@Bruk posted:IF FedEx didn't loose Eastside Trains Pallet!!!!! I would have had a teardown thread of the engine already....we will have wait and see if it ever gets found. This was my only chance to get a 2-10-10-2....im peeved.
Man that stinks.
@Shawn_Chronister posted:I am not sure what your eagerness is to pull apart $2400 dollar locomotive before the warranty is up.
I do this 9 times out of 10...everytime I get something new. The GS-1 for instance was tested for about 2 minutes then I took a screw driver to it and found many issues inside.
@Bruk posted:IF FedEx didn't loose Eastside Trains Pallet!!!!! I would have had a teardown thread of the engine already....we will have wait and see if it ever gets found. This was my only chance to get a 2-10-10-2....im peeved.
We just got a crazy shipment on a pallet here in our truck building facility from Concord, NC. It wasn't something we ordered. After I went through it and made sure it wasn't anything important we sent it back. Mysteriously it was a lot lighter than when we received it. 
Seriously though I hope they get their shipment. You have to figure something that big will show up.
@Bruk posted:I do this 9 times out of 10...everytime I get something new. The GS-1 for instance was tested for about 2 minutes then I took a screw driver to it and found many issues inside.
Yeah, I do remember the GS-1 tear down you did. Lots of stuff was going on with those locomotives.
Looks like I didn't get a flawless locomotive either. I'm not sure if it's warranty worthy though.
- I'm binding somewhere when I go forward. I think I identified it as the forward drivers on the right hand side. I'm not sure if something needs tightened or loosened. The voltage on the transformer drops to 15. Probably not good for the engine.
- I don't know if a speaker is loose or what but the rattling is supreme when I blow the whistle.
- Most fascinating, when I blow the whistle with the whistle steam on, smoke comes out around the front of the boiler where the headlight is
I suspect this one is related to acoustics. I haven't taken the engine apart but I doubt the whistle steam has any parts anywhere near the front of the boiler. I figure the speaker is vibrating at the right frequency to make the joint separate a little bit. I should have checked it with the other whistles.
Here is how I started it up: I added smoke fluid to both units and then started up with all smoke off. I just wanted to hear the literal bells and whistles and see the bell swing. I think that's one of my favorite parts about this locomotive. I would love to add it to others. Anyway, I ran it forward and it hung up. I thought a roller got caught on a switch but soon discovered that wasn't it. Then I powered down to turn on stack smoke. It came on and worked well. Very happy with that. Then I ran in reverse to check for binding. It did but not so much. I powered down and turned on whistle steam. Powered up, whistle steam was slow to start but seemed ok. I didn't use it much for fear of burning anything up. Ran forward and noticed the binding seemed to occur when the front drivers where at the end of their stroke. Powered down to turn on blowdown steam. Tested the blowdown and it's pretty awesome but again, I didn't use it a ton until we know more about what's burning up and why. I pushed the engine forward while running at low speed and that seemed to stop some binding. I'm suspecting I have loose linkage somewhere. I will have more time to investigate another day. I just wanted to get it under power and see what I'm working with.
Anybody else get the binding?
I hope @Bruk gets his soon so he can tear it apart haha
Overall, this is my first high end locomotive ever. First I ever saw in person and first I ever owned. What a beast! It is darn cool. From the front to the back, it's pretty awesome in terms of detail and it looks even better when everything is in motion. I budgeted all year to afford this and it was worth it. It's definitely no speed demon though. It'll be great for my coal drags
@BillYo414 posted:Looks like I didn't get a flawless locomotive either. I'm not sure if it's warranty worthy though.
- I'm binding somewhere when I go forward. I think I identified it as the forward drivers on the right hand side. I'm not sure if something needs tightened or loosened. The voltage on the transformer drops to 15. Probably not good for the engine.
- I don't know if a speaker is loose or what but the rattling is supreme when I blow the whistle.
