Before I send it back.....

Is this the Baby Blue Comet Set you have, Walt?

Walt. I have the same set and engine. I 'll check mine and get back to you.

If it looks like the wire is short or may even be pinched somewhere, why not open it up and check to see what is up and if it is a bit short just splice in another couple of inches of wire, it saves all the hassle of sending it back and the time.

A pinched wire is a good point. I'm always carefull putting a shell back on as the smallest pinch can create problems. I had a new tinplate engine that had the pickup roller coming off and a simple adjustment with pliers did the trick. I'd be willing to bet it's a simple problem you can fix yourself.

Walt,

 

As others have said, I would open it up and check for a pinched or pulled wire. Should be easy to identify.

Walt. One other thing. The tender on that engine can be a little challenge to take off and put on but it is doable. On the under side of the tender is 2 screws closest to the draw bar. Don't take those out. That holds the front of the tender that houses the speaker and that can be a pain putting it back as well as the risk of damaging the wire to the speaker.  Take out the 2 middle screws and 2 screws on the coupler end. You have to move the back truck to see them better and they are kind of diagonal from each other. Flip the tender over and slide the tender body back toward the coupler end and it will seperate from the front of the tender where the speaker sits.  When you put it back together slide the body on and line up the holes for the screws. Use a small Philips to put them back in. Either a magnetic screw driver or magnitizing a screwdriver tip is a big help to get them back in.

Walt,

 

If you can't fix it, don't forget Bob Barth for a MTH warranty repair.

 

I always recommend Bob because he is a great guy who does excellent work.

Chris: did you have a chance to check yours??

 

ALL: I did take off the bottom and look, but I could not completely remove it.  I took a chance and even unscrewed the clamp that holds the PC board but the wires were placed  behind and under the speaker preventing me from removing the chasis because the wires were not movable without removing the speaker, which I couldn't figure out how to do (and may not have anyways).  I tried to examine the wire to see if I could someone free up some loose wire, but could not.

 

There is not enough room for me to work to splice in an extension, unfortunately, because I would have done that.

 

Doc: I have had Bob do 4 or 5 upgrades/repairs for me.  This being a brand new engine, to me, the dealer (Side-Track hobbies) should replace it.

 

I might be the only person that will have a Christmas layout with NO TRAINS!@!!

 

- walt

You'll have trains for Christmas Walt don't worry.   I did take my 263E apart that I got at York last week. Same engine as the Blue Comet. What I would suggest where it's brand new is call Side track and see if he has one to exchange for the one you have. I think that will be the quickest solution rather than messing with an engine under warranty. I think they will take care of you and you also have the Christmas set on order from them. I still think you should pull the trigger on the Lionel lines electric set we talked about at Friday's.

I'm in full agreement with Chris on this!  If you haven't called Sidetrack already, do so within the next hour or so.  No more delaying, procrastinating, etc.  Just get the problem resolved in the easiest and fastest way possible.

 

End of lecture!

Thanks for the support Chris and Allan.  Much needed, and appreciated!

 

I have a friend coming over tonight with the same engine and we're going to compare things.  So I delayed calling Side-Track Hobbies until after I see his.  I'm be on more secure footing during the phone call if his engine runs fine on my layout.

 

Chris: I don't understand your comment: you took it apart????  Does your wire have slack?

 

I will call though since the engine is useless to me right now.  Pretty hard to have a layout with all, 100% straight track!!!!

 

- walt

Allan: I forgot to answer your question: What I have looks exactly like that but mine isn't a set.  The engine and tender come as one purchase and the 4 cars is a complete separate purchase.  It's the 263E

 

- Walt

Ah the PS3 version?  Could it be that pesky tether?

 

Sunrise

Walt. I have the PS-2 version on both my 263E's. Do you have PS-3? I don't have any steamers with PS-3 yet so I'm not familiar with the new draw bars although I have heard they have had "Or the owner" has had some issues with them.   I took my tender apart to replace the battery because the engine I bought at York was from 2004 "New old stock" but after giving it a charge it seems to be OK.

Wow: Wish I knew what you meant by that!!!!!   My friend seems to think there may be TWO issues: the pickup roller wire not having any slack (and he agrees totally with that) AND that the erratic running is representative of a short.

 

BTW: my friend's duplicate engine (PS2 though) runs perfectly on my layout.

 

Back to my question: "Pesky"??????

 

thanks - walt

Thanks Chris.  As I just mentioned, my friend's PS2 version of this engine/tender combo runs perfectly on my layout.

 

His pickup roller on the tender "bounces" correctly, which the spring is supposed to allow it to do.  On mine, with the "no slack wire", that side of the bracket is pulled into the tender (away from the track) and just gets worse on bends.

 

Calling the Hobby shop soon as I get home.

 

- walt

The PS3 tether has been problematic for some due to the connection coming loose.  Do a search on the OGR forum and you'll see what I'm talking about. Do you have PS3 or PS2?

 

Sunrise

If this is the one Walt has from the 2013 catalog which I believe it is; It's PS-3.

