# my new train set



## bile

i just bought a new "Bachmann HO Chattanooga" Train set. Everything ran smoothly. Then I decided to switch out the plastic wheels for metal ones on all my cars. Now the locomotive wheels will spin but cannot pull the load. I would like to know if my 0-6-0 steam locomotive is too small to pull many cars or if it has something to do with the metal wheels. Also, if I need a bigger locomotive, does anyone have any ideas for a good one? with dcc included???Thanks. And Hello to everyone in the site.


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## alcoman

Welcome to the site.

Check all the wheels. Are they in gauge? Do they roll free in the trucks? Will the engine still move with fewer cars? I just can't see wheels adding enough weight to stop things.


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## bile

Thanks for the response. Yes i double and triple checked. All the wheels on every car roll freely. All were snapped in place properly. Everything sat on the rails just fine. No go. I put the plastic wheels back on, added a flat car and 1/4 pound of weight on the train and it ran smoothly. Talk about "Things that make you go hmmm". I bought non-magnetic wheels and it was on an easy track, but can there be some kind of current holding them in place??Hmm.


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## T-Man

Next time do one at a time and run it alone with the engine. Try to keep the insulated wheels on the same side.One wheel will have contact with the axle.Get some wire, a bulb and a battery and check them.


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## alcoman

Maybe the wheels you have are not properly insulated? Put them back in one car, place it on the track and see if the engine moves without being connected to the car. Keep adding cars until something happens.

Definitely a "Hmmm" sort of thing.


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## bile

*My new train*

Well, I'm not that far in my new hobby to know about insulated wheels. The ones I used were Kadee 522 Smooth Back 36", non-magnetic. I put the metal wheels back on the tender. No problem. 2nd car I added with metal wheels, no problem.3rd car,..Problem,. could not pull them. My little engine that could,..couldn't. I think my loco. is too small. I dont understand the wire,battery,light thing.


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## Reckers

bile,

Try this: take a mild soap solution and dab a paper towel in it. Unplug the transformer, then wipe down your rails with the paper towel. Take a q-tip and wipe down the surfaces of your engine's drive wheels (where they touch the rails). You may have aquired something that is lubricating the rails or wheels, making them too slick to gain purchase and get moving. Also, you may have one car that is binding for some reason. It's not necessarily that 3rd car; it might be the weight of the third car is enough to tip it over the edge, so to speak.

Once you've cleaned as described, give it time to dry and then run the engine by itself 4 or 5 minutes to really warm it up. Right now, you're breaking it in, so it has it's highest resistance to movement because of new-part friction. Add one car and continue to run for a few minutes, then another, and so on. You may have a perfectly good train that just needs some break-in time and the cleaning to give it a better purchase on the tracks.


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## bile

*M.n.t.*

Thank you for the info. I'm gonna try it this weekend and cross my fingers. Another thing i've noticed, that when the plastic wheels are on and everything runs fine,... I have to turn the transformer up to 20 before the train starts to move. Is that fairly ok?


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## tkruger

I have had this issue with Bachmann cars. I switched to metal wheels on some of them and found that although they appeared to roll as well they individually the cars did not roll as well as a group. I can not explain it but it was as if the axils fit in the trucks just slightly tighter. I went back to the plastic wheels for these cars. The metal ones worked fine on some Athern cars I had.

My trains are all DC. I have a Bachmann 2-6-2 Prairie. I generally pull 6-8 cars with it. I have to bring it to just over 30% to get it going an then back off if it is starting on a curve. On a straight I need to give it a little less to get it going. The steamers do not work as efficiently on a curve. I have an Athern Blue Box GP 35 pulling 15 cars and that needs to be giver about 20% to get the train moving and then backed off. Generally speaking the motors will draw the most amps at stall (this is when they are close to stopped due to over load or attempting to start). Thus you need to give it a little more juice to start it moving.


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## Lester Perry

I have a problem with the soap and water Idea. I use CRC contact cleaner. Spray it on a cotton rag (piece of old T shirt) wipe down the rails. Then place piece of rag on track and spray it, place locomotive on rag allowing enough wheels to touch the rails eo get electric. Hold it in place, spin the wheels on the cloth. now the wheels are clean and the track is clean. As far as the wheels are concerned, the easy fix is go back to plastic. You could try Micromarks truck tuner. You can find it here.
http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html
They should roll much easier with metal wheels. I cant guarantee this fix as I cant see or touch your problem but this sounds like it will work.


