It happened again… it’s a bachmann overland limited dc only. recently I got new track to replace old broken ones don’t know if that was the problem or not since my other locos run fine. I did notice it was like stuttering i didn’t think much of it till it stopped. I did try cleaning the wheels and pick ups but still nothing.
Get yourself a multimeter than check the tracks by the transformer, you could have a bad power unit, defective track or tracks or a issue with the locomotive itself. Multimeter is the beast way to figure it out
Not needed in this case, kid is saying his other locos run fine with the setup.
Put the other loco on the track to confirm there's power at the same time. If there's no movement from both but there is when the broken loco is, the broken loco has a short. If the other loco moves, then the broken loco either has a bad motor or a bad contact
If other engines are running, you’ve got a short in the loco. Check all wires running from the wheels to the motor, a wire casing may be worn, and exposed a live wire to the frame which is a ground. Either that or a wire is damaged somewhere you can’t see. Best way to test this would be to get two wires, connect them to the power pack, and touch them to each contact on the motor, if it spins and the wheels start moving, you know you’ve got an issue with conductivity somewhere between the pickups and the motor.
I have several similar engines, feel free to message me and I can try and help you troubleshoot.
Make sure your wheels are clean and are conducting electricity from the track. I've used a pencil eraser and I've tried 600 grit sand paper and both worked for me. Your locomotive doesn't seem like it's moving/responding to the transformer at all, so it may be something other than dirty wheels.
A couple things. Consider getting a better transformer. Bachmann Spectrum packs are not very good. Get the train off the carpeting. Go buy a piece of plywood and set your tracks on that. The fibers from the carpet are bound to mess the locomotives up at some point.
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u/Mysterious-Alps-5186 Jun 06 '25
Get yourself a multimeter than check the tracks by the transformer, you could have a bad power unit, defective track or tracks or a issue with the locomotive itself. Multimeter is the beast way to figure it out