[Pineapple Express]

Aloha Everyone, new here and have a few questions maybe somebody here may know what's going with our set..
My 9 yr old came home with a train set that his grandma purchased for him for $20.00. It is a MTH Railking Ready To Run Set 2-8-0 Steam Freight Set (Santa Fe) that looks like it has never been used, no scratches or any signs of use at all.. came with all tracks, tranformer, remote, steam engine, steam tender, box car, tank car, caboose, etc.. only one problem, I can't get it to move.. I put the tracks together, hooked up the tranformer, followed the set up directions but the thing still will not move.. I took it apart and looked at the engine, brand new, the grease is still fresh and waiting to get mixed around..
I can get the whistle to blow and horn, The little small motor up towards the front, I believe it is the one that makes smoke, yes? well it spins fine and goes faster as I click the throttle up more..when I click the direction button on the remote it stops making a sound for a second and then starts with a humm again from that small engine.. The large motor thou I cannot get to do anything.. I read a few other posts about resetting it and tries the combo's but still nothing.. Is there any other way to tell if the motor works, Can II hook it up with some wires directly to the wheels to see if tthe mor spins like I used to do with my old HO sets??
Sorrry I'm rambling, past midnight here, If anyone has any ideas here I would really apprciate them, maybe I'll call MHT tomorrow.. I'm not even to sure how old this set is.. the part # of the set is 30-40880-0
Thanks- Scott

 

[T-Man]

Battery. All the info is at the MTH site in this thread.
Welcome to this forum. It sounds like a goood deal.
If the electronics is bad you can jump the motor but the sound will be gone.
It may be a protosound version one.
It helps with a road name and cab number. SIte search gave a lot of choices.

Good Find B&M I had no luck. Need more practice.

 

[Boston&Maine]

Holy crap! $20 is a steal considering that this is a $300 MSRP set... I am guessing that this set is probably like 5-7 years old at the most...

The little small motor up towards the front, I believe it is the one that makes smoke, yes? well it spins fine and goes faster as I click the throttle up more..when I click the direction button on the remote it stops making a sound for a second and then starts with a humm again from that small engine..

This statement here scares me into thinking that there may indeed be a problem with the main motor... Now, I have never actually looked inside of my MTH steamer, but like you, I am assuming that the small motor that you see working is for the smoke unit... When you press the directional button it cycles the train through forward, neutral, reverse, and neutral, so this would explain why the small motor stops / starts moving when you press the directional button... It is just weird that this would work without the locomotive moving, which is why I think this points to a main motor problem... Of course, this is just my opinion...

Does the train make any special noises when the smoke unit motor is running? Like does it make any "chuff" sounds?

----------

It may be a protosound version one.

T-Man, according to the MTH site this particular model only has the basic Loco Sounds: http://www.railking1gauge.com/detail.asp?item=30-4088-0

 

[Pineapple Express]

Boston&Maine, yes that is our set exactly.. It does not have the protosound , I think only the Loco-Sound like you said..
As for the train making a "Chuff Sound", I believe I did here it make it once.. but only one "Chuff"..
One thing also is that I cannot get the light to come on on the engine, the bulb looks good too, I can see the wires inside are connected. The caboose does light up though when it all coupled together...
Here is the picture of my set..

It is a 30-4088-0 Santa Fe RailKing
I'll try calling this morning mth..
I appreciate the replys guys..

 

[Pineapple Express]

Weird I posted a reply this morning but now it's gone..
Anyways I managed to get the light to come on, took the bulb out and cleaned the contacts, not sure if it was screwed down completely either.. Still cannot get this engine to do anything though.. waiting for reply from mth
As I said in the post earlier that has been "lost" Thanks for the replys guys, I do have the set that Boston and Maine showed the link to in the above post, It has the Loco-Sound, also got the "chuff" sound once but only once..
I'll keep chugging along here ..

Aloha

 

[Boston&Maine]

Weird I posted a reply this morning but now it's gone..

I just approved it... Keep us updated on what MTH says...

On a side note, the only MTH steamers I have seen have been PS 2.0... Just out of curiosity, does the one with Loco Sounds still have a wire cable that connects from the tender into the back of the engine cab?

 

[Pineapple Express]

I just approved it... Keep us updated on what MTH says...

On a side note, the only MTH steamers I have seen have been PS 2.0... Just out of curiosity, does the one with Loco Sounds still have a wire cable that connects from the tender into the back of the engine cab?

Ohhh ok, was wondering where it went....
Yes there is a black cable that connects the tender to a 5 prong on the back of the engine.
I spoke with MTH today and he said it sounded like a circuit board problem to him.. I'm now for some reason getting only a humming noise when I throttle it up and when I press either the horn or bell button it cuts the buzzing sound a few notches until I release the button.. kinda weird but I'm thinking it is the circuits also.. MTH said since it was LOCO Sound only the codes don't work like on the other type..
One more question: How hard would it be to install a new circuit board in this engine I have? There's no train shops where I live so I'm thinking of ordering one and hopefully sodring it in myself..

