One begins to wonder who manages Lionel Quality Control. While removing this beautiful loco from its factory packaging the front lower section with the lead truck dropped from the boiler assembly. The screw from underneath extending up into the boiler assembly was laying at the bottom of the packaging. So I completed the assembly operations for Lionel.
Once on the track it worked beautifully for about 10 minutes of run time. The smoke from the whistle quit after that. Adding fluid did not help. Next, the main stack smoke quit. Adding fluid did not help, still no smoke. In fact, the added fluid was belched up and over the stack on to the top of the boiler. I thought too much fluid might have been added. Blowing air down into the stack produces a big cloud of smoke; the synchronized smoke chuffs begin to work, but quit after a minute or so of run time. A possible air bubble?
And one more quirk: the cab light now blinks in series of four flashes, not one, or two or three. There is no reference to a four time flash in the operating manual. Pressing the Reset button on the Cab2 stops the blinking for the ensuing run, but starts all over again the next time the loco is started back up.
Any experience or advice related to the smoke and the cab blinking issues?
Thanks!
