Original Hogwarts locomotive question

Frank Timko put a larger motor in one of these for me.  I have two of them, one still has the small motor.

There was a mod for the tenders for more volume, basically it just increases the voltage

I did a full TMCC upgrade on one of them a few years ago, here's the test run.

Lionel Starter Set Air Whistle Volume Fix.pdf

Nice demo John

But does anyone know if the weird delayed start thing is normal?

@jhz563 posted:

Nice demo John

But does anyone know if the weird delayed start thing is normal?

Mine did the same thing, so when the board burned out, I just put in a bridge rectifier and made the little indefinite forward-only. 

Mitch

I have one and love it. And my engine starts right off the bat when I advance the throttle.

However, on mine the lead truck would rub against the cylinders when going through the 0-36 Fast Track provided in the set. I took it to a repair store and they modified the lead truck a little bit to provide some extra clearance room. However, just to be sure I now only run it on 0-48 Fast Track that I had to buy.

@jhz563 posted:

Nice demo John

But does anyone know if the weird delayed start thing is normal?

This sort of sounds like my Lionel Santa Fe FT diesel locomotive from the El Capitan starter set that was made somewhere around 2007.  There is a slight delay to it starting to move as the "Trainsounds" system simulates the engine starting up.  Seems odd for a conventional steam locomotive with an air whistle in the tender to need a delay, but I suppose Lionel has done stranger things before...

Mine has no delay.

I just fired up the second one I have that still has the stock board.  There is no delay when it starts, it just starts moving as soon as it gets power.

Interesting discussion.

I am looking at purchasing the Hogwarts set being currently produced for a 6 year old for Christmas.  Not having anything like these sets within my own collection, will new set be more robust than the models you are currently discussing?

Specifically the electric motor, sound (if any) and smoke unit.

This will be the youngsters first set along with the family.  They are not into model trains just yet.  The boys dad is asking for my assistance in this matter.  I just want to make sure it doesn't turn out to be a disappointment.

Well, I have grave doubts about the longevity of the small set motor in these.  The locomotive is pretty heavy, and the motor is prone to failure anyway.

The latest Hogwarts appears to have the same size flat-sided set motor.

The smoke unit is the traditional puffer, it's probably no more or less reliable than most others.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, I have grave doubts about the longevity of the small set motor in these.  The locomotive is pretty heavy, and the motor is prone to failure anyway.

The latest Hogwarts appears to have the same size flat-sided set motor.

The smoke unit is the traditional puffer, it's probably no more or less reliable than most others.

Thank you John for your honest assessment as its greatly appreciated. 

To answer your question. Yes the delayed startup is normal on that engine.

To answer your question. No the delayed start up is not normal on that engine.

@Jim 1939 posted:

To answer your question. Yes the delayed startup is normal on that engine.

Which files in the face of multiple examples to the contrary. On what basis do you say this is normal?

I can't imagine why the original conventional Hogwarts with the 691-DREU-A02 board would have a delay, and it's sure not built into the board!

Say what you want but if you went back to original post about this engine you would read that the delay is very normal. And yes mine does delay on startup.

@Jim 1939 posted:

Say what you want but if you went back to original post about this engine you would read that the delay is very normal. And yes mine does delay on startup.

Where did you see it stated that was normal?  He questioned whether it was right.  I tested the conventional version here, and it started up immediately.  Three people all said their locomotive started up immediately, so are all those locomotives broken?

It might be interesting to see what board is in these locomotives since there's clearly different behavior exhibited by seemingly identical conventional versions.

Considering the OP's engine had hair wrapped around the axles and bent rods.  I would say the motor in that locomotive has led a hard life.  Good chance its getting weak and takes a min to move once given power.  I would bet that a fresh motor or the upgrade to a bigger motor would solve the issue.   A built in delay in a sound engine might be part of the programming, but not in a non sound locomotive with just an air whistle.  AD

@Jim 1939 posted:

Say what you want but if you went back to original post about this engine you would read that the delay is very normal. And yes mine does delay on startup.

Thank you all.  At least someone else has seen the same behavior. With that said,  since this will be my wife's I expect it to see little run time so I will leave the e unit as is for now.   I do wish the motor was mounted differently for ease of future upgrade. 

Actually the e unit works fine once you get use to the startup. The whistle is quite finicky. My set was from the first release so changes could have been made in later issues.

In passing, these locos are popular in U.K. as they are an accurate model (at least by coarse-scale O Gauge standards) of a well-known prototype which isn't otherwise available. However they are usually seen converted to DCC and electronic sound