- Most fascinating, when I blow the whistle with the whistle steam on, smoke comes out around the front of the boiler where the headlight is
Here is how I started it up: I added smoke fluid to both units and then started up with all smoke off. I just wanted to hear the literal bells and whistles and see the bell swing. I think that's one of my favorite parts about this locomotive. I would love to add it to others. Anyway, I ran it forward and it hung up. I thought a roller got caught on a switch but soon discovered that wasn't it. Then I powered down to turn on stack smoke. It came on and worked well. Very happy with that. Then I ran in reverse to check for binding. It did but not so much. I powered down and turned on whistle steam. Powered up, whistle steam was slow to start but seemed ok. I didn't use it much for fear of burning anything up. Ran forward and noticed the binding seemed to occur when the front drivers where at the end of their stroke. Powered down to turn on blowdown steam. Tested the blowdown and it's pretty awesome but again, I didn't use it a ton until we know more about what's burning up and why. I pushed the engine forward while running at low speed and that seemed to stop some binding. I'm suspecting I have loose linkage somewhere. I will have more time to investigate another day. I just wanted to get it under power and see what I'm working with.
Anybody else get the binding?
I hope @Bruk gets his soon so he can tear it apart haha
Overall, this is my first high end locomotive ever. First I ever saw in person and first I ever owned. What a beast! It is darn cool. From the front to the back, it's pretty awesome in terms of detail and it looks even better when everything is in motion. I budgeted all year to afford this and it was worth it. It's definitely no speed demon though. It'll be great for my coal drags
I am sorry to hear you are having problems as well! Reading through your description, it like you might want to call Lionel. If power is dropping every time the engine snags, that could lead to a burnt motor. The vibrations I think are coming from the tender hatches. I got to see a friend’s 2-10-10-2 and it vibrated as well. The smoke might also be as simple as a loose tube. I think it would be best to call Lionel about the snagging and add the other two problems onto it.
I appreciate the advice @Trainmaster04. Never dealt with warranty things so I wasn't sure what Lionel counts for warranty. I'll have to give them a ring and see what they want to do. Hopefully they have a fix over the phone. Do you think I should call the dealer first and ask them? I heard Lionel moved warranty stuff in house.
I hit the direction button when it snags to relieve the load.
I tried pressing my tenders hatches while blowing the whistle and it did seem to help some. I'm not overly worried because loose hardware or a loose speaker can always be secured.
I confirmed the smoke is coming through the hole for the wire for the headlight. So probably a loose tube.
@BillYo414 posted:I appreciate the advice @Trainmaster04. Never dealt with warranty things so I wasn't sure what Lionel counts for warranty. I'll have to give them a ring and see what they want to do. Hopefully they have a fix over the phone. Do you think I should call the dealer first and ask them? I heard Lionel moved warranty stuff in house.
I hit the direction button when it snags to relieve the load.
I tried pressing my tenders hatches while blowing the whistle and it did seem to help some. I'm not overly worried because loose hardware or a loose speaker can always be secured.
I confirmed the smoke is coming through the hole for the wire for the headlight. So probably a loose tube.
You could try and see if your dealer could send you a replacement engine, but I have seen most dealers be sold out. If you called Lionel, I have a feeling they are going to send you an RA number instead of an over-the-phone solution.
Does anyone have one without anything wrong with it out of the box? I’m on the fence of grabbing one but based on all of this I’m extremely hesitant.
@Robert Cushman posted:Does anyone have one without anything wrong with it out of the box? I’m on the fence of grabbing one but based on all of this I’m extremely hesitant.
Mines been fantastic
Mine might be ok in terms of that binding I mentioned. I ran it back and forth today trying to get a video to send to Lionel...it wouldn't do it. I work in maintenance and I've seen problems get camera shy before. Usually means it worked itself out. In this case, it might have been some break in. I'm going to call the hobby shop tomorrow and ask their opinion on what I should do. I'm considering putting a big straight away on the floor too so I can open it up.
The sound is still raspy but I haven't pinpointed what it is. Honestly I find myself not hearing it because this stereo stuff is blowing my mind. I'm paying attention to the depth/presence of sound more than the static I hear. I thought my other Legacy engine sounded good and I mean I have listened to it just for the sole purpose of being impressed but this boiler speaker thing is outstanding. I didn't expect to love it so much.
I abused the blowdown and the whistle steam quite a bit today and everything is good. I had the setting on high and the volume of smoke was impressive. I basically played yankee doodle with the whistle and we're ok. I think mine is ok.
