DOA Polar Express 6-28649; help, please!

Hi Chris. My in-laws live in Temecula, was just there and coming down again next week.

Regarding your problem with the loco, remove the shell and look for anything obvious like pinched wires and such. If it was me I would just start fiddling with the innards. Could be that the wire from the center rail pick ups could be loose.

You might try calling Dynamic Hobbies in Hemet to see if maybe they can help trouble shoot if no luck on your own. There's also a small shop in Old Town, D&S Hobby that might be able to help too.

Sorry about the disappointment your son is experiencing. Very frustrating.

Check the direction lock switch inside the cab. It may have been inadvertently set to lock when the reverse unit was in 'Neutral'. If so, lights, smoke, and sound will work, but the loco will just sit there not moving.

If I had a dollar for every loco that came to my shop locked in neutral, I could have retired years ago.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the quick replies!

I've tried toggling the smoke and reverse switch with no luck.  To be clear, the whole engine is dead.  No headlight, motor, smoke, etc.  All the other cars (tender with horn, passenger cars) work fine.

I just pulled the body and took a peek.  That's a tiny circuit board!  Suddenly, I'm felling slightly less brave.   I pulled the connections and re-installed them back to the board with no success.  I'm going to have to find my smaller probes for my voltmeter to get readings on this small gauge wire.

I was just going to see if there was voltage on the power line going into the board, then check to see if there's some coming out.  Are there test points on this board that I should try?

Thanks for the suggestions on local shops to visit.  It's pretty important I get this running, so I may be able to stop by for a visit tomorrow if I get nowhere tonight.

Chris, from a fellow wrench, let's troubleshoot this one like a car electrical accessory.

1)  You have verified power to the track and cars & tender operate.

2) Loco has no power at all.  That leads me to believe that either A) the power feeding the board and motor are absent, or B) the board has failed.  

Place the engine on a powered section of track on a test bench (shell off) and measure the current (AC) to the leads from pickup rollers on bottom of engine.  Be on the lookout for broken solder connections or an open in the wires.  It's ok to give them a gentle tug.

If you have current there, check power in at the board connector.  If you have power in at the board, move on the the motor and check for voltage there.  Just for giggles, tap it lightly with a screwdriver (think auto starter issues).  

My gut says you have a power issue to the board as nothing is working at all... and that's pretty rare.

Underneath the reverse unit PCB, just in front of the motor, there's a plastic insulator with a screw going through it. The eyelet with the wire under that screw is the main power feed from the P/U rollers.

With a multimeter set for AC volts, put one lead on an outside rail and the other on the screw to verify voltage is getting to the eyelet. If so, unplug the power connnecter from the PCB and verify continuity from the eyelet to the plug connecter. If there's no continuity, the break is usually right at the eyelet and straight forward to fix. If continuity is good, you've got a bad PCB and it'll have to be replaced.

Your loco has the 'High Current' reverse unit you have to contact Lionel to get. The part number is 692ENU2A01. The 692ENU2800 number on the PCB itself is not used.

Any update Chris?  I hate to think of the kids not having the PE for Christmas...  

We are in business!  Grandmother and grandson are happy!  All Systems GO!

There was no power getting to the pcb, I followed the leads and found no power or damage at the lug that Len2 described. 

I pulled off the spring-loaded 3rd rail rollers (I'm sure this has a proper name) - there are 2 screws that hold it on - 1 into plastic, the other into a PEM-nut.  When I hot wired power directly to the PEM-nut, the train lit right up and ran. I cycled the springs several times and re-sat the screws and we're rollin'!  I'm guessing it was bad contact through the screw/ roller part/ Pem-nut.  That's it.

He played with it for an hour before bed and woke up early to play with it more before school.  We even used Apple's Facetime on my phone to call Grandmommy- we put the phone on the train and gave her a 'ride'.  My kid was ecstatic.

I like to document troubleshooting issues like this on the web so it's searchable for other folks who are stuck. 

Thanks everyone for all their help.  My son and I watched the promotional Lionel video that came with the kit, and I'm afraid he's quite hooked.  It's all he's been talking about. 

