Anyone else have this problem? How did you fix it? I bought it used from eBay and its draw bar doesn't look like it is shaped as it came from the factory. In other words someone has bent it a little different. I have reshaped it to where it should be close to the factory shape and work alright but I just can't get it to work. Thank's.
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Can you advise us as to model number, type of track, diameter of curves and photos if possible.
It is possible that the wires leading to the truck may be tight causing the truck to have limited swivel.
I have the same problem !
The tether is so close to the front of the tender that it kicks the tender off the track on tight curves....these pictures tell the story.
You can see the way the tether kicks the tender to one side.
There is a clip inside the tender that restricts the length of the cord. Check to see if you can lengthen it so there is more play.
The tether exposure and bend are too short. Pull some of the slack out of the tender so the bend has more length to twist.
I have one of the original Challengers (upgraded to PS2). The way the tender wheels are set up makes it difficult to back a heavy train through switches. I have not had a derailing problem in forward. Is your problem directional?
Well that was simple enough ...and a little embarrassing but I dont take these things apart much...
runs great now !!! Thanks to Bobby and RJR I hope this fixes the original posters problem as well !
Is that a PS-2 engine?
I have a PS-1 3985 I have been thinking about upgrading...
Is that a PS-2 engine?
Mine is....I cant speak for Dennis Rempel (the original poster)
Does yours have the same whistle and synchro-chuff?
Sorry, I think I got you two guys confused...I am thinking the grey challenger belongs to Bob...
Gibson Man, I have an original gray Challenger. Originally had no sound. Two caveats if you decide to upgrade to PS2: (1) you will have to enlarge slightly the opening under the cab deck for the tether socket. Be very careful to make sure that the two tiny capacitors on the socket assembly don't touch the frame. (2) the smoke unit needs modification. My smoke unit had been replaced under warranty with a slightly different type, that was not covered in upgrade instructions. I had to change the wiring on the smoke unit so that the heating elements, which were in series, would be in parallel. BUT, this was many years ago and my memory could be faulty--it may be that I had to change them from parallel to series. Note again , this was not the original smoke unit; I don't know how that was wired.
It is a fine runner under PS2. At the time, a Challenger sound file wasn't available, so I used a Big Boy. Works fine.
Does yours have the same whistle and synchro-chuff?
I cant say for sure....doesn't the short video I posted offer any help ?
To me it just sounds like a standard Railking sound file.
Well, have three different PS-1s...a challenger and 2 Big Boys...they all sound the same, have voltage controlled chuff which goes into a funky chopped up chuff at higher speeds...also, conventional only so no speed control...have a couple PS-3s, but I guess I like PS-2 better...have a y3B mallet PS-2 I really like...but the PS-3 Northern and Big Boy I have are not as much fun...so thinking about upgrades on the PS-1s, but don't have a local tech in my area, and don't want to ship the engines, so kinda stuck...
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