At an auction recently I picked up an MTH Rail King 4-6-0 steam engine, with Proto-Sound 3.0. At this point, I’m still just running conventional. I knew that it was untested and “as is,” but the price was right.
MTH RailKing 4-6-0 Steam Engine 30-4215-1E
I got it home, put it on the track and fired it up. It ran great for about 90 seconds and then just completely stopped – the rail sounds continued, as if the engine was in neutral, but the headlight was off. Nothing I did moved the engine, so I turned it off.
After several days of testing, and experimenting, I have finally figured out that the drawbar is the culprit. I pull the tender off the track and then re-attach it to the engine, making sure the drawbar pins are nice and snug.
At some point after a few runs around the mainline, the engine just stops as before – sounds continue but no headlight. I repeat the process with the tender, and the engine runs again for a bit until the next stop
This is my first PS 3.0 steamer, with the electronics connection through the drawbar. Are there any tricks to getting a good connection that won’t get interrupted?
