What did I just buy? (RailKing 0-8-0 with sound?)

Don't start it again. They scramble on shut down with a weak battery. Replace the battery, preferably with a BCR, even a 9V alkaline, if just to test for scrambling. If it starts back up, you got lucky. an alkaline battery may eventually explode if the charging circuit is working. A 9v Nicad is recommended by mth for ps1 but most nimh will work. Ps1 will be recognizable by 2 boards tied together with qsi on the chips. If on restart you get the 2 clanks of death and it doesn't respond, you scrambled the chip. Not A big deal because they can be reset with a$25 rest kit.

MTH offered something called Loco-Sound or -Sounds, at one time. Maybe that's

it. I had a RK WP 4-8-4 with it at one time; fair, except for the chuff rate. I think.

The diesel Loco-Sound was better.

Or, someone added a basic sound package/rev unit. They're nice locos, in general;

better pieces of equipment than Lionel's low-end (not the good one) USRA 0-8-0. Accurate, simple detailing. Worth an ERR upgrade, should you be so inclined. 

The box might say "Optionally equipped with Protosounds". If not, it was fairly easy to upgrade a whistle only loco to Protosounds. Put a new battery in it from Harbor Freight, the orange batteries are NiCads, the green ones are NiMH. Your choice.

Wowak,

    It sounds like you have a very early P1 engine, I would definitely put a BCR in her.

PCRR/Dave

Not all proto 1 engines were the "clanks of death" ones. There were proto 1 boards made during a certain period (there's a list) that go bad, some can be reprogrammed using the MTH chip reset kit others cannot. I have one that dies forever (Amtrak F-40PH) if started on a low battery, the reset kit won't work............

Did the item description on ebay not say what it was equipped with?

Wowak,

PS1 engines did not chuff.

.....

Dennis

PS-1 has continuous smoke.

Since that is a green battery it may not be that old.  I would try charging it using a 9v charger.  

Gentlemen,

   The very best thing you can do for a P1 engine is install a BCR.

PCRR/Dave

what is BCR?

 thanks

Steamer - It is a Battery Component Replacement made by  JW Electronics.  You can google the acronym or name of company.  They replace MTH rechargeable batteries.

Not all chuff, but this one does. It can't compete with a PS-2 engine, but it is a great little puller.

Here is a link to our club website. There is a video link to my N&W MTH RK PS-1 0-8-0 running on our modular layout. I had installed a BCR and as previously mentioned it put out a continuous stream of fan driven smoke.

http://rivercity3railers.org/photo_pages/photos.html

I sort of miss this little guy. I had added a lot of detailing and this is a good looking engine. It has been replaced by a MTH Premier PS-2 N&W 0-8-0. If a "real" scale N&W S1a is ever offered, the "replacement" will go on the sell-block.

Gilly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?f...ge&v=sBe3QzVW5_8

You can either charge it on an external charger or put it in the locomotive and charge it on the tracks.  If you elect to charge it in the locomotive, just run the track voltage up to around 12 volts and LEAVE it there, don't shut back down until the battery is charged, 5-6 hours will do the trick. 

Got the new battery today, let it sit in program for a solid 6 hours (wish I'd thought to turn the volume down first) and everything appears to be operating properly.  Excellent.  It's almost going to be a shame to hack it apart to make a camelback.  

(also, I need to get a bell button so I can play with all the Proto1 features.)

Oh, and just to upset the purists, I got a generic battery for $6 shipped from batteriesinaflash.com.  Shockingly my loco didn't explode or anything.  (Besides, every rechargeable battery probably comes from the same factory in china anyway.)

The explosion is delayed for several days to lull you into a false sense of security!