The smoke coming out the boiler front is fine by me actually. The steam traction engine at the county fair had leaks around the smokebox front like in that video. This looks pretty much the same. I also think there's just a loose tube that would fix it.
The only thing I care about is the binding. That's beyond my ability to repair I think. The speakers and smokebox are small potatoes for me personally.
I don't know if this hurts or helps your decision making @Robert Cushman haha
@ToledoEd posted:Blowdown fail: FIXED. My 2-10-10-2 #3008 Valley Flyer arrived last week. A stunning locomotive. Looking at it is like sitting in front of a fire, it's hard to look away!!! Two initial issues. The blowdown steam effect worked once, then nothing. Initially the Engine just stopped as if it hit a wall. Why it stopped, I don't know. Fortunately, that problem has not repeated itself. The blowdown is another story. The whistle steam smoke effect is amazing. Blowdown would not work. The dreaded 3-blinking cab light came on. A reset worked in eliminating the blinks, but the blowdown still didn't work. Called Lionel resigned that I would have to send it back. However, Kristen, the customer support person I spoke with told me that since the whistle steam worked, it's probably not an issue with the smoke units, so she suggested using a shot or two from canned air directly into the exhaust port on the side of the loco. That was verboten with the Big Boy, but I tried. After a few attempts, whatever was preventing the smoke from ejecting was dislodged (?) so it now works 110%, to quote John Glenn. Kudos to Kristen and Lionel Customer Support! I've been running the loco 3-4 times a day for the last 3 days and everything works great.
Gents, it's been a few days from the "canned air fix," I'm declaring the problem fixed! I've not had a bout of smoke-constipation since the blast of canned air. It's now awesome!
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Good stuff @ToledoEd. That paint scheme is great stuff haha
I'm throwing my hands up on this one. I setup a straight away about 20ft long. I have been running this thing about 4 feet on the straight away on my test layout the last few days. So I setup the big straight away thinking for SURE I'm bound to have problems since the wheels will get to make a few revolutions.
NOPE 
I have never been so disappointed to see something work. I ran it at speed step one because I had the most issues there. It was fine. So I started going up by about 5 speed steps at a time until I maxed it. Would you believe it ran fine? I gotta wonder if this was a breaking in kind of thing. I'll call the hobby shop tomorrow and see what they say. But yeesh...I like my problems clear cut. It stinks when you can't quite get a grasp on what's going on.
The headlight still doesn't seem to want to come on but I'm going to read the manual on that one. It's been on but it seems like it's coming on as it pleases or we have an operator error. I'm open to some feedback on this. I hate to send it away in the mail for something like plugging the light bulb back into the board (assuming this is like an ERR upgrade).
I also blew the whistle and did the blowdown until there was no smoke coming out so I'm going to say I'm good there.
Awesome Ed'.. I'd love to see that beauty in action.. I think a short action video is in order here'.....😁
@BillYo414 posted:Mine might be ok in terms of that binding I mentioned. I ran it back and forth today trying to get a video to send to Lionel...it wouldn't do it. I work in maintenance and I've seen problems get camera shy before. Usually means it worked itself out. In this case, it might have been some break in. I'm going to call the hobby shop tomorrow and ask their opinion on what I should do. I'm considering putting a big straight away on the floor too so I can open it up.
I'd go after the easy stuff as far as the binding. I'm not familiar with this loco, but many of Lionels scale steamers have separately applied brake shoe detail that is screwed into the chassis behind each driver.
These can sometimes pivot and rub the wheels and/or traction tires. If the one on the traction tire rubs it can create a binding action out of the locomotive. The brake shoes on the engineers side of the loco are more at risk of rubbing as they can pivot towards the drivers when tightened.
I usually take the shoe loose a bit . Then insert a small flat blade screwdriver between the brake shoe and the wheel for spacing and retighten.
Secondly, give each gearbox a shot of grease. Often these gearboxes come with little grease and most of it is stuck to the side of the gearbox. I Grease every new loco after a brief test run to make sure there are no signifigant issues. Of course, lube all of the rod pivots and axle bushings as well . If you haven't already. Theres alot going on in the drive rod dept on these.