 

Loco & Tender
11-6036-1 Proto-Sound 3.0

 

 

 

 

Yes, Walt's locomotive is PS-3.  It seems that the wire connected to the third rail pickup roller on the tender does not have enough slack in it.  Whenever the truck would turn the pickup would be pulled up away from the track.  When the engine would run around his layout the sound would cutout and the engine would sometimes stop.  It seems that the tender pickup does not always make contact with the third rail and causes the engine to lose power across switches and crossovers.

 

When we compared Walt's 263 to my PS-2 255 we found that his engine did not have anywhere near the slack that my engine had.  My 255 ran over his entire layout without losing power. 

 

Any update Walt about getting your engine repaired?

 

-Ryan

Ryan thanks for the update.

 

Sunrise

Hi Ryan: thanks for wording so well what I butchered saying!!!

 

Yes, I have an update: I talked with Jim at Side-Track Hobbies on Tuesday and they agreed to replace the engine and tender set.  I UPS'd it Tuesday and saw on tracking that it was delivered today!  Even tho' I used the cheapest option to send it (ground).

 

Al, the owner, has to make the final call according to Jim and he's out until Friday.  But I'm confident.

 

Also, Ryan, thanks to your mentioning it to me, I asked Jim if they would just sell me the Christmas train and not the other stuff that comes with it and Jim said that Al has been known to agree to that option, so I'm hopeful there too.

 

I'm back to being excited again!!!!!!!

 

Can't wait to get my new Blue Comet and hope upon hope that this one is OK.

 

- walt

Walt, it's good to hear that you are making progress in getting your problems resolved. I also picked up the O gauge Baby Blue Comet and the 4 car add-on set from STH @ York.  The engine and tender worked fine out of the box, and now that I have wired up the "shoes" on the passenger cars so that they do not catch (read that come to an abrupt stop) on every one of my Ross switches, everything is fine.  This is my first venture into tinplate, and I'm glad that I did it - it looks and runs awesome.  Hang in there! 

 

Jim 

Very good!  I'm sure Al will work with you on the break up set and getting a replacement engine.

zoradt: can you elaborate on what you did the pickup shoes on the passenger cars???  I don't see me remotely uncoupling them so if they are an issue on switches I'd like to take care of things right away.  The 4-car box set of cars have NO instruction sheet included.

 

Thanks - walt

Sure, Walt.  For each end, I used 28 gauge steel galvanized wire (like you would use for crafts  - I got it at Home Depot or Hobby Lobby) around each shoe and associated pair of wheels on the trucks, making sure that the wire went under the axle (as I was working on it upside down) and through the middle of the shoe as I held the shoe tight to the body. The shoe has edges on it that help to contain the wire and keep it from sliding off.  I used a thin needle nose pliers to twist the ends of the wire together to make a tight fit.  I then cut off any excess past the point where I twisted it so that it could not contact the track or get in the way of the wheel.   I did this for each of the add on cars at both ends, since each car has 2 "shoes" except for the observation car that has only one. The method that I used was based on the replies to the post entitled "What's the best way to stop the auto coupler from tripping on Ross Hi-Rail Switches"  by Scott Smith on 9/22/13.  If you do this, make sure that you hold the shoe tight to the truck (that is, have it fully depressed) to ensure it is as close to the body as possible.  It took me about 45 minutes to do all the cars. Now they run fine on Gargraves track and across 15 Ross 042 switches.  And they look great.  As a 1st time tinplate operator, I am very pleased with the set.  Good luck. 

Jim

 

Walt,

 

You may want to read this thread for more info:

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...not-liking-scaletrax

 

Also, here's a passenger car document I found at MTH:

 

http://www.mthtrains.com/sites...ction/10ps13253i.pdf

 

Sure wish i knew more about this stuff. You are asking all the right questions - the same ones I have!

 

Ed

 

 

 

If I may offer a suggestion here:

 

Just wait unit you get a locomotive that is functioning properly.  Do not make/attempt modifications to any of the rolling stick until you see how the set performs (or doesn't perform) on the track setup that you are working with.

 

I've been running this contemporary O tinplate stuff since day one and have used all types of track, etc., at one time or another (although not with O27 switches).  I have had zero problems with performance, aside from one locomotive that went back to MTH for a board replacement.

 

These trains are simple and fun.  You're backing yourself into a corner by making this too complicated before you even have the initial set you bought up and operating.  I really would not recommend modifying the rolling stock at this point.

I agree with Alan. "If it ain't broke don't fix it"  Don't over think it Walt;Get the train up and running and take it from there.  The Passenger cars don't need instructions IMO. Not much can go wrong with them you have to oil the wheels and change a bulb occasionally. The little lever at the top of the roof pulls back to take it off and snap it back on.  I have never had a problem with the pick up shoe but that is on Fastrack. I'm not sure about 0-27 switches. 

zoradt: thanks!

