Struggling Rail King Empire State Express 30-1784

Make sure draw bar connections on both sides good, and fully inserted.  G

@GGG posted:

Make sure draw bar connections on both sides good, and fully inserted.  G

Thanks. GunrunnerJohn indicates the same as the likely cause. I'll give it another try this morning but feel like I've had the draw bar connected properly.

@raising4daughters posted:

Thanks. GunrunnerJohn indicates the same as the likely cause. I'll give it another try this morning but feel like I've had the draw bar connected properly.

What George means by both sides, is both on the locomotive…….flip the locomotive over on a towel, and if you look at the back of the locomotive, behind the pivot screw, you’ll see where the locomotive plugs into the tether,……this is the spot of contention, ….that’s one of the connections that can come loose, almost immediately after taken out of the box …….

Pat

Thanks so much guys. I'll get on it after my haircut. Ya know, though, if you help me solve it, I won't get to drive out to the LHS and buy more stuff, so your good advice is suppressing the economy. 

@raising4daughters posted:

Thanks so much guys. I'll get on it after my haircut. Ya know, though, if you help me solve it, I won't get to drive out to the LHS and buy more stuff, so your good advice is suppressing the economy. 

Go even you get it straightened out,……use the excuse of “ I wanted to let you guys know face to face”

Pat

@raising4daughters - Any luck solving the herky-jerky problem on your ESE 30-1784 (or did you experience a bad haircut and just weren't in the mood to go back to your train?)

Sorry for the delay in responding, guys. Had to leave the house for a wedding shortly after returning from the LHS.

Haircut was good, but my own attempts to fix my ESE were unsuccessful, so I went out to the LHS where I bought it. Was there when they opened at 11am and showed it to their tech who, thankfully, was working today. He showed me the problem....the tach reader was bent and scraping against the disc on the end of the motor. It had scraped off some of the black on the disc that the tach reader reads. He fixed that, used some zip ties to tie up some wires that he said weren't fastened well, and ran it on their layout without any more issues. He said it was a factory error in assembly or possibly damaged in shipping. No charge for the fix which encouraged me to purchase the 4-car and 2-car add-on matching passenger cars. All in all, a good day! Plan to run it tomorrow.

That’s great news!!…sounds like your LHS has a good tech!….good job for them!!…now if you could convince the fella on the other thread this wasn’t a life altering experience worthy of a novel, maybe he can quit the sabbatical he’s on and get his locomotive fixed too!!…🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

That’s great news!!…sounds like your LHS has a good tech!….good job for them!!…now if you could convince the fella on the other thread this wasn’t a life altering experience worthy of a novel, maybe he can quit the sabbatical he’s on and get his locomotive fixed too!!…🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pat

Yes, that was my 3rd visit to my new LHS and first time meeting the tech. Seemed really knowledgeable. My former LHS closed in 2019 with the passing of the owner, and I still stay in touch with their tech. Just paid him to put Cruise-M in one of my older TMCC engines and put new rollers on two PW locomotives. He's a forum member and I'd give him a shout out here, but not sure he wants the publicity.

Good point for the other thread. I learned very early when getting into this hobby in 2002 and into camping/Rving in 2009 that (1) I was going to need to become a better fixer and (2) I better get to know people who are better fixers than me for those times when stuff hits the fan which is inevitable.

Someday, I'd like to get those elite fixer and upgrade skills. While 3 of my kids are now young adults, I've still got too many job and family obligations to become a really good tech like some are. Heck, I barely get enough time to run what's working or put in some scenery and accessories.

Glad you got it fixed. Have to ask - was this done under warranty?

raising4 - And, the added bonus was that you were able to some additional 'train' shopping as well!

Glad everything worked out for you.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Glad you got it fixed. Have to ask - was this done under warranty?

Already answered in his post which explains the fix.

The key being (as raising4 stated in the intro to his Post) that he bought it 'brand new' at his LHS in January.