Gossard

Thanks so much for your help.  Last night I decided to open up the locomotive to see if I could see anything.  Turns out the pickups were only functioning on one axle.  The other two weren't working.  I cleaned it all up, got the other two axles working, and greased and oiled everything.  Now it's averaging .8 amps and peaking at 1.05 amps with the tender and three cars.  Nice to have it working again!

I can't thank you enough for your willingness to help.  Cheers!

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry, I should have supplied the transformer specs.  It's the model 6609 that came with the set.  Rated at an out put of 17 volts and 11 VA.  I am getting between 12 and 13 volts at the track while the train is running.

One other thing, I have never opened up the locomotive to add any grease.  Is that something that should be done periodically?

Hi,

I have a Bachmann Blue Comet (Atlantic City Express) set that I bought 18ish years ago.  We use it each year at Christmas time (so it has relatively low use), but this year, after it runs for maybe one to two minutes, I can hear the breaker tripping inside the controller.  After a minute or so, it resets and shuts back down, etc.  I tested the locomotive, and free-wheeling it uses about 0.8 amps.  When on the track, it averages 1.2 amps, peaking at 1.5.  My question is, is that too high an amp draw for a 4-6-0 engine, or does it sound like my controller is bad?  If it's the controller, can you recommend a somewhat decent replacement for a very casual user?

Thanks!