Having said all that. I recall the Legacy J3as ran a little rough out of the box. Some run in time appeared to resolve this.
Good luck and enjoy the new loco Bill!
Thanks @RickO! I will check those brake shoes. I'll have to see if I can find some 0-72 track to make a loop and put some run time on it.
I haven't lubed anything just yet but I was planning on it till this started going on.
@BillYo414 Glad to hear your's might be safe. Sent mine off this past Thursday and it is scheduled to be delivered to Lionel on the 20th. Here's hoping for a quick fix.
I hope so @Trainmaster04. I mean I gotta assume they're gonna see charred electronics and set to replacing immediately.
I checked one side and all my brakes seem to be clear of the wheels. I'll check the other side another day.
Ended up ordering a #3009 today, fingers crossed.
Keep us posted @Robert Cushman
@BillYo414 posted:I hope so @Trainmaster04. I mean I gotta assume they're gonna see charred electronics and set to replacing immediately.
I checked one side and all my brakes seem to be clear of the wheels. I'll check the other side another day.
Any new news on your locomotive?
The binding is 100% gone @Trainmaster04 and the smoke is working well. Sound is still eh at louder volumes and I can't figure out the headlight. I can't think of anything besides a bad connection (not fully plugged into the board) and myself that would stop that headlight from coming on. I see I can toggle Rule 17 Manual or Rule 17 off. But I don't see how to manually control Rule 17 if I have it in manual mode. I don't even know if that's related.
Hi All,
Sorry to hear of these problems. My 3009 seems ok. One thing to consider, though, is if you're shipping this loco back to Lionel, please take off the magnetic removable dome and wrap it and place it in a recess in the styro cradle.
Similar to the magnet on the Pacifics, these caps tend to easily free themselves from the domes and may cause paint damage.
@N'awlins posted:Hi All,
Sorry to hear of these problems. My 3009 seems ok. One thing to consider, though, is if you're shipping this loco back to Lionel, please take off the magnetic removable dome and wrap it and place it in a recess in the styro cradle.
Similar to the magnet on the Pacifics, these caps tend to easily free themselves from the domes and may cause paint damage.
Thanks for the tip. I shipped mine back to Lionel last week and unfortunately I did not do that. I remember when I first opened mine the front dome was off and loose in the box. Thankfully, it did not scratch anything. Here’s hoping it doesn’t do it now.
So after a short period of time running with no problems, my 3001 developed a problem: the sound and effects in the tender cut in and out, particularly when it’s going forward. Anyone else have that problem? I surmise it is something wrong with the drawbar connection between the two. The loco and tender will be fine, then only sound from the loco speakers (so no bass, no stereo), then fine again, then only sound from the loco speakers again, and then finally all Legacy features don’t work (whistle steam, blowdown, it all goes).
Lionel sent me an RA and a shipping label. But I’m leery because my last new engine, the SF 2-8-8-2 with whistle steam, had a problem which they agreed to fix and it came back in the same condition (I’m hoping a local dealer with a mechanic onsite can figure it out). But I don’t see what choice I have but to invoke the warranty repair on this $2400 beauty.
@N'awlins posted:Hi All,
Sorry to hear of these problems. My 3009 seems ok. One thing to consider, though, is if you're shipping this loco back to Lionel, please take off the magnetic removable dome and wrap it and place it in a recess in the styro cradle.
Similar to the magnet on the Pacifics, these caps tend to easily free themselves from the domes and may cause paint damage.
Thanks for the tip! That never would have occurred to me.
@Alec_6460 posted:So after a short period of time running with no problems, my 3001 developed a problem: the sound and effects in the tender cut in and out, particularly when it’s going forward. Anyone else have that problem? I surmise it is something wrong with the drawbar connection between the two. The loco and tender will be fine, then only sound from the loco speakers (so no bass, no stereo), then fine again, then only sound from the loco speakers again, and then finally all Legacy features don’t work (whistle steam, blowdown, it all goes).
Yep. I had the same issue. The drawbars weren't fully seated between the tender and locomotive. I didn't figure out if it was from how I put it on the track or if it was just the way it moved but I reached in between them with my pinky finger and the locomotive side dropped down: sound restored.
