Lionel Empire State Stuck in Neutral - HALF FIXED

What type of power supply are you using? Do you have TMCC or Legacy?

Roy,

I said I don't have a Lionel Command base at the moment, so I'm technically running it conventionally with the variable voltage control on my MTH DCS, which is powered by an MTH Z1000 brick.

Jeese, second one of these today DOA. Mine showed up today as well,I might just leave it in the box.

Have you ran Lionel engines this way before? Does the engine roll?

Yes. I ran my Vision Line 700E Hudson the same way, and it did the normal reversing unit cycle in the conventional mode. I'll try and find a friend who has a Command base and see if it does the same.

RickO posted:

Jeese, second one of these today DOA. Mine showed up today as well,I might just leave it in the box.

Guess that makes three of us, then.  Mine arrived yesterday & I couldn't even power it up (I posted a thread earlier today, won't rehash).  All six of my cars seemed to work fine, though.

I had a similar problem with a Williams steamer.  At the time I bought it, I was using a smaller transformer and found out that the Williams would not engage if the wattage was too low.  It was exhibiting the same problem you are having.  I got a larger transformer and it worked fine.

Is a current Legacy base, or TMCC base plugged in, in the room?

I have had problems running conventional with the base plugged into the wall and the locomotive just sat there.

Let me repeat myself just in case: I do not have a Lionel Command base at the moment. It is strictly conventional for any TMCC/Legacy engines.

Okay, after testing it from a friend's command base and remote, the engine worked perfectly. But putting back on a conventional layout, it stayed in neutral. Not sure what the problem is, but I guess my answer is to get cracking on buying that Legacy system!

I'd say you need to discover if the issue is either with your track power not actually going to zero at the direction change or inside the engine. That way if it turns out to be the engine you can get it repaired under warranty.