We're transplants from NJ, so we're not all that familiar with the events out here, but I'm going to look up to see if there are any train shows coming up this winter in LA or San Diego.  He'd love it and I geek-out to this stuff as well.  Any suggestions?

Chris, excellent!!!

  I had a feeling, as did a couple others here, that is was a pickup roller/power wire issue, given that nothing was coming on.

I actually found a great video on Lionel last night where Mike R. talks about the tender not making any sound in your specific set.  He shows removing and re-seating the pickup roller and making sure the wire is properly connected.

Basically an offshoot of what you did with the loco.

Anyway, all is well.  Glad your son will be enjoying the Polar Express.  It's a great set!

Awesome job Chris!  

That picture made my Christmas!  If you have any other questions or need other cars, just let us know.  We can hook you up.  

Merry Christmas!

AS a side note for the future: Frank the Trainman in San Diego is an awesome Hobby Store!!!  They have a ton of O Gauge stuff and great service!

Chris C,

Great news, glad to hear you got it fixed so that the little guy is happy!  My two kids love the PE train as well.

As you live in Temecula, there's a few train-related things to see and experience in the San Diego County area.  Roman already mentioned Dynamic Hobbies in Hemet (there's also an historic Santa Fe depot a few blocks from their store) and Goshawk mentioned Frank the Trainman (there's also Reed's Hobbies out in La Mesa) but you also are within reasonable driving distance to:

* Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris (very close to where you live)

* San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park (of which I'm a member of the San Diego 3-Railers Club that operates at the museum)

* Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo (about 60 miles east of San Diego)

* Poway-Midland Railroad in Poway (about 30 minutes drive northeast of San Diego)

* All Gauge Toy Train Association that has monthly meetings in La Jolla; also does open houses.

* Chula Vista Live Steamers

* Historic Santa Fe depot in downtown San Diego off Broadway near the bay

* San Diego Trolley

So bring the family on down!  

Awesome Chris. That is a happy young man. Enjoy the holiday and the choo choo.

Absolutely get down to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. Excellent displays with different gauges.

"Roger that, Christmas is a go,  I repeat, Christmas is a go!"

Jerry

There is a Santa

The multimeter is your friend!

Glad it turned out to be something simple, and a new PE enthusiast added to the fold!

Nice story for the season!

Glad to hear you got it fixed.

If not, it would've been a good "roll with the punches" life lesson to teach. Sometimes things don't work out the way we plan them, and the key is to make lemonade from lemons. Getting mad solves nothing.

I'm also glad to see you're not using this as a platform to rip on Lionel for "poor customer service" or "poor quality control." S--- happens. Even the best QC will let one get through occasionally. Why shouldn't it be you who gets it, at the least convenient time possible? Why should it be me? Why shouldn't it be anyone else? Know what I mean?

If you'd been unable to fix it, that would have been a good excuse to pick up a different set, and use the locomotive as a stand-in for the Polar Express until you could get the original fixed.

Thanks for all the nice replies and likes; this is a nice community here...

To be honest, I was a little surprised that Lionel wouldn't warranty or sell me a engine directly (only option was to send it in for repair).  I'm still waiting for a reply from the original company that my mother bought it through.  Even though the train is fixed- they do not know that yet- and have not contacted me back.  As far as they know, it is still DOA.  I'll see what happens.  <shrug>

I'm pretty laid back, I follow the same 'ehh, things happen' mentality and try not to get too wound up.  My kid was disappointed, my mother was mad (mostly at herself) for buying from that particular company...

The 'stand-in' train option was high on my list. I had already hit Craigslist to see if there was a cheap runner to hold us over.

Either way, all is well.  My kid just got home from school and the train was ON as soon as the backpack hit the ground.

Thanks for the links and suggestions.  We're always looking for a reason to head down to SD.  I'm sure we'll visit.  We used to live a few minutes from Northlandz in NJ, but my son was 4 the last time we visited.

Love a happy ending!

-Pete