@BillYo414 posted:Yep. I had the same issue. The drawbars weren't fully seated between the tender and locomotive. I didn't figure out if it was from how I put it on the track or if it was just the way it moved but I reached in between them with my pinky finger and the locomotive side dropped down: sound restored.
Yeah, I tried the same and it wasn’t that. They are fully engaged and it still happens. Something is obstructing the signal between the two halves of the loco. Hopefully they will do a better job fixing it than they did my 2-8-8-2.
I'm sorry to hear that @Alec_6460. I was (still am) a bit perplexed at how the window is so narrow on the infrared given that the connection is a simple drop in draw bar. Seems like it wouldn't taken much to lose communication.
I know they may have been mentioned but what did the 2-10-10-2 pull? I’m trying to find something good preferably vision cars to go along with it. Not too much info online at least that I can find.
@Robert Cushman posted:I know they may have been mentioned but what did the 2-10-10-2 pull? I’m trying to find something good preferably vision cars to go along with it. Not too much info online at least that I can find.
Freight, but no modern cars. As mentioned above, by about 1918 they were all gone.
@Robert Cushman posted:I know they may have been mentioned but what did the 2-10-10-2 pull? I’m trying to find something good preferably vision cars to go along with it. Not too much info online at least that I can find.
You can pop over to YouTube and type in "The Hazards Of Helen, The Leap From The Water Tower" as that is 3001's film debut. This is a silent film from 1915 and has some great shots of 3001 running cars about. Hazards of Helen appears to be a series of short railroad themed films back in the day.
WOW BEAUTIFUL ENGINE!! What a beast!!! My new favorite engine. Got lucky no problems with it. Got it from ModelTrainStuff.
I really can’t believe how nice it is. The smoke is unreal also. The swinging bell and blow down and the sound system in it are extremely impressive.
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On the Hazards of Helen film, 3001 seemed to be pulling some wooden boxcars that in paint scheme at least look a bit like the Atlas double sheathed ATSF wood boxcars (one big SF cross, no system map or ad for a passenger train). I’ve been thinking i would have my 3001 pull those plus some SFRD wood sided refeers and maybe some billboard reefers. But I’m aware that those cars came into service protypically a decade or two after the 2-10-10-2s were broken down. I’m not aware of any prototypical 1910-1915 cars on the market.
Great tip Alec 6460! I didn't know there was film of this loco, cool stuff!
Best 2-10-10-2 footage starts at about the 5:30 mark:
36' reefers would be passable. Even some of the billboard ones in the late teens (Heinz, Yellow Armour cars, etc...). You would probably have to look past the more modern trucks, but if you kept it to the reefers with truss rod underframes (Atlas made a number), those would be fair representations of early reefers that would pass the smell test. The book "The Great Yellow Fleet" has a number of photos of reefers from the late 1900's and 1910's. The ATSF map cars and the passenger car slogan cars came way later (late 40's and beyond), so the idea would be to find the ones that just had the small Circle Cross logo in a square and whatever shade of orangish yellow they were painted.
@Boilermaker1 posted:36' reefers would be passable. Even some of the billboard ones in the late teens (Heinz, Yellow Armour cars, etc...). You would probably have to look past the more modern trucks, but if you kept it to the reefers with truss rod underframes (Atlas made a number), those would be fair representations of early reefers that would pass the smell test. The book "The Great Yellow Fleet" has a number of photos of reefers from the late 1900's and 1910's. The ATSF map cars and the passenger car slogan cars came way later (late 40's and beyond), so the idea would be to find the ones that just had the small Circle Cross logo in a square and whatever shade of orangish yellow they were painted.
Great intel. Thanks!
Quick question, why don't these trains come with that little memory (writable module) stick to preload the info of the train into cab2 like my r-27 subway set?
@Robert Cushman posted:Quick question, why don't these trains come with that little memory (writable module) stick to preload the info of the train into cab2 like my r-27 subway set?
Lionel stopped including modules several years ago. Cost savings?
It's easy enough to enter the info manually.
@RickO posted:Lionel stopped including modules several years ago. Cost savings?
It's easy enough to enter the info manually.
True enough. But it was a great little feature. Remember it fondly.
