cmcgloughlin
New Member
Greetings, this is my first of hopefully many posts here.
While not exactly new to the hobby, I am newly committed to "modeling" these trains which means I need to get back into adjusting, soldering, fixing, opening and looking at, etc. Too long I have purchased sets and relied on others (i.e. shell oput $$) to fix or resolve issues with my locos -- no more! I am doing the learning curve and hope to get over it someday.
That said, after having done so with a comple of old locos and getting them running again .... I am at a stopping point with my newly purchased Model Power / Mantua Classics 0-6-0 "Yard Goat" Switcher. This one:
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/csm/csm389001.htm
Need some help troubleshooting:
1) Slow speed issues: I purchased it because, besides liking the looks of it, it claimed to run very well at low speeds. We tested it at the hobby store and it worked fine on the straight test track, and the slow speed was very good. I bring it home and it seems to only have one speed - fast and choppy. I have tried finagling with the pickups and trucks and it runs no better. It seems like it has trouble on turns, it just stops and i have to give it a push. To be precise, i need to push down on the back end of the tender. I find that it actually runs better backwards, which I would be content to live with, but I need to go both directions to do switching operations.
2) Dead Frog Issues: this loco really just dies when it hits an insulated frog. Seems to be kind of unfortunate given this is supposed to be a switcher which should encounter all sorts of frogs. If I am running DCC, is the answer simply to purchase turnouts with powered frogs?. (PS I have Bachmann EZ track. I am happy with it in general and am willing to work with it so I become familiar with it, including filing etc.)
2) DCC chip -- Assuming I resolve the issues to #1 and #2, I would like to convert it to DCC so I can run it on my DCC track. It says it has a "9-pin". I am new to DCC, does anyone know a good decoder for this type of system? Sound would be super but not required.
Im not at all complaining about the engine, please understand. It looks really great and i am sure I can do something to make it run like I saw in the store, if I can just get a little knowledge. Thats where you all come in! I look forward to your thoughts.
Best,
Charlie
While not exactly new to the hobby, I am newly committed to "modeling" these trains which means I need to get back into adjusting, soldering, fixing, opening and looking at, etc. Too long I have purchased sets and relied on others (i.e. shell oput $$) to fix or resolve issues with my locos -- no more! I am doing the learning curve and hope to get over it someday.
That said, after having done so with a comple of old locos and getting them running again .... I am at a stopping point with my newly purchased Model Power / Mantua Classics 0-6-0 "Yard Goat" Switcher. This one:
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/csm/csm389001.htm
Need some help troubleshooting:
1) Slow speed issues: I purchased it because, besides liking the looks of it, it claimed to run very well at low speeds. We tested it at the hobby store and it worked fine on the straight test track, and the slow speed was very good. I bring it home and it seems to only have one speed - fast and choppy. I have tried finagling with the pickups and trucks and it runs no better. It seems like it has trouble on turns, it just stops and i have to give it a push. To be precise, i need to push down on the back end of the tender. I find that it actually runs better backwards, which I would be content to live with, but I need to go both directions to do switching operations.
2) Dead Frog Issues: this loco really just dies when it hits an insulated frog. Seems to be kind of unfortunate given this is supposed to be a switcher which should encounter all sorts of frogs. If I am running DCC, is the answer simply to purchase turnouts with powered frogs?. (PS I have Bachmann EZ track. I am happy with it in general and am willing to work with it so I become familiar with it, including filing etc.)
2) DCC chip -- Assuming I resolve the issues to #1 and #2, I would like to convert it to DCC so I can run it on my DCC track. It says it has a "9-pin". I am new to DCC, does anyone know a good decoder for this type of system? Sound would be super but not required.
Im not at all complaining about the engine, please understand. It looks really great and i am sure I can do something to make it run like I saw in the store, if I can just get a little knowledge. Thats where you all come in! I look forward to your thoughts.
Best,
Charlie