When I turned on my HO system, smoke came out of the bottom of the engine, and now it will turn on, but won't run - flashing red light on the battery pack. Does anyone have a similar experience or ideas to try and fix?
Battery pack?
Some information about the type of system you're running and the engine's manufacturer would be useful.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Assuming you mean power pack (instead of battery pack). The flashing red light is usually a short. Given that you had smoke coming out of the locomotive, I would guess that you have a short in the locomotive and it is/was generating enough heat to have already damaged the wiring/motor. At this point you need to repair the locomotive or if it's still under warranty see about returning it.
Good luck
Paul
Welcome to the forum.
It's always better to give too much information than too little. There are a variety of "systems" DC, DCC, DCS, dead rail, rail pro as there are locos.
Letting the smoke escape is always bad as are flashing red lights. If this is a DCC installation that you did, there are several possibilites. If it is a factory unit there are a slightly different subset of possibilites.
If this is new and the first time you ran it, probably try to send it back to the store as the first choice. If it is not returnable, because you've had it for years, or picked it up used somewhere then you are going to have to take it apart and looked for burned melted or loose wires.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Hey KurtisFB:
Welcome to the forums!!!
As Henry said, it would help if you could provide more information.
- Had you been able to run the train previously or was this the first attempt?
- Are you using DC or DCC?
- What model is the locomotive and do you know the manufacturer?
- Does the system actually use batteries or does it plug into the wall?
Let's start there.
Unfortunately, as has been said, smoke is not a good thing. The odds on the locomotive running again without first being repaired are probably nil.
Cheers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!