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I have a Williams by Bachmann 40602 C&O Baldwin 4-6-0 Steam Loco on my workbench that I bought at an auction. It had a note on it that it was "not running", but looks almost new. I have isolated the problem to one of the pins in the tether receptacle on the engine being pushed in and not making contact when the tether plug from the tender is inserted. That should be an easy fix.  However, I noticed that while it has a smoke on-off switch and there is a place for a reverse lockout switch on the frame under the cab, it has no reverse lockout switch installed nor is it marked as such. 

I did some searching and I found a few references that indicate it is possible it did not come with one.  There are two unused pins in the tether that could be used for adding one, but I suspect the reverse unit may not have that feature.  Looking at the picture of the reverse unit board, the bottom right 2-pin socket is connected to the sound board.  The 4-pin socket above it has connections to the power pickups on the tender and engine as well as connections to the motor.  I don't know what the empty 4-pin socket above it or the 2-pin socket above that are for.  The 2-pin has DC power on it. Would anyone know what these two empty sockets might have been for?  The only number I can find on the board is 335-X001R4.

Thanks for the help!

DeanWBB Reverse Unit Board

Lockout Switch2

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  • Lockout Switch
  • WBB Reverse Unit Board
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I was only referring to the WbB conventional DCRU (reverse board) that Williams and Bachmann has been selling for a number of years as repair or aftermarket parts.  I may have used ten of them....none had a lock out option. I switched to Dallee units when the WbB dried up so new/current version could be different. 

OLDROB is right in that for the twin motor diesel engines both the 4-pin sockets are used (one for each motor).  The top 2-pin socket is not used and normally has a big red X drawn on it.

The Williams web site posts two modifications you can do with that board.  One is a "reverse lockout" mod and the other is a "start in reverse" mod.  Both modifications require custom soldering to the board that voids any warranty.

 

Last edited by Roger L.

Carl, I did test the pins for the motor and the motor runs fine. It is hard to see in this picture, but the 4th pin from the bottom is pushed back into the tether receptacle on the engine. That pin and the one below it go to the motor.  I also tested the tender tether plug connections and confirmed the reverse unit is working, so I just need to anchor the pin in the receptacle so that it does not submarine back into the receptacle when the tender tether is plugged in.

Pins 

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  • Pins

Well, after reviewing again the instructions for installing a reverse lock-out switch, I realized that this requires three wires be run to the engine, but the tether only has two open pins.  So, I think I will leave well enough alone.  I bought this engine to repair and re-sell, so since it came from the factory without this switch, I'm just going to fix the tether pin issue, confirm everything works OK, and then pass it on to a new owner.  They can decide for themselves if they want to add this feature.

Thanks again for all the info.

Dean

FWIW, these, unlike most other Wms die-cast steamers, have really good, low gearing. 

This is one that I modified for the AT&N (fairly close), re-tendered (die-cast tender from 1940's - using the original trucks!), and added ERR Cruise Commander/Electrocoupler.

The gearing is so good that I used the ERR DC Commander, not the Cruise Commander - it didn't need it; the low-speed performance is that good. 

 

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