Lionel O-27 passenger cars on Atlas track

Two possibilities:

1: a short in one of the passenger cars

2: your CW80 doesn't have the amperage to run both the U23b and the lighted passenger cars.

Try adding the passenger cars one by one to see if #1 applies.

---PCJ

Won't run with even one passenger car but pulls 6 freight cars.

Passenger cars run fine on my O72 fastrack loop powered by an MTH transformer and MTH SD9 diesel or Royal Hudson steam engine.

We assume the engine works fine by its self, correct??  Try adding one car at a time an see what happens'''

Marty

Every thing runs fine except when I try to run the U23b and even a single passenger car with the Zw80.

Sounds like the U23b itself is maxing out your transformer. Adding that your other engines run with the passenger cars lends credence to the theory. Have you tried the U23b with the passenger cars on the 072+MTH transformer loop?

The CW80 (a ZW is an entirely different animal, and none of them have an "-80" suffix" attached to their name) isn't regarded as a high-power transformer. It's probably the second-or third lowest capacity transformer out there. (the lower ones being the MTH z-500 and Lionel CW-40)

---PCJ

I forgot to add this same U23b and 3 passenger cars ran fine all week on a a 4x8 loop of 036 Fastrack.It must be the conductivity of Atlas track and the passenger cars.With the Zw80 too.

Seems to me you have engine problems. I say either bad motor or if it has TMCC board going bad and also when last time did maintance on the engine. Also i would check your wires inside the engine and check your pick-up rollers. 

This is the conventional non TMCC version and probably has around 6 hours running time.Everything is okay as long as I keep the passenger cars off the Atlas track.I like the quieter Atlas track so much better though.

And all my other engines are MTH or require 072 track so I don't have anything else to test run on this loop.

Sorry CW80

Engine was dead with no lights,but passenger car lights came on.This version did not have sound.Not going to try it anymore for fear of hurting the engine,just going to park the passenger cars.

Try the U23b with a lighted caboose on the Atlas track. with the CW80.  If that works, then try the U23b and passenger cars on the Atlas track with a different transformer.

Also, when you say it doesn't run, dead for 5 min, what do you mean?  Does the light on the CW80 flash?  Does the locomotive make any noise?  Do the passenger cars light up when on the track without the locomotive?  Can you take a video of it and post it?

Even if your engine only has 6 hours the motors could be binding or something in the truck binding and this engine has rev board could be something wrong with it. I'm sure your engine is pulling to many amps it should not be.  

I think Chessie1971 is right,it's pulling too many amps.

I can run this train all day on Fastrack with the Cw80 but I still guess it could be pulling too many amps.

Light on the cw80 did not flash,engine was dead and quiet.would not start back but did when I waited about five minutes.Sort of like a transformer with a tripped breaker. Starts back up without the passenger cars on the track that is.

I am using some old wrinkled wires since my Fastrack connectors won't work with the Atlas terminal track.That might have something to do with it?

Thanks for the help everyone,I am going to order new wire connections and have Atlas check the engine out.It seemed to run fast or not at all on the Fastrack,something not right here.