Need a little help with a TMCC Steam Loco, won't run...

A little more investigating and the other black wire goes to the underside of the shell. It's almost obvious that's where this one should go as well. Should this be a soldered connection as it doesn't appear it ever was??

They should obviously be soldered.  I just upgraded this same locomotive with a Cruise Commander M.

Reseat all the boards and connectors and try a TMCC reset.  From the manual...

Due to the inevitable derailments and static, it is possible that your Command reverse unit could someday lose its setup program. The symptom of this condition would be unresponsiveness in Command mode. This can be easily remedied by “reprogramming” your Command reverse unit using the following steps.

STEP 1: Move the switch on your locomotive from RUN to PGM.
STEP 2: Plug in your Command Base.
STEP 3: Place the locomotive on track, then turn on power to your track.
STEP 4: Press ENG then input the locomotive’s ID#. Press SET.
STEP 5: Press ENG, the ID#, AUX1, then press 34 for this particular locomotive.
STEP 6: Turn off power to your track and wait ten seconds.
STEP 7: Remove the locomotive from your track, and move the switch from PGM to RUN.
STEP 8: Place the locomotive back on track, then turn power on to the track.
STEP 9: Press ENG and the ID#, then operate as normal.

Thanks John, looks like I have a little work to do tonight.

I've never entered this logo into my Legacy so I assume the reprogram instructions would be the same?

I bought this one after seeing your Super-Chuffer videos...

Thanks.

One additional step for the CAB2.  You have to hit the INTO button, then scroll over to the type and set TMCC.  The CAB2 assumes everything is Legacy, and TMCC stuff will not respond.  That's bit me a couple of times when I'm not thinking about it.

I don't know if the Super-Chuffer would be appropriate here.  By the time you get the fan driven smoke unit in, I'm not sure that there's room for my little board.   That's a pretty small loco, note the DCDR is on it's side because it wouldn't fit upright.

Update. Soldered a couple wires, ran the reset several times and still a no go. Sounds work fine but still no movement. I'm open for the next suggestion.

Just to be clear, it won't run in conventional or using the Legacy, in TMCC of course!

John - Isn't the unit in your videos a Camelback??

Jeff, my Camelback is an MTH model that was PS/1 and I upgraded it to TMCC.  However, the one I mentioned was one that came into the shop for a cruise upgrade, it's the same as yours internally.

My next step after checking all the wiring carefully is to test the various components.  Really, there's only two that would affect running, the R2LC and the DCDR.

If you unplug the DCDR motor connection, can you run the motor on a DC supply?

John - I'll admit I'm not the electrical wiz some of you are. Based on the photos I posted which board is the DCDR.

The DCDR is the thing with the large heatsink.  The black 4-pin plug between the heatsink ears supplies the motor and track power to the DCDR.  Pull that plug and then you can test the motor with a DC supply, I'd start with 3-4 volts and see if the motor is working properly.  If the motor is good, and there is no breaks in the wiring, I'd be testing the two boards in the locomotive next.  Note that you don't need the tender to run the locomotive, it just supplies the sound.

John - Thanks for all the help, but I'm at the end of my electrical knowledge/abilities.

Time to send it to a pro.

Thanks for the offer! Actually, several reached out to help me with this, once again the fellowship on this forum shows!

The loco is on it's way to Ohio and Boxcar Bill!

Jeff....glad you found help with this.  We have many great folks here that do repair work and Bill is one of them...PLUS...he supports our magazine as an advertiser!!..so it is always nice to see our advertisers benefit from their investment with OGR!!

Thanks,

Alan