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## bile

Ooo, I got a quick chuckler for ya. My girlfriend told me that when she was a kid, her grampy had a train layout in his house. My girlfriend said that her grampy had 2 small machines that he put in his layout that made sounds for the train,..(since the train itself was silent). Has anyone heard of this? and if so,..anyone have any ideas? P.S.-12" of snow today,. plenty of time to try all the ideas veryone gave me. Thank You.


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## T-Man

bile said:


> Well, I'm not that far in my new hobby to know about insulated wheels. The ones I used were Kadee 522 Smooth Back 36", non-magnetic. I put the metal wheels back on the tender. No problem. 2nd car I added with metal wheels, no problem.3rd car,..Problem,. could not pull them. My little engine that could,..couldn't. I think my loco. is too small. I dont understand the wire,battery,light thing.


basically you need a voltmeter. On ohms you check for resistance. If you have contact or an electrical connection the resistance goes to zero. In your case it could be an electical short. If you rig up a light and battery and touch the open ends the light will go on indicating current flow. If you have one wire on the axle and touch the each wheel with the second. One will not light up because it is insulated from the axle. Both axles on a truck need the insulated wheels on the same side. This is how you get track power for motors and lights.

The picture shows the insulated wheels to the right
If one of these were backwards you would have a short.


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## bile

My new train set came with a Bachmann 5 transformer with a 16v. access. There are 2 spots. What can i plug into them, and what can i use them for??


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## Big Ed

bile said:


> Ooo, I got a quick chuckler for ya. My girlfriend told me that when she was a kid, her grampy had a train layout in his house. My girlfriend said that her grampy had 2 small machines that he put in his layout that made sounds for the train,..(since the train itself was silent). Has anyone heard of this? and if so,..anyone have any ideas? P.S.-12" of snow today,. plenty of time to try all the ideas veryone gave me. Thank You.



Before they had all the fancy sound controls they have now my father used a speaker with an electronic push buttons. One for a whistle, one for a bell,one for a chugging sound, and one for something else that I forget.
Before that in the old old days he had 33 records that had a variety of different engines ,whistles and even chirping birds.
I still have the records.
What gauge did he have ?

I found these you can place around too.
http://www.ironpeng.com/ipe/ittmainindex.htm

PICTURES OF SOME OF THE OLD 33 RECORDS.


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## T-Man

bile said:


> My new train set came with a Bachmann 5 transformer with a 16v. access. There are 2 spots. What can i plug into them, and what can i use them for??


Lights and operating accessories. Switches.


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## bile

*Bachmann 5 Transformer*

Ok, but what i dont get is,..is one for positive and one for negative? And would i need to buy something to drop the volts? Or do I just buy something and plug it right in to one of the terminals??


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## Reckers

Bile, can you show us a pic or describe the terminals so we can be sure of what you're seeing? A good transformer will supply power for your track (and train), but this varies as you speed up or slow down. You don't want the lights on your layout to all go dim every time you slow down or stop the train. To avoid that, a separate hot terminal or set of terminals are also on the transformer to power your accessories. These have a constant voltage as long as the transformer is turned on. My guess is you have two separate hot lines to power your accessories, and everything will use the common ground for your track to complete the circuit. 
If what you are describing are constant-voltage hot lines, then you buy accessories that run on 16 volts. To make it work efficiently, you would run a heavier wire hot line under the layout, then tie the hot leads for your accessories into that wire. The ground from each accessory can then go to a common ground and back to the transformer.

This is a page from a 1949 American Flyer manual, showing how a transformer is wired to operate the train and some electric turnouts. You do the same thing for accessories that you do for your turnouts.

http://www.americanflyerexpress.com...nual/american-flyer-instruction-manual-26.htm


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## bile

*M.n.t.*

Wow, thanks for all the info. Unfortunately i dont have any means to send you a pic. I wish I could though. If you wanted to, google"Bachmann 5 Transformer". That is the one I have. Everything you said though was right on. 2 seperate terminals marked 16v. Are different accessories different size volts? And can I only hook 1 accessory to each terminal ?


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## Reckers

Glad to help, bile. Generally, any train accessory that came from the same country/time frame as your train is likely to have similar voltage requirements---the package or website should tell you, though. They're all low-voltage items. Run a bus (main power line) from your terminal of larger wire, then tie all your accessories to it and to your ground. My guess is you've got enough power to handle every accessory you can afford to buy. Build a city and light'er up!


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## bile

does each terminal hold 16 volts or is that a combo of both?(crosses fingers and hopes you say they are separate).Is one a pos.,...and one a neg.? I got my hands on a dig. cam. I hope i can put a pic or 2 up for everyone. I just have to figure out how.


