugs from the tender to the engine not being connected tightly. Try reversing the DCC board back to the way that it was and see if all works well including the lights. Rich
Robert, I am guessing that the problem was the two wiring harness plugs from the tender to the engine not being connected tightly.
Try reversing the DCC board back to the way that it was and see if all works well including the lights.
Rich
I'll second that. If the decoder is in backwards, the engine will run fine, but the headlights won't work.
Robert,
The DC jumper plugs for that loco are two very small three pronged metal jumpers, packaged in a small plastic bag with a small paper instruction sheet. They are easily misplaced among the packaging and easily lost if someone opened the box before you purchased the loco - but you may double check the box, they may be under the foam liner if it is the older foam lined black box packaging.
The loco will run better on DC without the decoder, but it should have run with the decoder.
If the headlight wire is disconnected, it sounds like someone was inside it before you purchased it.
Bachmann has very good service, but sometimes it takes a while when you return locos.
If I might ask, how/where did you pruchase this loco? Was it still sealed/shrink wrapped?
You might want to read this thread:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/181314.aspx?sort=ASC&pi314=1
While I do not own the loco in question, I do have a number of Bachmann locos and they are all similar in desgin and wiring.
Hope this helps,
Sheldon
Alton Junction
Rich:
I want to thank all of you for your help. I went home and removed the tender body and found that the DCC plug was in reverse, I also made sure the two plugs from the tender to the engine were inserted as far as they would go. By changing the decoder and checking the plugs, when I put the engine back on the tracks it ran, but no head light or back up light. I noticed that a black wire from the lights was not attached to anything.
I am not sure where to solder it. It was just wrapped around the wires from the decoder.
Thanks,
Robert Sylvester, WTRR
Not a dumb question, but, as you predict, you may get a thousand answers.
We all have our own opinions but in my experience, the two best starter systems are Digitrax and NCE.
Back to the DC power pack, is it a Railpower 1370 or one like that?
It's an MRC, I am at work and I don't recall the number, but it is a good one. O.K., dumb question, but one I know has been asked a thousands times but if one were to convert to DCC what is the best system to start out with. My layout fills a two car garage with only eight feet on one side that is not used for the railroad, otherwise it fills the garage.
What is the best yet easier system to look at for the money?
Robert, just out of curiosity, what kind of DC power pack are you using?
cacole richhotrain Are you certain that it is new with the factory installed decoder? Rich The OP says he removed the decoder and put the dummy jumper into it, so it should have ran on DC that way. My suspicion is that he doesn't have the wires from the tender plugged into the back of the loco correctly.
richhotrain Are you certain that it is new with the factory installed decoder? Rich
Are you certain that it is new with the factory installed decoder?
Is that what he said? He said that the dummy plug was not included.
Even so, it is supposed to run either way, DC or DCC, right out of the box.
Even CV29 is set either way for DC operation.
The only other thing that I can think of it to reset the decoder to factory default (CV8=33).
As far as I know it is a new decoder. The plugs from the tender to the engine only go in one way, I will try again and check the tender trucks.
Thank you so far for the suggestions. By the way, on the Bachmann web site they also list the engine in question , USRA LIGHT 2-10-2, AS IT SAYS ON THE BOX.
i DO NOT HAVE A DUMMY PLUG. I TRIED TO PLUG IN BOTH PLUGS AND THEY ONLY GO IN ONE WAY, i WILL TRY AGAIN AND YOU MAY ALL BE RIGHT. I WILL ALSO CHECK THE CONFIGURATION OF THE TENDER TRUCKS TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE CORRECT.
I can't thank you for what you have said so far, it really helps. I guess all I can do is tinker with the thing and get it to work. I did contact Bachmann, waiting for an answer.
It is really great to have folks to ask when it come to the operations and equipment.
Robert Sylvester
WTRR
As Stix indicated, this is a Santa Fe Light 2-10-2 and it is DCC On Board.
Here is a link to the Operator Manual:
http://www.bachmann.co.uk/pdfs/DCC_onboard.pdf
It should run on DC as well as DCC without any further adjustments or modifications.
I would go over Bachmann's "Ask the Bachmann" forum and post something there, and/or send Bachmann's tech people an e-mail directly. Even though the non-sound decoders Bachmann uses aren't great, they should work fine out of the box in either DC or DCC.
Be sure everything is hooked up OK - that you plugged in the engine to tender tether correctly and pushed it all the way in, and that the tender trucks didn't get spun around 180 degrees so one or both is causing a short.
p.s. a Pacific is a 4-6-2, not a 2-10-2. That's a "Santa Fe' type.
I have a question:
Bought a new Bachmann DCC USRA Light 2-10-2 and placed it on my DC layout and it won't run. There was not an instruction manual in the box, eventhough it was brand new, purchased from Trainworld.
It did say on one piece of paper that the DCC engine is 100 percent backwards compatible. I even removed the DCC dedcoder then plugged in the plugs to the tender, still didn't work. What do I need to do. They did not include the dummy plug and no other instructions.
I was told it should run right out of the box.