Comments on: Jumpy Locomotive Stops And Starts

By: Jean Duvivier

Jean Duvivier — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:21:00 +0000

First thing I would do is to clean the wheels. The problem sounds very much like dirty wheels getting irregular contact for the electric current to go from the rail to the motor.
The are a number of ways of doing the cleaning.\1- put a piece of paper towel wet with propyl or any other alcohol on the powered track;hold the engine with some of the wheels on the paper, the others on the track to pick up the power;run the engine for 10 to 20 seconds; then change the wheel positions to clean the others.. You'll be surprised at how much dirt end up on the paper.
2- use a rotary tool like a Dremel or equivalent, with a soft brush wheel wet with alcohol, and while holding the engine upside down, connect the power wheels to the track with a couple of wires and clips (or just touch the wheels with the wires), run the engine while holding it in one hand and run the rotary tool against the wheels with the other hand.
I have used both methods very successfully.

By: Ken Malgren

Ken Malgren — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:19:00 +0000

It sounds like the locomotive isn’t getting clean electrical pickup. The first suspect is dirty drivers and pickup wheels. You can take a heavy paper towel and apply some WD-40, lay it on your powered track, run the loco onto the towel and hold it while the wheels turn. That should clean them. If that doesn’t solve the problem, it might be a loose electrical connection inside the locomotive. If you are comfortable disassembling the unit, check the contacts with a multitester. If you find a loose contact, on the motor possibly, you might have to re solder the contact. If you don’t have the skills or confidence to do it yourself, check with your local hobby shop for a modeler in your area that can help you.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Hi Shane, the best thing you can do is to send your loco back to Bachmann IND. AND A FEE OF $10.00 AND THEY Will replace it/fix it. Jim

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Shane I’ve had this problem more than once,I had to just keep running them until they work.useing the wires from the transformer is the way I did it.placing one wire on the wheels on each side of the engine,they have power pick ups on each side….Dave

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:34:00 +0000

I have Bachmann Santa Fe loco’s also. I had one that was acting just like you said. As crude as it sounds, I squirted a little WD-40 into the trucks (at each wheel) and the problem went away.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Make sure your track is clean. Buy a track rubber from your local model railroad store. The top of the rail needs to be shiny to enable electricity to flow from the rail to the loco. Make sure the loco wheels are clean too. You can buy a small double sided wire brush from your model railroad store too. It clips on to your track and you hold your loco in your hand and hold the brush to the wheels. The electricity gets through the metal brush and into the wheels, the motor turns the wheel so the brush cleans the wheels of gunk as the wheels turn. if these things dont fix your problem, you might want to look into the inside wiring of your loco, and/or the wiring to your track.

By: Dennis Finegan

Dennis Finegan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:39:00 +0000

Hi Shane,
If the locomotive is new, and you oiled/greased accoring to the instructions, then a break-in period should be all that is needed. If an old loco, check and repair the wiring as needed. Clean the wheels. Clean your track.
Sincerely, Dennis Finegan