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## tkruger

bile said:


> does each terminal hold 16 volts or is that a combo of both?(crosses fingers and hopes you say they are separate).Is one a pos.,...and one a neg.? I got my hands on a dig. cam. I hope i can put a pic or 2 up for everyone. I just have to figure out how.


If it states 16 volts that would be what each terminal should put out.


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## tankist

> Are different accessories different size volts? And can I only hook 1 accessory to each terminal ?





> does each terminal hold 16 volts or is that a combo of both?(crosses fingers and hopes you say they are separate).Is one a pos.,...and one a neg.?


bile, judging by your questions it seems that you not very verse in the subject of electricity. basically if one buys a project car and wants to work on it, chances are he needs to have at least a general idea of how IC engine works. while i guess one can live without in depth knowledge of the subj just fine, you are just beginning your MRR journey and as such can use and apply that knowledge. 

so my advice instead of asking for fish learn basics of fishing yourself. as that saying goes "knowledge is something that is not going to put extra weight on ones sholders".
while i'm sure there are better sites you can start with Wiki:
voltage , ohms law and just follow the links from there.





does anybody have a link to good preparation material for HAM operator exams? it used to include basic info about electricity and circuits


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## bile

ALRIGHTY THEN!! I just spend the past three days reading up on tons of stuff about general wiring and all the goodies of hooking things up. I get it, slow with the math converting though. The thing is,....17 sites later,. and nobody says where they are hooking their ground wire to after running it around the underside of the layout. I know what to do with the positive side of the bus, from transformer to the little bitty end. Where does the ground come from and where does it go??? I even watched videos of every hookup you can think of, they showed the ground but never where it came from.


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## tankist

if your layout is DC (thats what you said above) then connectors that matter are the positive and negative. there is really no ground (as you have nothing needed to be grounded on a layout really.) just make sure you not creating any shorts ie connecting different polarity power leads to same rail.
the AC is auxiliary output for accessories. i would not use it for more then couple switches . and for lighting i would use dedicated power supply - old cellphone charger or similar brick adapter.

or have i missed your question? do post pictures (or at least link to them), there are instructions stickied here on how to do just that:
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=983


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## alcoman

bile said:


> ALRIGHTY THEN!! I just spend the past three days reading up on tons of stuff about general wiring and all the goodies of hooking things up. I get it, slow with the math converting though. The thing is,....17 sites later,. and nobody says where they are hooking their ground wire to after running it around the underside of the layout. I know what to do with the positive side of the bus, from transformer to the little bitty end. Where does the ground come from and where does it go??? I even watched videos of every hookup you can think of, they showed the ground but never where it came from.


You have two posts on the "train side" of your transformer. Your track has two rails. Simply hook one post to each rail. As long as you stick with a circle of track, then you shouldn't have any problems.

You don't really have a "ground" wire because you can reverse polarity with the switch on the transformer.


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## T-Man

I found this Bachmann link.

I hope this helps I hate to rub salt in a wound.


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## bile

HA!! I always thought negative was a ground. Now I know it is not. I learn something new everyday. Has anyone here ever used suitcase connectors? And if so, what is your opinion of them?


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## bile

Oh yeah, this week I bought some sheets of styrofoam insulation. Cut it down, glued it together and carved a tunnel. Spray paint,.. Acrylic paint,.. and normal house paint started breaking down the styrofoam. Before I waste more money, has anyone done this and used hobby paint? Thats my next choice and I would like some input. Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


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## mburns5us

use the pink or blue insulation board from home improvment store then u can use regular house paint on it i did check it out in this section in my tread works great and alot easier to work with i think.


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## glgraphix

You may be new to the hobby, but do you have a dremel tool (rotory tool) its what I use to "free" up my metal wheel sets I install. Most of the time on the cheaper rolling stock, the wheels go in fine, and have movement. BUT, your metal wheel sets should be so "free" when you spin them, that they continue to spin for a while. A good rule of thumb is to place a piece of straight track to its self, and elevate it very slightly. Place the piece of rolling stock on the track with the metal wheels and see if it starts to move on its own. If it does, you have them adjusted right. If not, take the dremel tool, with a small barbed ball type cutter in it. Take the truck, place it on something solid, and VERY easily "wide'n" the points where the axle meets the truck. Cut out just a little on both sides until you get the wheels rolling good.
It does make a difference, and works great.

Kevin


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## tkruger

bile said:


> Oh yeah, this week I bought some sheets of styrofoam insulation. Cut it down, glued it together and carved a tunnel. Spray paint,.. Acrylic paint,.. and normal house paint started breaking down the styrofoam. Before I waste more money, has anyone done this and used hobby paint? Thats my next choice and I would like some input. Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


I found that some paints do cause the foam to break down. For me it was automotive gray primer. For me it was an advantage. I was painting the top of an outcrop of rocks. It actually gave it a desirable texture. 