 

Allan and Chris: I wasn't implying that I was going to tie up my shoes.  I wanted to know 'just in case'.  I ran the cars using Ryan's engine and there were no issues.

 

eddiem:  Thanks so much for the instruction sheet link!  Now I know that it needs oiled and now I know where too.  Obviously those instruction sheets are on-line somewhere.  Can you tell me how I find them since I would like to read up on the engine/tender too.

 

thanks all - walt

Walt,

 

I looked on the MTH website product locator and found a similar set of passenger cars. You can do the same for Locos.

 

When you find a similar product, click on the picture of the book on the right side of the page.  It links to PDF documents.  Many items do not have a link available.

 

Are we having fun yet?

Ed

 

Thanks for the instructions Ed.

 

"Are we having fun yet? " - well, if I had a train to run, maybe.  But right now, NO!

 

- walt

Well, I'm glad now on 12/20 that I asked about the pickup shoe 'fix'!!!

 

Luckily I won't have to do anything for this year but will for future years.  I guess I could do something for this year so that I could run my Blue Comet over a section of track that I have to avoid with it, but I probably will wait 'til season end.
 

What I found out, rather quickly, is that the pickup shoe doesn't like the MTH lited lockons.  I have O27 track and I think the lockons are made to fit 'O' track, height wise that is.  I've had the lockons for several years and know from previous years that I have to adjust the clip, the part that wraps around the center rail, to lower it (the tip of it) or else the clip sticks up higher than the rail and causes all kinds of problems.  It's NOT and easy task BTW as I don't know what the heck kind of metal it's made out of but it sure doesn't want to be bent!

 

Even though I've adjusted that clip on all 15 of the lockons, what's happening with all of my tin-plate cars that have the pickup shoe (which is all of them!) is that the shoe is hitting that center rail connection on some of the lockons.

 

In order to run my blue comet even in a simple circle I had to remove one of the lockons and spent about 30 minutes trying to make the part of the clip that sticks up to be lower.  Like I said, that metal is strong! 

 

It might be easier, no, make that will be easier, to tie up the shoes I believe.

 

- walt

Walt

funny you should mention the pick up shoe

on the tender.

Ive got that same set and when I inspected it

right outta the box, one of the pick up shoes

on the tender was missing a spring.

so off to the trusty old parts box.

 

Spring steel.  Gnarly stuff.  Honestly Walt, you ought to just get the right lock-ons for O27 track.  Or better yet, use the track these were meant to run on. You're trying to work against the grain, paddle upstream, go against the current, doing it the hard way, etc, if you catch my drift.  It seems like you're making it unecessarily hard on yourself by trying to do things that were never meant to work together; there's an easier way.  Like Allan says, these trains are simple and fun, the difficulty is not inherent in the toys, I think.

 

 

 

hojack: yeah, I know that you're right but....

 

I like the lockons - they're lited for one and, from what I've read, they act somewhat like 'magic lights' with my DCS system.

 

I have tons of the old-fashioned Lionel clip on lockons.

 

I'm not going to replace all of the several hundred pieces of O27 track and 35 switches that I have - not for a Christmas time only layout, even though i suppose it would be the best thing to do.  To be honest and forth-coming about it - I can't justify spending that kind of money on an eight week layout.

 

In hind sight, if I knew that I was going to, or should, replace everything, track-wise, I think I would have gone standard gauge!

 

- walt

 

- walt

I understand, Walt, what you say makes sense.  It's just painful to follow your ongoing difficulties.  It will all straighten out at some point, you have a lot of experience with making trains work and it'll all come together.

 

 

Walt,

    Take it back to where you purchased it and ask the owner to swap out the engine and tender, he should probably have another 263E BB Comet engine & tender in stock if he is a fairly good sized store.  As Allen indicated make sure everything works 1st before you make any mods.  My 263E has worked perfectly for a long long time, especially on FasTrack.

PCRR/Dave

hojack: It's hard for me to want to spend the kind of money that it would take to replace what I currently have.  But I might have to consider doing it since of my 35 switches 25 are 27" and of my several hundred pieces of track I would guess about 75 to 100 are 27" curves.  Both of which I can't use with my tin-plate.

 

I might consider selling my 27" stuff and keeping my 42, 54, and 72 inch curves and my 10 42" switches. 

 

Dave: if you knew what I went thru with Side Track Hobbies to get this one, they'd kill me if I asked!!!!  This is the 3rd one that they sent to me - the other 2 had issues.

 

- walt

Walt,

    That is their own problem, they are selling defective NIB equipment,

make them stand behind their sales.  This is exactly why I purchase so many of my

trains thru Bill & Walts, David always stands behind his sales.  Frank at the old Iron Horse was the exact same way, which is were my P2 263E Engine & tender were purchased.  You are paying for a NIB train that works correctly.

I have no idea of how far away you are from the store, if you are closeenough I would drive to the store when the owner comes home, and have the engine and tender switched and while I was there I would have the owner test the 263E P3 Engine & Tender on the store layout, to make sure it all works correctly before I take it home.

PCRR/Dave