[atoy2000]

Hello,
I am completely new here and I hope I am posting in the correct place. I was wondering if I could get help figuring out why I can't the train engine to work. I have a 2006 Walthers Life Like Racing Rails Nascar train set. I turn on the power and the engine moves a few inches and dies out. The lights were flickering too. I remember my cousin dragging the engine around so maybe he burnt out the motor? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Tom_C]

Define 'dragging it around'

It could be any number of things, but you should start by cleaning the track well, make sure your power connection is tight, and look for any visible dirt on the wheels and clean that off as best you can.

 

[atoy2000]

What he did was while it was on on the track he would move it back and forth like a little kid does with toy cars. It's one of those engines with a motor resistance when you do that. It sounds like you're winding something up. If that makes more sense.

 

[CTValleyRR]

Take Tom's advice and clean your track, wheels, and power pickups thoroughly. If it's been in storage for more than about a year, clean the gears and drive train and lightly lubricate them.

Unfortunately, that loco is not a good quality one. Those were sold under the "Proto" name.

However, the PowerLoc track in that set has black roadbed, which means the rails are made of steel. Steel rails work great on real railroads, but in ours take considerably more work to keep clean. I'd be surprised if a simple cleaning doesn't fix your problem.

 

[Tom_C]

Dont use steel wool, use a scotch-bright pad or something like that. If it's steel track like CTvalley said, then get all the rust or corrosion off the rails.

 

[atoy2000]

Ok I will give that a shot. Will rubbing alcohol work or should I use something else to clean the track.

 

[Tom_C]

It will help as a sort of lubricant to lift off the crud. Give it a good scrub and then wipe it clean with a rag and alcohol and let it dry.

 

[Old_Hobo]

Unfortunately, that loco is not a good quality one. Those were sold under the "Proto" name

I don't think so.....if it was a Proto locomotive, it would be fairly decent quality......

Actually, that set is pure old Life-like (which is a mis-nomer anyway), marketed by Walthers just after they bought the Life-like brand before they started up-dating the molds....if you look closely, all the cars and the loco have horn hook couplers on them....no wonder the locomotive doesn't work....

 

[CTValleyRR]

I don't think so.....if it was a Proto locomotive, it would be fairly decent quality......

Actually, that set is pure old Life-like (which is a mis-nomer anyway), marketed by Walthers just after they bought the Life-like brand before they started up-dating the molds....if you look closely, all the cars and the loco have horn hook couplers on them....no wonder the locomotive doesn't work....

That's exactly what I'm saying. It's NOT a good quality loco -- it's a basic LifeLike, which were toy store quality stuff. Locos sold under the LifeLike brand name, as opposed to Proto1000 or 2000, were the low end, positioned in the same market as Walthers Trainline models... but not even up to those quality standards.

You know, in addition to explaining the obvious, I can also help you understand pronoun-antecedent references...