As for what I normally use to paint foam is my kids tempera paint. A pint of one color cost $1.75 at Hobby Lobby. The color can be mixed easily to form anything you need. It cleans up with water, is not glossy, dries fast and it covers well.


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## bile

thank you for the painting issue. i will try it out. and as for the wheels. Without me touching anything, the metal wheels will spin very freely. I actually thought at first they were spinning too freely but it sounds like from what everyone says, thats fine. So i'm alittle hesitant about thinning anything out or reaming anything any bigger.


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## Lester Perry

Any water based paint should work. Also I have found that after a good coat of water base paint the other types can be used.


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## bile

*Patience*

Why why why is it taking me so long to build this table. We can never get this stuff finished fast enough. I bought some of this pink foam board with a big 250 stamped on it, from Home Depot, for my table. I'm going to use a layer of common house primer. If all goes well, I will start using, I guess other stuff,..lol.


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## tankist

i don't see why prime it. primers stinks, i hate that stuff. I scuffed the surface lightly and painted with 2 layers of el-cheapo walmart latex wall paint . 

you can also ask in home depot for their "ooops!" paint.


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## bile

*N.t.l.*

And I am assuming that worked for you then. I will try it thank you.


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## bile

*wheel truck*

i went to change the plastic wheels on my bachmann freight cars to metal. i used walthers proto 2000 metal wheel sets and they were a hair too long to roll freely. the wheels did spin but not as good as the plastic wheels. do i have use just bachmann wheels?


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## tkruger

I have mainly had that issue with Life Like cars but some of the older Bachmann cars that have talgo trucks. The plastic axiles were a tad narrower at their tips than the metal ones. There for swapping them never really worked well fo me. This was not the case with the ones I had from Bachman that used a standard truck.


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## bile

Welp,......... i finally got to go to a hobby shop, the gentleman introduced me to Intermountain Railway wheelsets. I'm in love,..lol. I put them on ALL 10 of my rolling stock, and my little crappy Bachmann 0-6-0- steamer pulls everyone. Unfortunately, it still isn't strong enough to pull my 1 heavy track cleaner car. Which seems odd to me because the weight of my 10 other cars out weighs my 1 cleaner car but my little steamer just wont pull it. I'm wondering if the piece of,.. i guess "slate" that touches my tacks may have something to do with it. Oh yeah,.. thank you to everyone who has helped me out with my questions. I am enjoying my new hobby.


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## tkruger

bile said:


> Welp,......... i finally got to go to a hobby shop, the gentleman introduced me to Intermountain Railway wheelsets. I'm in love,..lol. I put them on ALL 10 of my rolling stock, and my little crappy Bachmann 0-6-0- steamer pulls everyone. Unfortunately, it still isn't strong enough to pull my 1 heavy track cleaner car. Which seems odd to me because the weight of my 10 other cars out weighs my 1 cleaner car but my little steamer just wont pull it. I'm wondering if the piece of,.. i guess "slate" that touches my tacks may have something to do with it. Oh yeah,.. thank you to everyone who has helped me out with my questions. I am enjoying my new hobby.


The track cleaning car has more friction on the rail due to the cleaning pad. The weight is not the issue. The wheels create a mechanical advantage so that a greater amount of weight can be pulled with less work.


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## bile

any suggestions on how to get my loco. to pull the track cleaning car? my next step to try was applying frog snot to the wheels of my loco.


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## tkruger

bile said:


> any suggestions on how to get my loco. to pull the track cleaning car? my next step to try was applying frog snot to the wheels of my loco.


I recommend against using traction bands or Bull Frog Snot unless the manufacturer originally used them. Even then I am not a fan. Under excess stress (load) the weakest point in the locomotives drive train will break. There normally is not a warning that you will see until it is to late. By using metal wheels on metal track the weakest point in the drive train is the wheels. Therefore the equivalent to the drive train breaking is the wheels slipping, thus no repair to the loco needed. That said, adding weight to the locomotive will help to increase the pulling power of it. The weight should be applied over the drivers. Unfortunately in that loco there is not much room to work with. If you add the weigh to far back you can actually decrease the pulling power in these Bachmanns and increase the likely hood of a derailment. If they are back heavy they can lift the front wheels (be there did that with a similarly designed Bachman 2-6-2).


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## gunrunnerjohn

Use a heavier locomotive? I have a couple of 6# numbers, they should pull it.


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## bile

Alright, so I bought something niiiiice. This bad boy will pull it and then some.lol. Addictive hobby.


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