 

[T-Man]

I hope you are running it with the tender connected. Lack of sound was a bad battery.
Can't say anything without a diagram. Wires run to track, speakers ,motor. smoke. That's at least 8 wires to connect plus battery. get a picture and show us.

 

[Pineapple Express]

I hope you are running it with the tender connected. Lack of sound was a bad battery.
Can't say anything without a diagram. Wires run to track, speakers ,motor. smoke. That's at least 8 wires to connect plus battery. get a picture and show us.

Hi T-Man - MTH said this model has no battery.. It's the loco-sound..
I don't have a diagram yet but here's a few pictures of what the engine and tender look like..

I'm just wondering if maybe one of the wires maybe got pinched or something along that line.. or maybe it is the circuit board.. Like I said before this train looks like it had never been run..
Thanks again for any help you can give //

 

[T-Man]

OK is the battery in your hand held unit good. Try it with the tender off. The switch probably shuts the smoke off. If you eliminate the obvious then you are in step by step checks. You could see about placing a voltmeter across the motor. The lines on the motor suggest a speed sensor. I have no idea on that black looking connection.
If you test the motor unplug the tender.You need to read everthing and go back. You should have a bell whistle not a bell horn.

From the tender picture the 7805 is your voltage regulator to run your circuitry. To the right are two large diodes that may be used for motor direction. The bottom picture shows a potentiometer. It adjusts resistance , not sure what for.

 

[P&Wfan]

Pineapple Exp, were you able to get the engine running? I just had the same problem with my loco-sound 2-8-0 from the PRR pasenger set. I was all set to order a new circut board when I re-read the manuel and noticed the direction lock. I followed the instructions and was able to get the engine running again, apparently it was locked in neutral. You have to put the throttle to low and tap the whistle button once and the bell button three times. Let me know how you are doing.


Stephen
Shelton, CT

 

[Pineapple Express]

Nope, no luck on my end with that, I tried several times. Now my engine sound is some weird distorted sound and lights won't come on.. I really believe it's in the board somewhere.. I will have to wait until I can send it to somebody to fix it or possibley sell it and buy a new/used engine off ebay or something..
I really wanted it to be puttin around the tree this year too.. oh well.

 

[P&Wfan]

Was hoping that would work. Before I found this solution I had emailed MTH for a price on a replacement board, I have not heard from them yet and its been over a week. If you can get a replacement board their not that bad to replace on this engine, almost drop in, just a couple of plugs to disconnect, reconnect. Any shops in HI you can go to?

 

[Pineapple Express]

I just purchased a new/used engine on ebay MTH New York Central and was thinking maybe I could sell the one that I have been having problems with... I thinking it was going to cost me more than what I bought the new/used one for... so would anyone have any idea what I could get for this non working one?? just wondering, I was going to have my son put it on ebay maybe next week..
I'll post pics of hte new one as soon as we get it with the new track layout... CANT WAIT!!

aloha

 

[T-Man]

You don't need sound. If the problem is in the sound, turn it off?
Parts engine.

Selling on ebay is not as easy as buying, unless you are already set up for it.

 

[Pineapple Express]

I wish I knew where the problem was truthfully, I really now nothing about these trains except for what I've learned on this board (thank-you)... I may just end up keeping it for parts like you say.. although it's my son's and he could use the $$ to pay for the new one..

I'd like to buy some more track and make a larger oval maybe with 4 - 10" straights on each side with a curved switch track between those and connecting to the other side. I would also like maybe the width a little larger maybe putting a 10" or two inbetween the curves, Pretty basic I know but we will be taking it down after each use unfortunately, we don't have any spare space anywhere.. the track I have now is 8 curves that makes the 31" circle.. could someone tell me how many of each track to buy to where they will connect together correctly.. I'll be buying online since we don't have a store here on the island..
Here is a very rough sketch of the basic layout..

Thanks for any help again..

 

[Boston&Maine]

You have MTH RealTrax, right?

What are the exact dimensions of your space? I have a RealTrax program and can get you part numbers with their quantity...

 

[Pineapple Express]

You have MTH RealTrax, right?

What are the exact dimensions of your space? I have a RealTrax program and can get you part numbers with their quantity...

Great Boston&Maine, I was thinking keeping it within the size of a piece of plywood (4x8).. just in case I decide I want to mount in on and possibly hinge it onto the wall in our garage at some point.. just an idea though.. I was thinking of one remote switch track on one side to let it go over to the other side if possible..
If you could L\let me know what you come up with that would be great..

Thanks again..

 

[Boston&Maine]

Here are two layouts for a 4' by 8' table which will give you about a two inch gap around the outer track... Just remember that with the first layout, going though the switches will reverse the locomotive's direction... The only way to change direction again would be to either back it up through the switches or manually take it off the track and switch its direction...

 

[T-Man]

I had to take a double look too. Clockwise you go through two switches to reverse. Counter clockwise you have to reverse through both switches. It can be done in three rail easy enough.