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Electrical Pickup Troubles with Baldwin Modern 440 Locomotive
Martin asks for help:
“I am having electrical pickup troubles with my Baldwin Modern 440. The tender sound will work when I disconnect the tender and pins from the loco, that is until I touch the tender or attempt to move it. The sound sometimes works when I fidget with the tender. I don’t know what to do.”
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
Do you have a short between the engine and tender. or is the engine causing the short. Check the engine with a Ohm meter
1: Check electrical contact – clean wheel rims and wheel/axle pickups on loco and tender.
2: Does the tender pickup through its own wheels, or does it depend on the loco pickup for power ?
(So how is the problem different when the tender is connected to the loco ?)
(If powered by the loco, it may only operated briefly when disconnected.)
It seems like the Tender and the Loco are wired in opposite polarity.
Turn the Tender around and see if it then works okay.
If so, simply change either the loco or the tender wiring to match.
If it works until you try to move it then you might have an intermittant short. Have a good look between wheels and body for any metal slivers or oily dust that could provide an electrical pathway.I actually had a problem with a Triang loco that shorted periodically and found a small pin attached to the adhesion magnet.